Cadet Ethan Algra of Abbotsford swept the provincial biathlon competition earlier this month at Mount Washington in Comox.
He will be leading the B.C. team to the National Cadet Biathlon Championship, which occurs March 5 to 10 in Charlottetown, P.E.I. This will be his third year at the national championship.
“I joined the cadet program to compete in biathlon like my brother did,” he said in a press release. “My younger sister is starting this year as well. I love biathlon because the setting, the race variables, the competition is always different. You always get a different experience and you have to learn to adapt.”
Algra is a cadet with 861 Royal Canadian Air Cadet Squadron in Abbotsford. He has been a cadet for four years. He also competes on the BC Provincial Team. Algra won a pair of gold medals at the 2016 B.C. Winter Games.
861 RCACS cadets William Tang, Sophia Algra and Alyssa Chapman will also be on the national team.
More than 80 cadets competed at the provincial event, testing their fitness, skiing, teamwork and marksmanship skills against the best cadet biathletes in B.C.
Team Canada 2018 Olympic biathlete Emma Lunder was first introduced to her sport through the cadet program in Vernon.
The program aims to develop in youth ages 12 to 18 the attributes of good citizenship and leadership, promote physical fitness, and stimulate the interest of youth in sea, land and air activities of the Canadian Armed Forces.