Sara Studebaker: International Biathlete
Posted on March 21st, 2008
Bogus Basin Nordic Team alum and now U.S. Biathlon Development Team member Sara Studebaker has two exciting weeks of U.S. and Canadian national competitions dead ahead in late March.
Sara sums up the scene, “We left Lake Placid on Monday (March 17) for Minnesota where we will race Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Then we head to Vancouver and race Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. All together, I’ll race 6 races (58.5 kilometers) in 11 days. It’s going to be a whirlwind, so getting some good training in and then some rest leading up to the races is important.”
Sara grew up in Boise and had a distinguished career with Bogus Basin Nordic Team under coaches Lori Messenger, Eric Reynolds, Travis Jones and Jay Blackhurst. Reynolds taught Sara and teammate Lindsay Burt to shoot and took them to many biathlon events in Montana and Utah during their high
school years. Practice time at Blacks Creek outside Boise and summer biathlons as well U.S. Junior Biathlon Championships occupied them in addition to regular nordic racing. Sara was part of six Intermountain teams at the Junior National Championships as well.
Sara raced for the Dartmouth College Ski Team and graduated this past June with a major in International Relations and minor in Latin American Studies. For the first time in 30 years, Dartmouth won the NCAA skiing title in New Hampshire in March 2007, with Sara placing 8th in the 5 km skate and 11th in the 10 km classic events.
Upon graduation, Sara and boyfriend Zach Hall, chose to focus on biathlon. Both have resided at the Lake Placid, New York Olympic training center this season with support as U.S.B.A. development skiers. She is sponsored by Rossignol Skis and Boots and Powerbar. Sara also was chosen to race several biathlons on the Europa Cup this winter in Slovakia and Germany. The last few weeks saw them shooting and skiing in Vermont and Canada at the final NorAm events.
Sara won the final pursuit at Valcartier, Canada, on March 2, hitting 17 of 20 shots. Now she’s off to the U.S. Nationals/NorAm Championships and hoping to grab the overall NorAm points leader title. Then she’ll head to Canada’s national championships at the 2010 Olympic venue. She says, “It will be a great opportunity to preview the 2010 course. I’m hoping to make the 2010 team and this will be great motivation!”
You can follow Sara’s progress on her blog at: http://sarastudebaker.blogspot.com/
March 21st Update: Sara Studebaker finished 4th in the US & NorAM Championships in Thursday’s sprint and on Friday 3-21, she took 3rd in Senior Women’s biathalon pursuit. Check additional results at: http://www.usbiathlon.org/
