2015 Kenai Central graduate Travis Cooper was third in the Junior Men’s race Monday at the USA Youth and Junior Biathlon World Championships Team Trials at Kincaid Park in Anchorage.
The Junior Men’s 10-kilometer sprint had three competitors, and Cooper had a tough day at the range.
The 10-kilometer sprint has a prone five-target stage and a standing five-target stage. Cooper had three misses in the prone stage and five misses in the standing stage, meaning he had to ski eight penalty loops.
Brian Halligan, with four misses, won at 34 minutes, 27.6 seconds, while Paul Everett, with seven misses, was second at 37:38.8 and Cooper was third at 37:52.0.
The event determines who qualifies for the World Junior and Youth Biathlon Championships in Cheile Gradistei, Romania; the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway; and the North American Biathlon Championships in Fort Kent, Maine.
Cooper, who has spent the past month in Canmore, Canada, getting ready for this event, has a pursuit race today and another sprint race Wednesday.