The snowstorm that pummeled the East Coast this week tried its best to bury Anchorage biathlete Sam Dougherty's hopes of winning a spot in the World Junior Championships. It delayed and even disarmed him, but Dougherty and Alaska Biathlon teammate Ray Wonders nonetheless took the U.S. team trials by storm this week in Jericho, Vt.
Dougherty overcame all kinds of nightmares to win gold, silver and bronze in the three-race series. He and Wonders, both South High seniors, earned trips to the World Juniors next month in the Czech Republic.
Wonders captured a gold medal on the first day of racing Tuesday at the Ethan Allen Firing Range to secure his spot on the team. Dougherty, competing with a borrowed rifle, borrowed skis, borrowed poles and borrowed clothes, took the bronze.
Dougherty was lucky to make it to the race at all.
He and mom Janet wanted to stay in Anchorage through Christmas, so they left Anchorage the day after the holiday, on Sunday -- just in time to fly into the snowstorm that paralyzed much of the East Coast.
When they arrived at New York's LaGuardia Airport, they learned all flights had been canceled and the airport was shutting down, said Sam's dad James, who didn't make the trip.
With nothing more than their carry-on baggage -- their other luggage, including Sam's rifle, skis, poles and every other piece of gear, had been checked all the way to their final destination -- they caught a shuttle into the city, got a hotel for the night and made Am-Trak reservations for the next day.
During the 10-hour train trip north, Janet got in touch with people already in Jericho and filled them in on Sam's dilemma. Coaches and other Alaska racers rallied to find clothes and equipment for Dougherty, who at 6-foot-5 isn't exactly an easy fit.
The Doughertys arrived at their Vermont hotel around 10:30 the night before the race.
The next day turned out gloriously for the six racers with Alaska Biathlon, which is part of the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage.
Three of them wound up on the awards podium. Joining Wonders and Dougherty as a medalist was Kimberly Del Frate of Palmer. She captured silver in the girls sprint race thanks to swift skis that helped her survive four penalty laps in the 10-target event. Wonders had just two misses in his winning effort.
Though Dougherty was the only Alaskan to climb the podium on the two subsequent race days, the others are all posted strong results.
All six had at least one top-10 finish at an event that attracted 112 junior-level racers from the United State and Canada, a huge field for a junior biathlon race in this country.
Wonders and sisters Kimberly and Amanda Del Frate boasted top 10s in all three races. Wonders was eighth in Wednesday's pursuit and sixth in Thursday's sprint; Kimberly was fifth in the pursuit and ninth in the final sprint and Amanda placed eighth in the first two races and sixth in the final one.
Service High's Jake Prince -- racing in a category above his age -- finished fifth on Wednesday and eighth on Thursday after opening with a 12th-place finish, and Mackenzie Wonders -- Ray's sister -- improved with each race, placing was 13th the first day, 11th the second day and 8th the final day.
Dougherty, whose crazy trip from LaGuardia to Jericho included a stop at a Wal-Mart so he could buy longjohns to wear Tuesday under a borrowed race suit -- got better each day. So did his equipment and his wardrobe.
His rifle arrived in time for Wednesday's pursuit, which he won by more than a minute despite missing six of 20 shots. The rest of his gear arrived in time for Thursday's finale, a sprint in which Dougherty claimed silver.
At the conclusion of the race series, U.S. Biathlon announced a 13-person team that will represent the United States at the Jan. 27-Feb. 6 World Juniors in the Czech Republic.
"This was one of the largest national events for juniors we have had in many years," Max Cobb, CEO of U.S. Biathlon, said in a press release. "It is really heartwarming to see, an I think we are seeing the beginning of a blossoming of the sport across the country.
"It's also great to see such broad based geographic representation with athletes from Alaska, Washington, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Maine on the team. Seeing a team of 14 athletes coming from six different states is a great sign of the growth of clubs across the country."
It's encouraging for Alaska biathlon too.
A trio of Alaskans -- four-time Olympian Jay Hakkinen of Kasilof, three-time Olympian Jeremy Teela of Anchorage and two-time Olympian Rachel Steer -- dominated the national scene over the last decade. But Steer retired after the 2006 Olympics and although Hakkinen and Teela are still members of the A team, Hakkinen is 33 and Teela 34.
Now there is new blood poised to continue Alaska's prominence in biathlon, something that dates back to the 1950s, when athletes like Dick Mize were part of the Army's biathlon unit that trained at Fort Richardson.
Besides the teens who shined this week in Jericho, 26-year-old Zach Hall of Nikiski is a member of U.S. Biathlon's B team and has been competing internationally in Europe this season. He only picked up the sport about four years ago, he missed making last year's Olympic team by one spot.
By BETH BRAGG
bbragg@adn.com