Bearskin youth trains for biathlon

Sabrina Angeconeb has found a new sport which combines her newfound loves of skiing and shooting.
Angeconeb, a 13-year-old Bearskin Lake band member who now lives in Thunder Bay, has been training for months with the 2511 Lake Superior Scottish Regiment Army Cadet Corps in biathlon.
“I have really been enjoying this,” Angeconeb, a private in the corps, said. “My friends encouraged me to join the team because they needed a junior member. It’s been a lot of fun to train and get better at both skiing and shooting.”
Although she’s only been skiing for a year, Angeconeb is pleased with her progress.
“I’m learning a better technique,” she said. “I skate-ski and practise a lot on my own and with my friends. I love this so much I want to continue until I am 18. I hope to progress and get even further into the competition.”
Before she began cadets in January 2010, Angeconeb didn’t have much experience with a firearm.
But the more she shoots, the more comfortable she’s getting with both the .22 calibre rifle and the Daisy air rifle.
“We shoot every Thursday (as part of the biathlon training),” she said. “I hadn’t shot much before but I’m getting better. I shoot better than I ski.”
Angeconeb was to compete in the army cadets provincial championship Jan. 28-30 at Falcon Lake on the Manitoba/Ontario border. But due to inclement weather, the competition was cancelled. It was to be rescheduled but as of press time new dates had yet to be confirmed.
In the qualifying meet in November, Angeconeb shot well, hitting seven of 10 targets, all in the prone (laying down) position. Because the competition was held in the fall, it featured running and shooting instead of skiing.
“Our team didn’t do too well,” Angeconeb admitted. “I didn’t even know for a few weeks afterwards that I had qualified to go (on her own).”
As her training picked up in the fall and winter, Angeconeb started skiing more with her team and worked to improve her skills.
“The hardest thing is getting the breathing right,” she said. “It’s hard because you were just running or skiing and then you need to calm down and control your breathing.”
But, she picked up a trick in training that has served her well thus far.
“You have to get yourself out of breath and immediately calm down,” she said. “That’s what I’ve started to do in training. You stop yourself from breathing, shoot and then slowly let the air out.”