Kocher dominates biathlon nationals

Canmore’s Zina Kocher dominated the Canadian National Biathlon Championships in Charlo, New Brunswick, bringing home four gold medals from the March 23-25 event.

“I’m skiing the best I have all year and was able to carry the speed forward,” Kocher said.

Her shooting wasn’t as strong as she hoped, however, it was enough to give her the win in the 15-kilometre individual, sprint, pursuit and team sprint.

“I’m extremely exhausted, but I’m still feeling good and was able to make it work out,” Kocher said.

Following a difficult year where she’s struggled to bring together her shooting and skiing, Kocher is finally feeling strong and healthy and hopes to find a few more races to close out her season.

She travelled to Montreal after the championship and has accepted an invitation to compete in Russia. She tweaked her training in hopes of peaking at bigger events, training at different times of the year.

“If all you do is race, it’s hard to train,” Kocher said.

Canmorite Melanie Schultz picked up a silver medal in the 15-km individual race and a bronze in the team relay, partnered with Cindy Clark and Andrew Chisholm.

Megan Imrie picked up a bronze medal in the pursuit in less than ideal conditions.

“It was like a hurricane. It’s been nice and warm and un-New Brunswick like, but then the wind rolled in,” Imrie said.

After a strong top-10 showing in the 30-km skate at the cross-country ski nationals, Imrie felt sluggish going into the biathlon nationals.

“The 30 km took more out of me than I would have liked. In all of the races I felt like my skis were in glue,” she said. “But I don’t regret doing it. I always wanted to try it out.”

Imrie recovered from a rib injury shortly before the biathlon nationals that made it difficult for her to breath. She was feeling better for the pursuit, however.

“It’s fun anyways. I knew it would be a difficult fight since I’ve been out of the game for the past month,” Imrie said. “But the lobster was fantastic and helped me get back into it.”

She’ll wrap up her season with a return to Canmore before heading to Manitoba to take care of her family’s horses for two months.

Imrie and Kocher also hosted a Fast and Female event with 33 young biathletes in New Brunswick, as they continue to grow the sport and inspire young women.

In all, Alberta athletes brought home 56 medals from the games.