P.E.I. biathletes compete for Canada at World Juniors

Two athletes from P.E.I. will compete for Canada at the World Junior Biathlon Championships in Romania next week including the first female from the Island to reach this level of competition.

'They both have huge dedication and a really strong drive'

Nancy Russell CBC News Posted: Jan 20, 2016 7:01 PM EST | Last Updated: January 21, 2016

Two athletes from P.E.I. will compete for Canada at the World Junior Biathlon Championships in Romania next week including the first female from the Island to reach this level of competition.

Caitlin Campbell and Lucas Boudreau head to Europe this weekend to join the rest of the Canadian team.

"I'm super excited to be going. It was one of my goals for the past two seasons and this season everything came together nicely," said Lucas Boudreau, taking a break from training at the Brookvale Nordic Centre.

"It's so exciting," echoed Caitlin Campbell, who is from Central Bedeque. "It's by far the highest point in my biathlon career and it's great to see my hard work finally paying off."

Judy Hale, one of the biathlon coaches, says,"It's a pretty huge accomplishment.

"It has been done before when we had Menno Arendz and Carsen Campbellboth representing P.E.I.,but to do it again with Caitlin Campbell and Lucas Boudreau is pretty sweet," said Hale.

Biathlon combines cross-country skiing and target shooting with a rifle,and it's a sport where Islanders have excelled. Mark and Menno Arendz,and Caitlin's brother Carsen,have all competed in biathlon at the the international level.

"Back when he was first in it I thought I'd never be there," said Caitlin of her brother's success in biathlon. "But the last few years I started to think I've got a good shot at this and now it's finally happened."

Carsen Campbell now competes for Canada in the International Biathlon Union in Europe, which is one step below the World Cup.

His advice to his sister making her debut at the World Juniors? "He says just don't let the other people freak you out. Just ski your own race," laughed Caitlin.

Caitlin is following in her brother's footsteps,while making sports history of her own. She is the first female competitor from the Island to qualify for the World Juniors. She's hoping others will follow in her footsteps.

" I love it," exclaimed Campbell. "I wish we could have more girls in biathlon so hopefully, maybe, people will see what I'm doing and say, 'hey,I can do that too.' So maybe I'll be able to help recruit more females."

The two Island competitors say they're thrilledthey'll be travelling together to the World Junior Championships.

"We've travelled the last two years pretty much solid together to all the competitions," added Boudreau. "We're super close.The whole team is close."

"They're very much in synch," observed coach Judy Hale. "It's very interesting. Some practices they'll come in and they'll shoot exactly the same hit percentages or they'll be skiing in sync."

"I think they motivate each other because they complement each other. They both have huge dedication and a really strong drive," she said.

"It really just proves that it doesn't matter where you're from," added Campbell. "You can be from P.E.I. and still be competitive with whoever you want to be."

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P.E.I. biathletes compete for Canada at World Juniors

'They both have huge dedication and a really strong drive'

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