Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps 202 Chilcotin recently competed in the Zone Championship and Provincial/Territorial Selection held in Prince George for the Zone 1 and 2 Cadet Corps on Jan. 8.
The Chilcotin Sea Cadets were able to attend the biathlon competition with the support of the Navy League of Canada, Chilcotin branch, who provided the travel and purchased the equipment needed for the biathlon.
The Navy League also funded the Cadets to travel to 99 Mile ski trails located south of 100 Mile to take advantage of the groomed trails. The conditions were fast and the cadets were able to improve their skiing for the upcoming competition.
The cadets travelled to Prince George on Friday, Jan. 7 and waxed their skis that night and based the type of wax to use from weather conditions, posted by the Otway Nordic Ski Centre, west of Prince George. The trails were groomed that morning for the cadets to skate, ski and shoot at the biathlon range.
This year the Williams Lake Sea Cadet Corps had a number of new cadets participating in the training. Their training included marksmanship at the range on Bond Lake Road maintained by the Williams Lake Sportsmen’s Association, and when the snow arrived training on skis (skate skiing) at Bull Mountain.
Sea Cadet Julia Rook, 16, was the top shooter, hitting five of her 10 targets, and won the seven-kilometre senior girls race in 45 minutes and 43 seconds, after skiing three different loops.
Cadets Julia Rook, Emma Davidson and Tanya Vigeant will form the female team for provincials, while their fellow corps members Cadets Alex Phaneuf, Alan Ramsay, and Colton Fraser make up the male team. The female cadet composite team qualifiers are Cadets Dana Rook and Miranda Doerkson of the Williams Lake Sea Cadets, along with Antoinette Bailey-Morgan of the Williams Lake Army Cadets.
The male composite team qualifiers include Bailey Van Der Meer and Carson Large, both of the Fort St. John Army Cadets, and Dalton Tom of the Williams Lake Army Cadets.
The next competition is the Provincial/Territorial Championship and National Selection held at Mount Washington near Courtenay, on Feb. 5.
The top 12 finishers will qualify for the Cadet National Cadet Biathlon Championships, March 12-19, in Valcartier, Que.