Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Published Wednesday, January 9, 2008
REPULSE BAY - A smile from lady luck has led to a pair of Kivalliq cadets representing the three Northern territories at the National Cadet Biathlon Championship for the first time in history.
The championship will be held in Quebec City from March 9-15.
Rankin Inlet Army Cadets Dorothy Tootoo (Unit Commander), Tracey Kanayok, Chris Ussak, Pamela Napayok, Adam Ussak, Clarissa Ussak and Carmen Napayok, from left, display their medals following the Regional Cadet Biathlon Championship in Yellowknife this past month. - Jessica Klinkenberg/NNSL photo |
Carmen Napayok of Rankin Inlet and Jolene Angotingoar of Repulse Bay captured gold in the male and female divisions, respectively, at the Regional Cadet Biathlon Championship in Yellowknife this past month.
Rankin cadets have been competing at the regional championship for the past three years.
Unit Commander Dorothy Tootoo said it was a tremendous stroke of luck for the Kivalliq cadets when frigid temperatures caused the skiing biathlon to be changed to a running biathlon in Yellowknife.
She said the cadets had to wear big army mukluks to run and shoot at the event.
"Carmen (Napayok) has skied before and went to work as a staff cadet at the 2007 national biathlon in Whitehorse, Yukon," said Tootoo.
"However, he's only skied for about two weeks in his entire life, so we're not expecting him to medal in Quebec.
"But, just going there and doing his best will be a wonderful experience for him, and his win at Yellowknife has really generated a lot of interest in our corps."
Napayok was given a pair of skis to bring back to Rankin, doubling the number of skis local cadets have access to.
But Mother Nature has been no more co-operative in Rankin than she was in Yellowknife.
Bitter cold temperatures have prevented Napayok from skiing since his return.
He's been training by running and lifting weights at Maani Ulujuk high school, and has talked to teacher Chris Eccles about developing a training program for him to get ready for the national biathlon.
Tootoo said she's trying to figure out a way to come up with a skiing track in Rankin for Napayok to train on for a few weeks before the nationals.
"We could really develop this program in Rankin if we could come up with some funding to acquire proper training equipment for our cadets, including shooting jackets for our kids, who are great shooters.
"When we go out for competitions, most of the top shooters at the events have shooting jackets.
"They cost about $250 and up and have small hooks on them to attach to your rifle to help steady it. All these types of things really add to your skill development and improve your performance at the various competitions."
