I have made my choices on who I am going to bet At Arlington this weekend on Million Day. The first six races or so, I am simply looking to pick up a little change as the races are mostly filled with runners with limited ability. But I do like several in the better races and will take my shot in those races, though I have to leave a few out because I do not spread on my wagers.
1st Race: Maiden Claiming $15-10,000--- 3 YOs And Up Illinois Bred Fillies & Mares--- 6 furlongs AWT--- Purse $14,000:
This race looks like it will run to form, so I like 3)Rachelgotstephen(5-2) to win. But since I do not bet any horse to WP under 3-1), I will use this horse in exacta and tri boxes only. Her trainer Joe Kirby is the son of Frank Kirby who owns this horse but apparently has turned training duties over to his son. Frank Kirby was a trainer that would always bring a longshot in for me when I needed it the most. She has started twice this year and ran 4th both times. Dropping into maiden claimers for the first time this year, so the class break should help.
1)High Power(2-1) will be the one I use in an exacta box with my top pick. She dropped into this class for the first time in her last and open a clear lead before tiring. However, her trainer, Reavis, wins a lot of races in gate to wire fashion. He is switching jockeys to the lesser known Marquez, Jr but he is known for his ability to rate a horse on the lead. Should be a late factor.
6)Frosty Friend(3-1) has done nothing in his first two starts, but they were at Tampa Bay in races open to all fillies. Given a 4 month break where the trainer spent the time getting her fit to run as her works have improved and she seems to enjoy the all weather track, which her bloodlines says she should. Chris Block has been one of the better trainers in Illinois for almost 20 years. Will not be surprise if she wins this race, though I will use her in my tri box only.
2nd Race: Maiden Special Weight--- 2 YOs--- 6 Furlongs AWT---Purse $32,000.
I like the 1)Drilliant(8-1) to WP. His sire Drill, is a son of Lawyer Ron and he won the G1 Del Mar Futurity in his 3rd lifetime start on that track's all weather surface. His broodmare sire, Forbidden Apple, was a multiple graded stakes winner on grass in New York. If Drilliant run to his works, He will be tough to beat in here.
7) Hide The Demon(5-1) will be my choice to complete my exacta box. His sire, Run Away And Hide won all three of his starts, including the G2 Saratoga Special, before an injury ended his career. His broodmare sire is Tapit, who needs no introduction as he has been among the leading sires every year since he went to stud. Hide The Demon would be my top pick but I feel Drilliant has been prepared better for his debut.
2)Grit To Glory(8-1) will be my choice to complete my tri box. His sire, Pioneerof The Nile, is sire of 2015 TC winner American Pharoah, but his dam, Live For Now, is a 1/2 sister to Point Given. His works has not been as flashy as my top two picks, but he certainly has the bloodlines to succeed.
Race 3: Maiden Special Weight--- 3 YOs & Up--- One Mile Turf--- Purse $32,000.
I like the 7)Fifth Ace(4-1) to WP. He has made one lifetime start which came on the all weather track at Presque Isle Downs where he tracked the pace, took the lead turning into the stretch and finished 6th, beaten 2 3/4 lengths. Now, he has been entered in a grass race at the same distance and his bloodlines suggests he will like that surface even more. His dam, Model, is a daughter of Giant's Causeway and her dam is a G1 placed daughter of Machiavellian, the sire of Street Cry.
3)Wicked Gem(6-1) has made three lifetime starts, all on dirt, and has shown very little. However, his trainer, Kellyn Gorder. knows how to get a horse to produce and he has a series of works since his last that indicates he has or is ready to take the necessary step forward. His sire, Gemologist, won his first 5 lifetime starts before he was plummeted in the Ky Derby & Haskell Inv in his last two starts. And while he was never tried on grass, his bloodlines suggest that would probably be the surface he preferred. Add in Wicked Gem's broodmare sire, Mr Greeley(son of Gone West), Clever Trick(son of Northern Dancer's 3/4 brother Icecapade), and English TC Winner Nijinsky II(son of Northern Dancer), this horse should explode on grass. He will be my choice to complete my exacta box.
8)Duchossois(3-1) will be my choice for my tri box. His sire, Animal Kingdom, won the 2011 Ky Derby for his only lifetime dirt winner and spent the rest of his career more successful on grass and all weather tracks. However, I do not like that his last 2 works were extremely fast and they are uncovered. These types disappoints me more than their fair share, so I am willing to take a stand against him winning but will include him in my tri box. Roger Brueggemann is a solid trainer though, so this horse is not out of the question.
4th Race: Allowance O/C $18,000--- N/W 1 Other Than Or Which Have Never 2 Races Or Claiming $18,000--- 3 YO & Up-- One Mile Turf--- Purse $33,000.
I am going to take the only 3 YO in the field and make 5)Southsider(12-1) my choice to WP. His sire, First Defence, was a G1 winning sprinter but his broodmare sire, Southern Halo, was champion sire whose foals ran well on grass and dirt. Add Northern Dancer twice on his female side and Never Bend and one mile should suit him fine. He tried one mile on grass in his first lifetime start, but got off to a slow start and a good run before flatten out late on a turf listed as firm but by the fractions and final times, was obviously very slow. I believe he makes amends against these.
3)Belfast Cowboy(4-1) will be my choice to complete my exacta box. He has the same sire(Myboycharlie) and broodmare sire(Galileo) as the M/L favorite Sistercharlie in the Beverly D to be ran later on the card. He has 3 lifetime starts on three different all weather tracks and switches to grass for the first time. He crosses 4x4 to Danzig which gives him a ticket to win on any surface, especially up to a mile. However, hos broodmare sire, Galileo, is strictly a grass horse whose foals gets better the further they go.
2)Salvage Battle(15-1) will be my choice to complete my tri box. His sire, War Front, is a son of Danzig whose foals are speedy like he was, but most do their best running on grass. He is now known as a sire of sires as several of his sons were graded stakes winners on grass and are producing foals that are excelling on that surface too. He has two starts this year, one at 5 furlongs on the AWT and the other at 1 1/16 mile grass, where he broke last, then tried to press the pace after a quarter mile before tiring in the stretch. One nice work since and his trainer, Chris Block, is better known for winning with his grass runner. However, I feel he will be even better in his next start, and major improvement is expected today.
5th Race: Maiden Special Weight--- 2 YOs Fillies--- 5 1/2 Furlongs AWT--- Purse $32,000.
I like the 1)Take The Over(9-2) to WP. His sire, Overanalyze, was leading first crop sire of 2 YOs by winners last year and should continue making his presence felt. Her works says she should be ready to show the speed her female family displayed in their careers. Michael Stidham is very good with his first time starters also, so I expect a solid race from this one.
8)Twist And Shout(8-1) will be my choice to complete my exacta box. Her sire, Discreet Cat, broke his maiden in his first start in 109 4/5 at Saratoga and was then purchased privately by Godolphin who bred and owns this filly. Her trainer, Eoin Harty, used to train for Godolphin for a while, they went separate ways for several years and have now joined forces again and are winning with horses that are overlooked, including a couple at Saratoga this year. This filly is working as good as my top choice, if not slightly better. Should make for a thrilling race if both breaks like expected.
11)Kajawa(7-2) will be my choice to complete my tri box and she could play spoiler to my exacta. She finished 2nd in her first start on this track and distance. Her trainer, Mike Reavis, wins his share with runners on the lead and she should improve off her first start. Her sire, Cross Traffic, raced only as a 4 YO and ran 2nd in the G1 Metropolitan Mile, getting caught at the wire before going gate to wire in the G1 Whitney H, beating 2 BC Classic winners and a Santa Anita H winner. Her broodmare sire, Maria's Mon, was 2 YO Champion in his only year of racing and the sire of two Ky Derby winners, Monarchos & Super Saver. Lots to like, a small step forward is all that is needed.
6th Race: Claiming 12,500-$10,000--- 3 YOs & Up Which Have Never Won 2 Races--- 1 1/16 Miles Turf--- Purse $13,500.
I will use the 6)Colonel Fred(5-2) in my exotics but will bypass playing him to WP as his odds are a little low for my taste. I think this horse is fit enough to win, it is only a matter of find a field he can beat. Colonel John's foals have been a lot better on grass than dirt so far and while I do not think he outclasses this field, he looks the most likely of a weak field.
3)Justenufftuff(15-1) will be my choice to complete my exacta and the more I look at him, I think he is one that warrants a small WP bet. His sire, Justenuffhumor, won a pair of G2 turf races at Saratoga and he is a 1/2 brother to multiple G2 AWT winner, Lewis Michael, and Champion 2 YO filly, Dreaming Of Anna, who won the BC Juvenile Fillies. Their dam, Justenuffheart, is a 1/2 sister to Kitten's Joy. His last start was his first on grassin a turf sprint and he drew the rail, hit the gate and did not pick up his feet after thatin a distance that was probably too short for him. Brian Williamson trains and learned from his father-in-law, Harvey Vanier, and knows how to get them ready.
8)All Strikes(8-1) will be my choice to complete the tri box. While anyone could jump up in here and surprise, he has picked up a lot of minor shares and I normally like to use these types underneath in exotics, but in no way would I bet any across the board money on this type. Simply too risky.
7th Race: Starter O/C $10,000-$5,000. 3 YO & Up Which Have Started For A $5,000 Claiming Price Or Less Since Jan 1st Or Claiming Price $10,000-- One Mile Turf--- Purse $15,000.
6)Diamondmaze(9-2) will be my choice to WP. He last started on May 28 at one mile on grass, hit the gate coming out, settled near the back on a yielding turf course, made a menacing move into the stretch before flattening out late, His last win was also one mile on grass where he broke alertly and took the field wire to wire on the tiring Fair Grounds turf course. I expect him to get a better break today with 3 decent works in July and they might not be able to catch him.
11)Dancing Rock(12-1) will be my choice to complete my exacta box. In his last off a 2 month break, he sat slightly off the pace, engaged the front runner turning into the stretch, but both were caught by late runners in an effort that was better that it looks. He should move forward off that effort and this is his fourth start this year. While he shows no works since his last, the Kirby's owns their own farm and it has a training track, so you can bet he is fit. Could upset my top choice if pace is faster than expected.
9)Spanish Justice(12-1) will complete my tri box. He has been sprinting on grass lately and should show front running speed on the stretch out and is a big threat to my top choice in making the pace too fast early. And for those that have no idea, his sire, Spanish Steps is a full brother to Unbridled's Song and Spanish Steps is sire of G1 BC Turf wire to wire winner and Older Grass Champion Little Mike. So this horse will have speed to spare.
Race 8: Bruce D Memorial Stakes--- 3 YOs--- One Mile AWT--- Purse $100,000.
6)Wile E Coyote(12-1) will be my choice to WP. He won his last start but was DQ to 2nd for drifting in, impeding the runner up. But they were clear of the rest of the field. I usually consider all City Zip's foals up to a mile , especially on grass and the AWT plays a lot like grass. City Zip is a 1/2 brother to Ghostzapper. Wile E Coyote's broodmare sire, Cactus Ridge, is a son of Hennessy who is best known as sire of Johannesburg(sire of Scat Daddy) and Henny Hughes(sire of Beholder). Cactus Ridge won all 4 of his starts and his best foal was the G1 winning filly Hot Cha Cha but this daughter also won almost $550,000 on the track.
8)Nottoway(10-1) will be my choice to complete my exacta box. He should get a nice stalking trip and could be the one to take advantage of an expected speed duel. His sire, Twirling Candy, showed a lot of front running speed in his racing career, but his broodmare sire, Harlan's Holiday, won both the G1 Florida Derby And G1 Blue Grass S before running 7th in the Ky Derby as the lukewarm favorite. His best son, Into Mischief, is a top sire in racing today. And Nottoway shows the style of racing that carried Harlan's Holiday to most of his top graded wins.
7)The Tabulator(2-1) will be my choice to complete my tri box. He is the class of this field but has shown he runs better if he can get a clear lead early which I do not expect him to get. The fields he has beaten are suspect at best and he has yet to beat a top horse. No way is he a single in any exotic wager, IMO.
Race 9: G1 Secretariat Stakes----- 3 YOs---- 1 1/4 Miles Turf---- Purse $400,000.
9)Analyze It(2-1) will be my choice to WP but I will probably only use him in my exotics bets as his odds will be lower than what I am risking to wager on. His sire, Point Of Entry, took a while before he put it all together and then he became a beast to beat, winning 9 of 18 lifetime starts, including 7 of his last 9 starts, including 5 G1 wins. Both of his losses came in the G1 BC Turf when 2nd to the aforementioned Little Mike and 4th to Galileo's son, Magician, both longshots. A single in exotics, IMO.
I am going to throw everyone a serious contender if they want to make money. 6)Ming(20-1) will be my choice to complete the exacta. His sire, Pour Moi, won 3 of 5 lifetime starts, including the G1 Epsom Derby in his final start. Pour Moi is a grandson of Sadler's Wells and also sire upset 2017 G1 Epsom Derby winner Wings Of Eagles(40-1 odds) from his first crop to race. His broodmare sire Persian Bold is a son of Ireland 2 YO champion Bold Lad. The sire of Ming's 2nd dam is Secreto, who beat El Gran Senor in the G1 Epsom Derby. Sire of his 3rd dam is Sham, second to Secretariat in the G1 Ky Derby & Preakness S. And the sire of his 4th dam is Majestic Prince, who was sweeping the 1969 U.S. Triple Crown before suffering a career ending injury to finish 2nd in his only career loss. Don't know about anyone else, but this is one horse that will be in all my exotics and I will probably end up betting some to WP on him. He taking a big step up in class but he would be far from the first to spring an upset in a major U.S. grass race. Joseph O'Brien is a son of Aidan O'Brien who started training because he gain too much weight(due to his height mostly) to tack the weight required on most horses. He is already a G1 winning trainer.
13)Hunting Horn(7-2) will be my choice to complete my tri box. He is trained by Aidan O'Brien and will make his presence felt. His sire, Camelot, is yet another son of Sadler's Wells stallion, Montjeu(like Pour Moi) and Camelot came the closest to sweeping the English TC since 1970 when Nijinsky II turned the hat trick and it was first career loss when a fast closing second. The Belmont Invitational was his first start as a 3 YO and his third should more him forward.
I will try to hit a super in here. On a small super box, I will throw in the 11)Dubby Dubbie(30-1). Then on a biggie super, I will box my top 3 and put 11)Dubby Dubbie in 4th. While I do not think he can beat my top three, I like and respect his trainer, Michele Lovell, enough to put him underneath. And stranger things have happen in horse racing.
10th Race: G1 Beverly D Stakes---- 3 YO & Up Fillies And Mares---- 1 3/16 Miles Turf---- Purse $600,000.
1)Daddy's Lil Darling(8-1) will be my choice to WP. She won the prep for this race while geared down and now comes the acid test, which I expect her to pass with flying colors.
4)Dona Bruja(6-1) will be my choice to complete my exacta box. She ran 2nd in this race last year as the favorite. The horse who upset her, Dacita, first got recognition when she ran past Tepin in the G2 Ballston Spa in her first start in the U.S., the race before Tepin went on an eight race win streak. She will be making her 3rd start this year and first in three months but her works shows she is fit.
7)Fourstar Crook(9-2) will be my choice to complete the tri box. She has three start this year and ran well in all three. She is making her first start in two months but has been on the work tab regularly and should be primed to give her best effort.
And for the second race in a row, I will give another longshot to be on the lookout for. I do not like this one as much as my last one, but I will box a small super using her with my top 3 picks. 6)Oh So Terrible(50-1) will be my choice for that super. Her form does not show much but she has ran in three graded stakes and excuses can be found why she did not run better. But she has been this distance only once in her career and that was the prep for this race, but she ran her best race yet in only her third start this year. Trainer gave her another race to sharpen her speed, then worked her in a 33 4/5 blowout at 3 furlongs on the AWT and then an easy breeze in 102 for 5 furlongs. But the best part is her sire, Cape Blanco. He is a son of Galileo and after winning the G1 Irish Derby at 3 , shipped to the U. S. at 4 and won the G1 Man O' War S, G1 Arlington Million and the G1 Joe Hirsch Turf Classic in his only 3 starts in this country. Oh So Terrible broodmare sire, Numerous, hails from the same female family as Sadler's Wells, Nureyev and even Blame.
11th Race: G1 Arlington Million S--- 1 1/4 Miles Turf--- 3 YOs & Up---- Purse $1,000,000.
I think this race is the weakest of the stakes at Arlington this weekend. But still should be competitive. 7)Twenty Four Seven(30-1) will be my choice to WP. His trainer, Roger Brueggemann, took over his training at the start of this year and he won his first 3 starts under his guidance, before finishing sixth in his last race. The owner of this horse is Midwest Thoroughbreds and they have won over 2600 races and purses over $50M. One of their horse you may have heard of is The Pizza Man, who won the Arlington Million in 2015. Trainer? Roger Brueggemann!! Now, Twenty Four Seven is a son of City Zip, which should tell this distance is further that he wants to go. But that is only if you consider the sire side only. His broodmare sire, War Chant, is a son of Danzig and won the G1 BC Turf Mile in his 8th and final start. Hollywood Wildcat, War Chant's dam, won the G1 BC Distaff in her final start. Twenty Four Seven's second dam, Amelia Bearhart, is the dam of Chief Bearhart, who won the G1 BC Turf at Hollywood Park in 1997. Smash it all together and you get a horse that will not be consider by most. But I will take a shot at a monstrous payday, you can bet that.
9) Deauville(6-1) will be my choice to complete my exacta box. He ran third in each of the last two years in the Arlington Million and he took the lead in the stretch both times only to get nipped at the wire. His trainer, Aidan O'Brien, followed basically the same path as last year but has been pointing for this race. And since his sire is Galileo and he is bred on the same pattern as Frankel, there is no way I will leave him out.
2) Spring Quality(8-1) will be my choice to complete my tri box. He normally run fairly close to the lead but was taken back near the back in his last race. I am guessing it was because he was stuck on the far outside on the inner turf course at Belmont, and horses that far out rarely wins, so the jockey was informed to save as much ground as possible before moving out after they turned into the stretch. Plan worked to perfection, but I expect him to contest the early pace in this race.

EDIT: Both Dividsero and Spring Quality has been declared from the race. So I will now use 5) Century Dream(12-1) to complete my tri box. I mostly bypass this horse because I did not recognized the trainer. But he learned under the tutelage of Sheik Mohammad and Godolphin Stables before going out on his own in 2014. He won 26% of his races in his first year as a trainer and has now added a European Mile Classic win to his growing list of accomplishments. Century Dream's sire, Cape Cross is best known in the states as sire of Ouija Board, who raced in the G1 BC &M Turf S three straight years and won twice and finishing 2nd once against solid fillies and mares. His broodmare sire, Echo Of Light was a G2 winning miler in Europe but stretched his speed to 1 1/4 mile once in the G3 Prix Gontaut-Biron in France. But Century Dream has others in his dam family that will make the distance more reasonable.

Race 12: G3 Pucker Up S---- 3 YO Fillies-- 1 1/8 Miles Turf---- Purse $100,000.
My final WP pick will be 7)Madame Milan(20-1). Her dam, Ville La Rouge was the dam of ill fated Ky Derby winner Barbaro. She has ran only on grass and has given a good account of herself except for her only stakes appearance when she hit the gate to get off last but made a good move to be beaten 4 lengths. Delacour is a native Frenchman and he has worked her like most trainers from that country works their horses. They usually only try to keep their horses fresh by giving maintenance breezes and save their best for race day.
8)Deadline(20-1) will be my choice to complete my exacta box. I simply like her dam's bloodlines and judging by her last start in the Ta Wee S at one mile on grass, she looks like she is starting to mature. Kenneth McPeek, is an above average trainer who gets over zealous sometimes, but looks like he has been patience with this one. He gave her a work since her last start, and she indicated she is ready.
12)Smart Shot(15-1) will complete my tri box. She is another that took a few races to figure things out, but she has won her last 2 races. She has three works since her last race, all good and gives the impression there is another move forward coming. Her sire, Skipshot never raced on grass though he is bred for that surface. All his wins came on all weather tracks in California, including the G2 Swaps S. Her broodmare sire, Smarty Jones won the 2004 Ky Derby & Preakness S before suffering his only career loss in the Belmont S when 2nd. However, his sire, Elusive Quality, is a known sire of grass runners and another son, Raven's Pass beat Curlin on the AWT at Santa Anita after winning several G1 in Europe.
I will box a super in here and will use 10)Secret Message(12-1) to complete that box. All she needs is to learn how to break better and she will be tough to beat. Her trainer, Graham Motion, has elected to give Irad Ortiz, Jr another shot at getting her to settle in the gate. Her sire, Hat Trick is a son of Sunday Silence and his foals usually shows speed from the gate. Her broodmare sire, Gone West, and sire of her 2nd dam, Unbridled's Song, also showed good speed leaving the gate, so it is only a matter of time before she will also.
These are my picks. I think I will make some good money but I always think that. It mainly comes down to track conditions and who likes or dislikes the surfaces most.

All right, all right, all right. So I chose Erie as my goal marathon at the beginning of summer because I had decided that I would like to do Boston in 2016. Erie is one of a few "last chance" marathons which are flat and fast and are held the weekend before Boston registration opens. My training started off pretty rocky and inconsistent, but about 2 months before race days I hit a groove where I was running 100 mile weeks and feeling good on my workouts. My long runs weren't feeling super good up until the end, though. The summer heat and humidity just seemed to zap me more than any year, and I hadn't really nailed any long marathon pace workouts, which was shaking my confidence quite a bit. Going into the race my optimistic A Goal was 2:55. B Goal was 2:59:59 or better. C Goal was to run 3:03:30 or better.
The Course The Erie Marathon is on Presque Isle (which is actually a peninsula) that sticks out across the north shore of downtown Erie. The race starts on the north shore of the "isle" runs along a park road towards the entrance where there's a hairpin turn back into the park. You then run along the south bay-side of the isle and all around the perimeter of the isle for a 13.1 mile loop. The marathon consists of two loops. They no longer have a half marathon on the same day as the marathon, so everybody I was running with were full marathoners. Also, the course is extremely flat. There's no more than 5 ft net elevation change for any given mile on the course.
Pre-Race My wonderful parents offered to drive me to Erie and we stayed in a not-so-wonderful Days Inn the night before. It was raining and low 50's the night before which was quite miserable at the packet pickup/expo which were outside, but resulted in perfect weather the day of the race. I woke up, pooped like a champion, ate breakfast (California Rolls and tortilla chips, because I'm so multicultural), caffeinated myself, drank some sugar water, and we left for the race. Parking and the lines for portapotties were a nightmare. I barely made it to the start line in time despite arriving at the park an hour and half before the start, but they delayed the start 15 minutes.
Miles 1-6 Somebody I couldn't see counted down from 10 and yelled "Go!" and we were off. I settled into a pack of guys running ~6:45 pace and just settled in feeling relaxed, clicking off miles, blah blah blah typical first 10k of a marathon stuff. The song I had stuck in my head was Don't Swallow the Cap by The National, which is good for the beginning portion of a long race. It's a little upbeat, but still feels relaxed. Official split for 10k: 41:38 Mile Splits: 6:36, 6:45, 6:49, 6:43, 6:43, 6:49
Miles 7-13 I was feeling great after 10k, but I've blown up spectacularly in marathons before so I decided to keep it conservative and try to continue splitting 6:40-45 miles. After enjoying a great view of the Erie skyline we curved around the east side of the isle and got blasted with some headwind. Also, the water station at this point was playing I'm Gonna Be by The Proclaimers, so guess what was stuck in my head for the next hour or so? Anyway, the headwind didn't last long, so I was able to settle back in and take in some views across lake Erie. I like to think that my Canadian AR Brethren were politely gazing back across the lake at me. When I crossed the half marathon the course clock read 1:28 even, which beat the half marathon PR I ran last April by over two minutes. I set out onto the second half still feeling like caged animal. Official split for HM: 1:28:02 Mile splits: 6:41, 6:45, 6:37, 6:40, 6:47, 6:44, 6:37
Miles 14-16 I just sort of cruised through these miles. I knew that I was going to be able to crank up the pace soon, but I didn't want to flip the switch too early and sabotage a definite sub-3 I had going. I just kind of took stock of how I was breathing, how my glutes and quads felt, etc. Pretty much like going through a pre-flight checklist. I decided I would take off after mile 16, which was right after the hairpin turn. Mile splits: 6:48, 6:42, 6:37
Miles 17-20 Time to crank it up! I quickened the pace to just under 6:30 miles and started reeling people in one by one. My internal radio station started playing Just See Fear by Cloud Nothings. At this point I was feeling only a hint of soreness in my quads and had bit of a side cramp after a GU didn't go down as well as it should have, but overall I was feeling pretty great and hit mile 20 feeling nice and warmed up for the 10k race to the finish. Official 20 Mile split: 2:12:54 Mile splits: 6:25, 6:27, 6:27, 6:21
Miles 21-26.2 Beast Mode. At this point I wasn't running with or talking to anyone else on the course. I was a one man wolf pack. I wasn't looking at my watch. Wolf Like Me by TV on the Radio was in my head while I ran on feel alone, concentrating on running the tangents and hunting the scalps in front of me. I probably passed about 30 people before the finish, including the female overall winner. No getting chicked for me today! I faltered a bit at the same windy point as the first loop which is also the only noticeable amount of uphill on the entire course. I felt the pace slacken a bit, but was able to refocus for the final stretch. Over the last two miles my body was screaming at me. My quads were on fire and I had a weird pain in my hip. My side cramp came back something fierce, and I didn't even think about taking anything at the last two water stations. The very last one was manned by a Boy Scout troop that tried to give me a marshmallow. I wanted to slap that kid. I went through every hippie-dippy mental trick of dealing with pain I could think of to get to the finish line without slowing down. Mile Splits: 6:26, 6:22, 6:16, 6:30, 6:24, 6:19
My second half marathon split was 1:24:39, which beat my old half marathon PR by 3:23, which I had set an hour 24 minutes and 39 seconds ago.
My official chip time is 2:52:41! 2:52:41! I couldn't believe it! I'm still geeking out about it! I wasn't doing math very well around mile 20 because at that point I thought I really had to hammer to get close to 2:55. This is an enormous PR for me. I haven't run a marathon in two years and my previous best was 3:17:44. I get to register for Boston on Wednesday this week! BOOSH! Strava Activity
What's Next I'm registered for a 52 mile trail race at the end of October. I won the race last year, but this year they're moving the course to a location that should attract more competition, so it might take some work to defend my title! I'm going to slowly ease back into running this week, and hopefully start doing some doubling by next week. I'm hoping I can get a few 100 mile weeks in with a special block workout 4-5 weeks from race day.

IBU World Cup 8 in Presque Isle, Maine, USA

** Relay**

Starts 16:10 MST, 22:10 CET
Welcome to the last event in Presque Isle and the last event before the World Championships(!!!).
The relay is a team event, with four biathletes from each country competing together. Each biathlete has one prone and one standing shooting each before they exchange to the next biathlete. For each shooting, they have 3 extra shots, so if they miss they get 3 extra shots to get down the targets. If not they need to go to the penalty lap. Italy leads the overall relay cup for men, 11 points ahead of Ukraine and 12 ahead of Germany.
A lot of teams are reduced today, and a lot of their better biathletes are not here today as they are preparing for the World Championships, so it will be a very open race and quite hard to predict. The Norwegian ladies are not even racing today...
Favorites:

Country	Name	Bib		Place at handover
Italy	Lisa Vittozzi	1.1	8
Italy	Karin Oberhofer	1.2	3
Italy	Federica Sanfilippo	1.3
Italy	Dorothea Wierer	1.4	5
Ukraine	Iryna Varynets	2.1	2
Ukraine	Natalya Burdyga	2.2	4
Ukraine	Yuliia Dhzyma	2.3	4
Ukraine	Olena Pidhrushna	2.4	2
Germany	Franziska Preuss	3.1	3
Germany	Luise Kummer	3.2	2
Germany	Miriam Gössner	3.3	5
Germany	Karolin Horchler	3.4	3
France	Celia Aymonier	4.1	11
France	Anais Bescond	4.2	6
France	Anais Chevaliar	4.3	2
France	Justine Braisaz	4.4	6
Czech Republic	Eva Puskarcikova	5,1	5
Czech Republic	Lucie Charvatova	5.2	9
Czech Republic	Gabriela Soukalova	5.3	1
Czech Republic	Veronika Vitkova	5.4	1
Russia	Tatiana Akimova	6.1	7
Russia	Ekaterina Yurlova	6.2	1
Russia	Olga Podchufarova	6.3	3
Russia	Ekaterina Shumilova	6.4	7

This week's /biathlon country spotlight: USA]

Country	Name	Bib	Place at handover
USA	Susan Dunklee	14.1	4
USA	Hannah Dreissigacker	14.2	8
USA	Clare Egan	14.3
USA	Annelies Cook	14.4	10

Todays spotlight is on Clare Egan, who actually is frome Maine, so this is her home track! She is 28 years old and made her in 2015, and is a one time world championships biathlete, contending in the 2015 Kontiolahti world championships. Her best place was 40th in the sprint and 12th in the relay. Her best place in a world cup race was 15th in Östersund in the mix relay and 16th in the Sprint in Östersund 2015.
Clare Egan is 62th overall in the womens world cup standings. The Americans are 14th overall in the relay cup!
Fun fact: Clare Egan has a master degree in linguistics!
RACE EVENTS:

• And we are off!
• France Celia Aymonier opens really hard and pushes away from the pack!
• France Celia Aymonier is two seconds ahead of Russia Tatiana Akimova and Italy Lisa Vittozzi, 6 seconds ahead of the pack with Czech Republic Eva Puskarcikova leading the pack.
• The pack has pulled back France Celia Aymonier and the whole gang is gathered.
• Into the first shooting, Ukraine and Ukraine Iryna Varynets misses once, Czech Republic Eva Puskarcikova misses one.
• Germany Franziska Preuss is finished and is 2.8 seconds ahead of Kazakhstan Alina Raikova

Top 5:

1. Germany Germany Franziska Preuss
2. Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Alina Raikova
3. Bulgaria Emilia Yordanova
4. Sweden Sweden Linn Persson
5. Russia Russia Tatiana Akimova

• Dunklee has pulled back Preuss, with Raikova, Akimova, Gasparin, Persson, Varyvnets, Yordanova from Belarus, Gwizdon, Puskarckova 7.9 to 14 seconds behind. Aymonier is 20 seconds behind.
• Dunklee and Preuss, with Gasparin a few seconds behind has a few second to the chasing pack!
• Preuss and Dunklee are in to the shooting and Preuss miss one and Dunklee twice
• Gasparin clears
• Gwizdon clears
• Puskarckova clears
• Gasparin out 2 seconds ahead of Preuss and 7 ahead off Varynets.
• France use a lot of time but hit all five! Sweden hits after troubling a lot.

Top 5:

1. Gasparin Switzerland
2. Preuss Germany
3. Varynets Ukraine
4. Puskarckova Czeck Republic
5. Gwizdon Polen

• Gasparin is pulling away, 3.6 down to Preuss and 5 seconds down to Varynets. Puskarcikova and Dunklee with Gwizdon right behind follow!
• Varynets is really skiing fast, passing Preuss and is not far behind Gasparin!
• Gasparin go out in front, ahead of Ukraine and Germany!
• France down in 11th place! 1 minute and 8 seconds behind!
• Aita Gasparin is in the lead for Switzerland with a Natalya Burdyga on her back!
• Now Natalya Burdyga is pulling with Gasparin just behind. Germany and Czech Republic are just behind.
  
• Into the next shooting Burdyga is in the lead, with Aita Gasparin in the 2nd mat.
  
• Ukraine misses three
  
• Switzerland misses one!
  
• Germany clears and go into the lead!
  
• Italy misses one
  
• Russia go out in 2nd place with Switzerland.
  
• Polen misses two!
  
• No one needs a penalty lap and USA go out in fourth!
  

Top 5:

1. Germany Kummer
2. Switzerland Gasaparin
3. Russland Yurlova
4. USA Dreissigacker
5. Czech Republic Charvatova

• Kummer is ahead of the chasers, with Yurlova closing down. And only two seconds behind.
• Gasparin and Charvatova are 10 and 12 seconds behind
• Overhofer and Dreissigacker are 20 and 21 seconds behind
• Ukraine are not far behind and are now 24 seconds behind taking in a lot! Looks like they have good skies.
• Kummer now has Yurlova in front of her and the Russian is really pushing!
• Yurlova now has about 5 seconds down to Kummer!
• Into the next shooting Yurlova is in front
• Yurlova struggles and misses twice!
• Kummer misses ust the one and goes out in front!
• Charvatova struggles and misses three and needs one round!
• Kummer goes out in front with
• Oberhofer full house!
• Gasparin also full!
• Yurlova goes out 10 seconds behind Kummer and Oberhofer is 19 seconds behind, Gasparin is 23 and Burdyga is 29.6!

Top 5:

1. Kummer +0 seconds
2. Yurlova +10 seconds
3. Oberhofer +19 seconds
4. Gasparin +23 seconds
5. Burdyga 29.6 seconds

• Yurlova goes straight passed Kummer, while Oberhofer is 11 seconds behind!
• Kummer is now 7.7 seconds behind Yurlova and Oberhofer is 18!
• Yurlova passes first, 14 seconds ahead of Germany and 15 ahead of Italy!
• Switzerland and Ukraine follow behind! France in 6th, Austria 7th, USA 8th and Czech Republic is 9th 47.7 seconds behind.
• Olga Podchufarova is 7.8 ahead of Miriam Gössner and 9.6 ahead of Federica Sanfilippo. Yuliia Dhzyma is 28 seconds and Cadurisch is 28 as well. France, USA, Czech Republic and Austria follow about 35 seconds ahead.
• At the next intermediate time Olga Podchufarova is just ahead of Miriam Gössner with about 3 seconds to spare. Federica Sanfilippo is 8.8 seconds behind!
• Miriam Gössner is now together with Olga Podchufarova into the prone shooting!
  
• Miriam Gössner with a solid shooting just missing the one!!
  
• Olga Podchufarova is good and hits all five with no problems and go into the lead!
  
• Federica Sanfilippo misses twice!
  
• Soukalova hits and is out with Gössner!
  
• Italy needs one round!
  
• USA are out!
  
• Ukraine and Austria go out in 4th and 5th with France in 6th and USA in 7th!
  
• Olga Podchufarova is in the lead by 20 seconds!
  

Top 5:

1. Olga Podchufarova
2. Miriam Gössner
3. Gabriela Soukalova
4. Yuliia Dhzyma
5. Christina Reider

• Olga Podchufarova taking her time in the track, with Gössner and Soukalova taking in 9 and 10 seconds being just 12.5 and 13.1 seconds behind!
• Dhzyma are 32 seconds behind, with France on their back
• Egan is in 6th place with Reider from Austria in 7th 43.6 seconds behind.
• Olga Podchufarova is now only 7 seconds ahead of Germany and Czech Republic!
• Soukalova is now passed Gössner and is in with Podchufarova!
• Soukalova is fast up for the shooting, hits the first, but misses the last!
• Podchufarova misses one! And goes out in front!
• Gössner misses twice!
• France go out!
• Podchufraova has 8 seconds ahead of Soukalova
• Chevalier of France is out 15.7 seocnds
• One round for Germany!
• Dzhima out in 4th 24.5 seconds behind.
• Sweden are out in 5th 50.2 seconds behind!
• USA need one round.
• Germany, Polen, Switzerland and Austria follow behind Top 5:

1. Russia Podchufarova
2. Czech Republic Soukalova
3. France Chevalier
4. Ukraine Dzhyma
5. Sweden Andersson

• Soukalova is now passed Podchufarova
• Soukalova is now 5 seconds ahead of Podchufarova. She is pushing really on and is gaining a lot of time!
• SPodchufarova is now 11 seconds behind, France is now 14.7 seconds behind as well. Dhyzma is 26 seconds behind.
• Soukalova sends out Vitkova in the lead!
• Czech are 16 seconds ahead of France, 19 seconds ahead of Russia and 30 seconds ahead of Ukraine. Germany is 41.7 seconds behind.

Top 5:

1. Russia
2. France
3. Czech Republic
4. Ukraine
5. Germany

• Vitkova is now 12 seconds ahead of Braisaz, which is 4 less than when they exchanged. Shumilova is 26 seconds behind. Pidhrushna is 37.5 seconds behind! Horchler is 46.6 behind.
• France are now 9 seconds behind!
• Vitkova is first one into the prone shooting
• Vitkova misses the second shot, hits the rest. But misses the first extra shot!
• Braisaz misses the first and second, hits the third!
• Vitkova goes out in front!
• Shumilova is not far behind Vitkova, 10 seconds at the marker!
• France are completly out of it. Ukraine also struggle, missing two! Hits both at last!
• Germany out in third 43.5 seconds behind.
• Guzik is out 51.9 seconds behind
• Pidrushna is 53.9 seconds behind and Nilsson is 58.2 seconds behind!

Top 5:

1. Czech Republic Vitkova
2. Russia Shumilova
3. Germany Horchler
4. Ukraine Pidrushna
5. Poland Guzik

• Vitkova is 14 seconds ahead of Russia! Shumilova has a chance at pulling Vitkova back!
• Pidrushna is now in third, with Guzik right behind her. Horchler is on the tailend, but so far still hanging on! They are 53 seconds behind. So the victory will most likely be between Vitkova and Shumilova!
• Vitkova is in, hits the first, misses the second, hits the third, hits the fourth and fifth! Misses the extra shot! She misses the second! But she hits the third and she most likely wins!
• Shumilova misses twice! Three times Four times! 5 Times! She needs two rounds!
• Germany out in 2nd place! 28.4 seconds behind!
• Polen are out in third! Pidrushna is not far behind. Ukraine, Sweden, Russia, France and Italy are about out the same time!

Top 5:

1. Czech Republic Vitkova
2. Germany Horchler
3. Poland Guzik
4. Ukraine Pidrushna
5. Italy Wierer

• at the intermediate checkpoint Vitkova is 29 seconds ahead of Germany. Pidrushna is now past Guzik and is just behind! The sprint will determine the third place!
• Horchler is only 7 seconds ahead of Pidrushna and Guzik! Who is gonna take 2nd, third and fourth?
• Todays winners are Czech Republic! Eva Puskarcikova, Lucie Charvatova, Gabriela Soukalova and Veronika Vitkova!
• IT's a sprint Ukraine! come second, Germany come third and Poland fourth! LOL Germany changes to classic skiing!

A murder from my own hometown that I didn't learn about until this very week -- which is surprising, as any murder there is generally huge news. A gay man was stabbed to death on Presque Isle on September 30, 1988. The article sumarizes it better than I will: http://miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/516299/20th-anniversary-of-the-Paul-Girard-killing.html?nav=5006
Article text follows:

20th anniversary of the Paul Girard killing September 30, 2008 By KIM HOYUM
MARQUETTE - During the early morning hours of a fall day 20 years ago, Paul Girard was stabbed to death on Presque Isle in Marquette. Today, his brutal murder remains unsolved.
After 20 years, there's not much in the way of physical evidence that could be found. Instead, police hope for one more person to tell what they know about the events of Sept. 30, 1988. The Marquette City Police Department gets tips and leads regularly about Girard's murder, but detectives are still waiting for the one that can break the case open.
"We interviewed dozens of people and have a suspect developed. We still receive calls about it; in fact, we got one last week," said Detective Capt. Gordon Warchock of the Marquette police. "We're still looking for that one piece of evidence to take it to the prosecutor's office. You never know when it could come, in a week or in a year."
What is known is that sometime in the early morning hours of Friday, Sept. 30, 1988, Girard was stabbed dozens of times near Charlie Kawbawgam's grave on Presque Isle, his body left for passersby to find when the sun rose. He was 34.
At 10:14 a.m., police were dispatched to the murder scene, after two people out for a morning walk around the island came upon Girard's body.
Sal Sarvello, retired chief of police, was then captain of detectives with the department and remembers it was a busy morning, with detectives already working on arrests in a drug theft case. A patrol officer and Detective Lt. Hank Steede were the first to arrive at Presque Isle, and Sarvello followed shortly afterward.
Current city police Chief Mike Angeli had been a detective for a year and a half then, and said the investigators are confident Girard was killed in the same place his body was found.
"We immediately started to retrace his tracks for the previous 24 hours," Angeli said.
Details began to emerge; Girard lived in south Marquette and worked at D&D Rental, close to home. He was originally from Gwinn.
He had been seen at a few local bars and restaurants the evening before, so detectives began to examine the hours just prior to the killing.
Police were looking for someone who knew Girard; the manner of his death was not typical of a murder committed by a stranger.
"The number of stab wounds were obviously overkill. Some were post-mortem, which indicates anger," Angeli explained.
Sarvello said the department requested suspect profiles from the FBI and regional profiling centers, which bore out investigators' conclusions about the killer.
"We don't believe it was a random act of violence," Warchock said. "We believe he knew his assailant and had met his assailant. The length of time of that acquaintance is hard to say, but we don't believe it was a stranger."
Angeli said detectives began to investigate Girard's personal life, and - then and now - believe the motive for the killing was at least in part animosity toward gays.
"I don't think it was any secret that he was gay," Angeli said. "We feel there was some type of relationship to his lifestyle, so in today's world, it's fair to say it could be classified as a hate crime."
It wasn't until the next April that the investigation began to focus on one main suspect, Sarvello said. A Michigan State Police detective heard about the suspect while working on an unrelated case, and tipped the city police.
Although the person suspected of the murder was interviewed at length, no evidence came of it.
"We've chased down lots of leads and other suspects have been suggested to us, with none of them panning out with any credibility," Angeli said.
The main suspect was never arrested or charged, with not enough evidence to support either. Warchock said the man has since moved out of the area.
Sarvello said one of the evidence problems inherent in the case was the location of the murder.
"It occurred in a city park, in the middle of the night, so there's less witnesses, less physical evidence," he said.
Angeli added the six-month gap between the murder and pinpointing the suspect also was plenty of time for physical evidence to disappear or become useless to investigators.
Sarvello noted Girard's case is one of only two unsolved murders in Marquette. The other case is that of Erin Taylor, a 24-year-old Marquette woman who was killed in August 2000.
"I would have given anything to have those two unsolved murders closed before I left, just for the sake of the families involved," he said.
Police aren't calling the case impossible, though.
Angeli and Sarvello said they believe others had direct knowledge of the Girard murder that night.
"We believe one person actually did the killing, but that he may have had contact with other people in the aftermath," Angeli said.
Sarvello said the case is still viable for that reason. "There's still a viable suspect and to this day, I believe it is that person and it just never came around to him," he said. "I believe there are at least one or two people in this area that still have knowledge of this murder. It hasn't been put away and forgotten. It's still here, right in front of us."
Angeli agreed the case is far from forgotten.
"Even though it's 20 years old, we think about it regularly," he said. "Maybe someone will want to tell us something now that they didn't want to tell us then."
Information about the murder can be directed to the Marquette City Police Department at (906)-228-0400.

IBU World Cup 8 in Presque Isle, USA

Mens 10km sprint

Starts 8:30 MST, 16:30 CET
In the top 10 in the sprint world cup standings, Emil Hegle Svendsen and Evgeniy Garanichev are missing. Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Dominik Landetinger are also missing, who are 11th and 13th overall in the sprint standings respectively. Fourcade leads the Sprint cup with 270 points, with Simon Schempp on 228 points, so Schempp needs to win today, with Fourcade taxing max 17 which is a 24th place finish or worse. If this scenario happens Schempp will be wearing the red bib jersey in the World Championships, seeing as this is the last race sprint race before Oslo.
Favorites:

	Name	Bib	Start time (CET)
	Martin Fourcade	3	16:31:30
	Dominik Windisch	4	16:32:00
	Simon Eder	5	16:32:30
	Juliian Eberhard	7	16:33:30
	Arnd Peiffer	8	16:34:00
	Benedikt Doll	12	16:36:00
	Anton Shipulin	16	16:38:00
	Johannes Thignes Bø	25	16:42:30
	Tarjei Bø	32	16:46:00

This weeks /biathlon country spotlight: USA
The US biathlon team:

	Name	Bib	Start time (CET)
	Tim Burke	6	16:33:00
	Lowell Bailey	36	16:48:00
	Sean Doherty	42	16:51:00
	Leif Nordgren	76	17:08:00

Todays focus is on the vocal point in the American national team, Tim Burke. Tim Burke is a veteran at 34 years old. His international debut was in 2004 and has been in the Biathlon circus since. His best ever result was when he took the silver medal in the 2013 Nove Mesto individual race. He also has two 2nd places in world cup races, in the mass start in Oberhof in 2009/2010 and the individual in Östersund in 2009/2010. His strong start at the in the 09/10 season was awarded by him leading the overall classification cup and wearing the yellow bib and the first and only to do so. He is a three time Olympian, attending the 2006, 2010 and 2014 Olympics.
Tim Burke is 23rd overall in the Mens world cup standings. He is 19th overall in the sprint cup, and must be eager to do well in his own country. He showed a great race last weekend, finishing in 7th place in Canmore which was his season best in the mass start.
Fun fact: Tim Burke is married to former fellow biathlon star, Andrea Henkel from Germany!
RACE EVENTS:

• And we are underway! Iliev from Bulgarian gets thing underway!
• Fourcade takes the lead at the intermediate 2.3 KMs
• Windisch follows Fourcade and is only 1.5 seconds behind, so a good start from him!
• Good start from Fourcade hitting all five! Takes the lead!
• Windisch misses twice!
• Eder with the one miss, not the best series from the Austrian!
• Tim Burke, the home hope with a miss and has to go to the penalty lap!
• Eberhard uncomfortable as always shooting, but just the one miss from him!
• Peiffer who has won here before, with a great start shooting all five down! Is he gonna win again? He is 5 seconds behind Fourcade.
• Slesingr gets bad conditions and does well just missing the one shot!
• Doll clears! Only two seconds behind Fourcade!
• Wiestner from Switzerland takes second place after the first shooting, just the second behind Fourcade!
• Shipulin with a good start, not as fast as always in the track, but hits all five! 4 seconds behind.
• Fourcade into the standing shooting, takes his time, but he misses! Used a long time at the shooting range. Very open race now!
• Simon Eder with a clean shot, but not great in the track today. Just the one miss.
• Johannes Thignes Bø in for the prone shooting, and hits all five! Leads 7 seconds ahead of Fourcade!
• Eberhard with 3 rounds and four totally...
• Peiffer with the one miss. Not gonna win today!
• Doll misses, hits, misses and with two rounds is out of the victory race.
• Rastorgujevs with a clean shoot! Could be a good race from him!
• Wiestner from Switzerland with the one miss!
• Tarjei Bø hits all five! Very lucky on the first shot!
• Hofer with the one round on his prone shooting.
• Shipulin clears and hits all 10 shots! Can be a very good race from him, depends on how he does on the last round! Is he gonna take the victory?
• Fourcade first one who crosses the line, could be a very good race depending on what the others do. Gonna be top 10 at least!
• Bailey cleans and is 11 seconds behind Bø!
• Old brother Fourcade with the one miss. Not gonna beat his little brother today!
• Johannes Thignes Bø! Takes the lead with 27.7 seconds after hitting all 10 shots! Looks like we have a winner!
• Wiestner takes second place, behind Fourcade at the finish!
• Rastorgujevs misses the one shot on the standing shooting.
• Tarjei Bø with the one miss. Not a good race from him today with a slow time in the track
• Shipulin takes the lead in the finish with one second over Fourcade!
• Eric Lesser with a clean shoot, but his time in the track is too slow.
• Bailey with the one miss!
• Alexander Os hits all five on the prone shooting! He needs to beat Bjøntegaard if he wants to go to the World Championships.
• Johannes Thignes Bø looks like he has won! 27.9 seconds ahead of Shipulin at the finish!
• Shaun Doherty misses one, so hits 9 out of 10. Good race from the youngster.
• Rastorgujevs is really tired, and loses many many seconds! Over 50 seconds behind Thignes Bø.
• Tarjei Bø in at number 7, 58 seconds behind his younger brother.
• Malyshko misses one shot on the prone shooting.
• Lesser starts with two hits, gets a bit uncomfortable and needs to regain himself, but hits the last three and goes out with 10 hits! Too bad his skiing is not as fast as it could of been.
• Alexander Os with the one miss! Is he gonna beat Bjøntegaard?
• Dolder from Switzerland misses the one shot. The Swiss have very good skiis today, so he will finish high up with the one miss!
• Lesser goes into the finish in 4th place! Did he just secure his World Championships spot?

- Todays top 10:

1. Johannes Thignes Bø
2. Anton Shipulin
3. Martin Fourcade
4. Erik Lesser
5. Serafin Wiestner
6. Benjamin Weger
7. Andrejs Rastorgujevs
8. Tarjei Bø
9. Arnd Peiffer
10. Erlend Bjøntegaard

IBU World Cup 8 in Presque Isle, Maine, USA

** Relay**

Starts 14:20 MST, 20:20 CET
Welcome to the last event in Presque Isle and the last event before the World Championships(!!!).
The relay is a team event, with four biathletes from each country competing together. Each biathlete has one prone and one standing shooting each before they exchange to the next biathlete. For each shooting, they have 3 extra shots, so if they miss they get 3 extra shots to get down the targets. If not they need to go to the penalty lap. Russia leads the overall relay cup for men, 12 points ahead of Norway.
A lot of teams are reduced today, and a lot of their better biathletes are not here today as they are preparing for the World Championships, so it will be a very open race and quite hard to predict.
Favorites:

Country	Name	Bib	Rank at handover
Russia	Alexey Volkov	1.1	9
Russia	Alexander Povarnitsyn	1.2	3
Russia	Dmirty Malyshko	1.3	2
Russia	Maxim Tvetsov	1.4	4
Norway	Lars Helge Birkleland	2.1	12
Norway	Erlend Bjøntegaard	2.2	5
Norway	Johannes Thingnes Bø	2.3	1
Norway	Tarjei Bø	2.4	1
Germany	Erik Lesser	3.1	1
Germany	Andreas Birnbacher	3.2	6
Germany	Daniel Boehm	3.3	6
Germany	Benedikt Doll	3.4	3
Austria	Sven Grossegger	4.1	7
Austria	Lorenz Waeger	4.2	9
Austria	David Komatz	4.3	9
Austria	Julian Eberhard	4.4	9
France	Simon Fourcade	5.1	4
France	Quintin Fillon Maillet	5.2	4
France	Simon Desthieux	5.3	3
France	Jean Guillaume Beatrix	5.4	2
USA	Lowell Bailey	6.1	11
USA	Leif Nordgren	6.2	7
USA	Tim Burke	6.3	5
USA	Sean Doherty	6.4	5

This week's /biathlon country spotlight: USA
The US biathlon team:

Country	Name	Bib	Place at handover
USA	Lowell Bailey	6.1	11
USA	Leif Nordgren	6.2	7
USA	Tim Burke	6.3	5
USA	Sean Doherty	6.4	5

The last two days we have covered Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke. Todays spotlight is on Sean Doherty, who is the most exciting biathlete from USA in a long time. He isn't just exciting in America, but he won the 2014 sprint and pursuit in the Biathlon Youth World Championships where he beat Ricco Gross son Marco Gross. He also took silver in the Individual. Being just 20 years old he is one of the biggest talent in the Biathlon world at the moment, coming in 13th place on the sprint in Presque Isle for his best ever finish. He competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics as an 18 year old, coming 16th in the relay. He has also competed in the World Championships, coming in 45th in the pursuit as his best result.
Sean Doherty is 46th overall in the womens world cup standings and is on a very good American team capable of a bronze medal at the World Championships if everyone has a good day.
Fun fact: Sean Dohertys hobby is carving wood. He has his own wood lathe which he brought to the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, New York, last summer preparing for this season!
RACE EVENTS:

• And we are off!
  
• Erik Lesser takes the commando early ahead of Chepelin.
  
• Simon Fourcade is now pulling the pack, with Chepelin right behind
  
• Simon Fourcade hits all five! Takes the lead with Russia and Germany following behind. Norway in trouble!
  
• Norway out last...
  
• Norway out 30 seconds behind. Bad start for one of the favourites.
  

Top 5 after the first shooting:

1. Fourcade
2. Volkov
3. Lesser
4. Chepelin
5. De Lorenzi

• A gap between the first five down to number 6 Lowell Bailey with a 10 second gap.
• Also in the chasing pack with Lowell Bailey is Grossegger, Semenov, Kazar

Shooting two:

• Italy starts with a miss, Erik Lesser full house, Volkov and Fourcade misses.
• Lesser out alone!
• 10 seconds back to Fourcade and De Lorenzi.

Top 10:

1. Lesser - 0 seconds
2. Fourcade +10 seconds
3. De Lorenzi +11 seconds
4. Chepelin +13 seconds
5. Savitsiy +14.5 seconds
6. Semenov +21.4 seconds
7. Wiestner +21.9 seconds
8. Grossegger + 22.8 seconds
9. Kazar +24.1 seconds
10. Volkov +24.1 seconds

• Lesser with an amazing last lap! Has doubled the advantage down to Fourcade!
• The lead is now 19.6 seconds down to Fourcade.
• Lesser sends out Birnbacher alone!

The standings after the first lap:

1. Lesser - 0 seconds
2. Wiestner +17 seconds
3. Chepelin +17 seconds
4. Fourcade +18 seconds
5. Savitsiy +26 seconds
6. Semenov +26 seconds
7. Grossegger +27 seconds
8. De Lorenzi +27 seconds
9. Volkov +29 seconds

• Birnbacher has thirteen seconds down to the chasing pack. Dyuzhev and Weger follow behind.
• Weger is now 6 seconds behind!
• The first shooting Birnbacher has nearly lost all his advantage.
• Birnbacher with three misses!
• France and Italy both miss one,
• Weger and Dyuzhev both hit all five!
• Russia are done!
• Germany hit all five, but are behind!

Top 10 after the third shooting:

1. Weger +0 seconds
2. Dyuzhev +0.8 seconds
3. Hofer +7.3 seconds
4. Waeger +14.7 seconds
5. Povarnitsyn +15.2 seconds
6. Matiasko +18 seconds
7. Nordgren + 25.2 seconds
8. Birnbacher+ 27.4 seconds
9. Fillon Maillet +32.4 seconds
10. Pryma +37.3 seconds

• Weger goes to the third shooting alone, misses one, but just needs the one extra shot. Belarus are struggling.
• Belarus need one round, Italy is finished, so is Russia and USA.
• Norway is back in it!

Top 10 after the fourth shooting:

1. Weger +0 seconds
2. Hofer +21.7 seconds
3. Povarnitsyn +28.4 seconds
4. Nordgren + 33.3 seconds
5. Fillon Maillet +34.2 seconds
6. Bjøntegaard +42.6 seconds
7. Birnbacher+ 44 seconds
8. Dyuzhev +47 seconds
9. Waeger +52.5 seconds
10. Pryma +55 seconds

• Weger has opened the gap to 29 seconds down to Hofer! Povarnitsyn is 35 seconds behind. The whole pack looses time to Weger!
• at the handover Weger is in alone!
• He has 33 seconds to Italy!
• Mario Dolder from Swiss is alone in the track and has a bunch behind him, with 30 seconds to spare! Norway is back in the race with Johannes Thingnes Bø who is racing really quick!
• Italy, France, Norway and Germany are chasing down Swiss at the moment!
• Dolder is into the prone shooting. Missing three shots! Hits one extra shot, two shots, but misses the third!
• Thingnes Bø starts with a hit, misses twice
• Windisch is finished!
• Boehm out in 7th!

Top 5 after the fifth shooting:

1. Windisch +0 seconds
2. Destiheux +7.9 seconds
3. Malyshko +14.7 seconds
4. Thingnes Bø +18.8 seconds
5. Dolder +23.8 seconds

• Windisch racing really fast! But has only 13 seconds to Thingnes Bø who is second place now!
• Dolder is really tired and is now 34 seconds behind! Burke is right behind in 6th.
• Thingnes Bø is now 6.3 seconds behind Windisch. Destiheux and Malyshko both are right behind!
• Windisch comes in alone with a few seconds for the 6th shooting. Thingnes Bø is not far behind.
• Windisch and Thingnes Bø both miss one. Malyshko full house, France out in third. Dolder misses all four and needs one round!

Top 6:

1. Malyshko +0 seconds
2. Thingnes Bø +6.3 seconds
3. Destiheux +12.2 seconds
4. Windisch +26.6 seconds
5. Burke +40.6 seconds
6. Boehm +51 seconds

• Malyshko and Thingnes Bø are both together with Destiheux 13.2 seconds behind. Windisch is 23 seconds behind.
• Malyshko and Thingnes Bø send out Tsvetkov and Tarjei Bø together!
• They have 13 seconds down to France!
• Italy is 4th! USA is 5th and Germany 6th!
• Tarjei Bø opens an advantage down to Tsvetkov! France is 25 seconds behind! Italy 38.5 seconds, USA 43 seconds.
• Tarjei Bø has a good advantage into the prone shooting. Great shooting and all five down!
• Tsvetkov struggles and misses two!
• Beatrix with five right down!
• Bormolini misses one.
• Tsvetkov is finally finished!
• Bormolini just makes it without a penalty lap as he hits on the last extra shot!

Standings:

1. Tarjei Bø +0 seconds
2. Beatrix +26 seconds
3. Tsvetkov +46.7 seconds
4. Doherty +1 minute 1 seconds
5. Doll + 1 minute 14 seconds
6. Bormolini +1 minute 17 seconds

• Tarjei Bø is skiing really well. He has 31 seconds down to Beatrix and 52 seconds to Tsvetkov. Doherty is not far away from Tsvetkov! Can they make a top 3 finish?
• Tarjei Bø is now 34 seconds ahead of Beatrix
• Tarjei Bø is in for the finally shooting! Can he win it? Hits the two first, misses the third, hits fourth and fifth! Hits the extra shots and wins it for the Norwegians!
• Beatrix with a great series and is not far behind!
• Tsvetkov misses one and hits the extra shot! Doll and Doherty both hit their final shots! Who takes third?

Top 5:

1. Tarjei Bø +0 seconds
2. Beatrix +14 seconds
3. Tsvetkov +46.8 seconds
4. Doll +57.5 seconds
5. Doherty +59.9 seconds

• On the final lap both Doll and Doherty are both pushing really hard for third!
• Tarjei Bø has controll down to Beatrix who is 27 seconds behind
• Doll is passed Tsvetkov and Doherty! looks like a German third place!
• And Norway wins it! Lars Helge Birkeland, Erlend Bjøntegaard, Johannes Thingnes Bø and Tarjei Bø!

Top 10:

1. Norway +0 seconds
2. France + 30 seconds
3. Germany +42.6 seconds
4. Russia +48.3 seconds
5. USA +48.3 seconds
6. Italy + 1 minutes 34 seconds
7. Ukraine + 2 minutes 27 seconds
8. Belarus + 3 minutes 3 seconds
9. Austria +3 minutes 3 seconds
10. Kazakhstan +3 minutes 9 seconds

Mercyhurst University (MU)
Atlantic Hockey Association (AHC)
Year Founded: 1926
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania
Enrollment: 2,573
Total Attendance: 16,958 (942 average) – 54th place
Nickname: Lakers
With Mercyhurst located on Lake Erie, the nickname "Lakers" seemed the perfect fit. A "Laker" is a fisherman who has the skill, tenacity, and resourcefulness to meet the challenge of life on the water.
Live Mascot: Luke the Laker
Luke the Laker was introduced at the beginning of this year after the old mascot, Louie the Laker "passed away." Due to flooding in the Carolyn Herrmann Student Union last semester Louie's costume was destroyed. According to his backstory, Luke is the nephew of his dearly-departed Uncle Louie. He grew up on Lower Baggot Street in Dublin, Ireland, and was a fisherman on the Irish Sea until the time came for him to sail to Erie to take Louie's place. Luke has a tattoo of an anchor and the number 94 in roman numerals on his arm. This is a tribute to his predecessor, the original Mercyhurst mascot the Old Man in the Sea, born in 1994. The Old Man in the Sea was followed by Louie and now Luke.
Luke even has his own twitter account @LuketheLaker
Uniforms
Band: The Green and White Pep Band
Mercyhurst did not have a band in any capacity until 2012 when Athletic Director Joe Kimball began to invite opposing teams' bands to perform. This spurred the university to create its own band for athletic and academic events.
Fight Song: "'Hurst Fight Song" (set to the tune of "Anchors Aweigh"

Go for it Lakers
Fight for the Hurst
Show us the spirit
that has always made you first
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Win for the Blue and Green
Bring home the game
Look for the lights that burn
forever in the hall of Old Main

Alma Mater:

We hail our college Alma Mater
The 'Hurst that's stood upon the hill,
With love for all she has taught us,
Traditions that we carry still
Old Main stands for the future,
The opportunity,
To seize each moment of the future
Awaiting you and me!
The gates stand always open
The trees stand silent all around,
For when we come to Mercyhurst,
There's no better to be found.

Arena: The Mercyhurst Ice Center (MIC)
Exterior Interior
The MIC is a 35,280 square foot arena built in 1991 for $1.4 million. Prior to the construction of the Mercyhurst Ice Center, the men's team was affectionately known as the "Boys on the Bus," playing almost all of their games on the road and practicing at the crack of dawn at public rinks. In their third year of varsity play, the team played 27 out of 33 games at out-of-town arenas. Due to their rise in prominence at the Division III level, the Mercyhurst board of trustees directed college officials either to build a rink or to abandon the sport. In a unique funding arrangement, Mercyhurst students agreed to pay for the ice center through a $56 increase in their annual building assessment fee. The money generates $80,000 each year and will retire the school-backed bond in 2021.
On December 8, 1991, the Mercyhurst Ice Center opened for business. The Lakers' first game in the new arena was against RIT. Unfortunately, the Lakers lost 5-4.
In 2007 the university spent $175,000 for improvements to the facility. In early 2015 Mercyhurst, along with First Niagara Bank, announced an estimated $300,000 renovation. Currently, the arena has a capacity of 1,500, making it the 5th smallest arena in Division I men's hockey. However, the planned renovations were not only to overhaul the lobby, but also increase its capacity.
Town Information: Originally occupied by the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy and the Seneca Nation, Erie was settled by the French in 1753. Building Fort Presque Isle near the present day city center, the French would abandon their post a mere seven years later. It was subsequently taken over by British forces until 1763 when the Seven Years War ended.
The city emerged as a maritime center after the American Revolution, then as a railroad hub during the great American westward expansion. Erie became an important city for iron and steel manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution and thrived well into the 20th century with big industry. Today, over 10 percent of the USA's plastics are manufactured or finished in Erie-based plastics plants. The city is an emerging center for biofuels and environmental research, producing over 45 million U.S. gallons of biofuel a year.
Erie sits in what would was a disputed triangle of land that was claimed by New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. In 1792, after all but Pennsylvania released their claims to the land, it officially became a part of the state. That's why Pennsylvania has the funny little horn in its top left corner. Present day Erie sits almost directly between Cleveland, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh. Most of the cityscape includes renovated and refurbished factory buildings, mid-rise housing, single family homes, and office buildings.
Check out Visit Erie for more about activities around the city.
First Season: 1999 was the first season for Division I hockey. The Lakers spent five years in Division III (1987-1992) and seven years in Division II (1992-99).
Former Athletic Director John Leisering, at the urging of faculty member Dr. Bob Cisek, sold the idea of elevating Mercyhurst's club hockey program to the board of trustees in 1987. Fred Lane was named head coach for the inaugural season of Laker hockey that year. His Laker team went 16-7 playing a composite schedule made up of club teams and Division III programs. Lane, however, did not want to quit his first job with the Erie Water Works, and at the beginning of 1988 Rick Gotkin was brought in from RPI. Gotkin's first team went 11-16-1 playing a vast majority of their games on the road.
All-time Record: 488-346-69 (306-242-61 in Division I)
Championships: 0
Frozen Four Appearances: 1993 (DII), 1995 (DII)
Tournament Appearances: 1991 (DIII), 1993 (DII), 1995 (DII), 2001, 2003, 2005
Conference Titles: 2001 (Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament), 2002 (MAAC regular season) 2003 (MAAC regular season and tournament), 2005
Rivals
Robert Morris Like kissing your sister, the Lakers series has almost as many ties (8) as victories (10) over conference foe RMU in the series between the programs. Although RMU started varsity hockey in 2004 the two teams would not meet on a regular basis until the 2010 season, owing to the fact that RMU played in the rival CHA conference (which has since folded). The back and forth nature of the in-state rivalry came to a head last year as the Lakers downed the No. 1 overall seed Colonials in the AHC semifinals, dashing any hopes of a repeat champion.
Canisius Dating back to their days as Division III opponents in the ECAC West, Mercyhurst holds a 40-32-10 all-time advantage over the Golden Griffins from Buffalo. However, Canisius has begun to turn the series, owning an 8-3-1 mark against the Lakers in the last 12 contests. The rivalry had its biggest game when Canisius won its first Atlantic Hockey title over the Lakers in 2013. In the 2014 AHC semifinals the Griffs again topped the Lakers in double-overtime, securing a 5-4 victory and a spot in the championship game against the aforementioned Colonials.
Honorable mention: Air Force, Niagara, RIT.
2014-2015 Season
Record: 19-16-4 (14-10-3)
Coach: Rick Gotkin
2014-2015 Roster
Season Summary
Last season ended with heartbreak and thoughts on what could have been. After winning the regular season AHC title in 2014, the team failed to make the conference final. Yet, despite a slew of injuries the Lakers made it all the way to the Atlantic Hockey championship game in 2015. There, they fell to an upset-minded RIT squad that later sent No. 1-seeded Minnesota-Mankato packing from the NCAA tournament. Despite the loss in the championship game the season has to be viewed as a success because how they got there: A split with then-No.4 Colgate in November, a loss and a tie with Ohio State in the Snowtown Throwdown, and a split with rival Robert Morris. Mercyhurst, however, could never solve the riddles of Canisius or RIT, going a combined 0-5-1 against the two in conference play.
Ending the season on a down note the Lakers entered the playoffs as the 5th seed. The opening round series against Bentley would go to the third and deciding game where Nardo Nagtzaam scored the series winning goal with 5.5 seconds left on the clock. The Falcons took an early 2-0 lead, but the Lakers battled back for three unanswered goals and the win.
In Rochester the Lakers met Robert Morris in the semifinals where they upset the favored Colonials thanks to a stellar performance by freshman goaltender Brandon Wildung. His performance, coupled with Zac Frischmon's goal at the 3:04 mark of overtime lifted the Lakers to a 4-3 come-from-behind victory. With the game tied late in the third period Wildung was pulled and Chris Bodo buried a shot with 35.5 seconds left to force overtime. The next night the Lakers would not fare as well, falling to RIT 1-5.
2015-2016 Season Schedule
Drafted Players on Roster: 0
Key Games

• Oct. 16-18 at Michigan: The Lakers visit Yost Arena to take on the big boys from the Big Ten. With Wolverines returning a majority of their roster from last year's team these games have the potential to be ugly. The games should be a good test for a young Mercyhurst squad.
• Nov. 6-7 vs Air Force: Air Force and Mercyhurst games always seem to get chippy and this two game set will probably be more of the same. The Falcons and the Lakers split their series last season.
• Jan. 2-3 vs Rochester Institute of Technology: A home-and-home series with perennial AHC power and reigning conference champion RIT. The Polisseni Center will either be rocking or it may be a bit empty since RIT's winter break ends on January 2nd.

Players to Watch

• Brandon Wildung, Goalie, Sophomore: When reigning Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year Jimmy Sarjeant re-aggravated a hernia in January, Wildung jumped into the fire. Against RIT and Bentley he had back-to-back 40 save games, going 1-1. Facing Robert Morris in the in the AHC semifinals, he stopped a career-high 59 shots, but faltered the next day against RIT in the final. He finished the season with a 11-10-3 record, a 2.58 goals-against average, and a .924 save percentage. He was also named to the Atlantic Hockey's All-Academic Team. As he goes, the teams goes. His mask is nifty, too.
• Jack Riley, Forward, R-Sophomore: The son of Army head coach Brian Riley, Jack returned to the ice after hip injuries derailed what was to be his freshman season. He rebounded to score nine goals, and added 15 assists for 24 points last winter. From Dec. 6 through Jan. 13 he had an eight-game scoring streak with two four point games: Dec. 6 vs Army (2g, 2a) and Jan. 9 vs Sacred Heart (1g, 3a). He was named to Atlantic Hockey's All-Rookie team for his efforts.
• Anthony Mastrodicasa, Defenseman, Senior: One of only three seniors on the team, Mastrodicasa will likely be the captain for this season. Playing in all but one Laker game last year netted him 20 points (4g, 16a), including two 3-point games: Oct. 24 against Merrimack (1g 2a) and Dec. 13 against Robert Morris (2g 1a). He was also named to Atlantic Hockey's All-Academic Team.

Mercyhurst History
Greatest Players:

• Gary Bowles, Goalie: "Bubba" Bowles was the first goalie in program history. During his four years, Mercyhurst went a combined 64-44-6. He still holds the records for most wins (56), most minutes played (5627:55), and most games played (101). He was the goaltender of record when the Lakers won their first playoff game, a 5-4 triumph at Elmira March 8, 1991. He was chosen as team captain in both his junior and senior seasons, and played in 101 of 114 games in his four years. Of those 114 games, only 35 were played in Erie.
• Scott Burfoot, Forward: He set nearly every team-scoring record during his career, including most goals, points and assists. In his junior year, 1990-91, Burfoot led all college/university players in points with 96. He finished with a career mark of 290 points, a school record that will probably never be broken. Twice named ECAC West Player of the Year, 1990-91 and 1991-92, he continued his brilliance on the ice as a member of the Erie Panthers, leading the East Coast Hockey League in points in 1994-95. He currently holds two NCAA Division III records: most short-handed goals in a season (10), and most short-handed goals in a career (25).
• Jamie Hunt, Defense: The only Laker ever to play in the NHL, the undrafted Hunt suited up for the Washington Capitals for a single game on Dec. 29, 2006 against the Devils. At Mercyhurst he was an offensive defenseman, capping off his senior season by leading all Atlantic Hockey defensemen in scoring with 45 points. Playing just three years at Mercyhurst, Hunt totaled 81 points (20 goals, 61 assists) and a plus/minus rating of +34.
• Honorable mention: Peter Aubry, Cullen Eddy, Troy Winch

Mercyhurst University (MU)
Atlantic Hockey Association
Year Founded: 1926
Location: Erie, Pennsylvania
Total Attendance: 13,790
Average Attendance: 862
Nickname: Lakers
Mascot: Louie the Laker. A Laker is a fisherman who has the skill, tenacity, and resourcefulness to meet the challenges of life on the water.
Picture 1 Picture 2 Picture 3
Fight Song: 'Hurst Fight Song (set to the tune of Anchors Aweigh)

Go for it Lakers
Fight for the Hurst
Show us the spirit
that has always made you first
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Win for the Blue and Green
Bring home the game
Look for the lights that burn
forever in the hall of Old Main

Arena: The Mercyhurst Ice Center (MIC)
Exterior Interior 1 Interior 2 Interior 3 Zamboni
The MIC is a 35,280 square foot arena built in 1991 for 1.4 million dollars. Mercyhurst spent 175,000 dollars in 2007 for improvements to the facility. In a unique funding arrangement, Mercyhurst students agreed to pay for the ice center through a 56 dollar increase in their annual building assessment fee. The money generates 80,000 dollars each year and will retire the school-backed bond in 2021.
Uniforms
First Season: 1999 was the first season for Division I hockey. The Lakers spent five years in Division III (1987-1992) and seven years in Division II (1992-99).
All-time Record: 469-330-65 (266-213-50 in Division I)
Championships: 0
Frozen Four Appearances: 1993 (DII), 1995 (DII)
Tournament Appearances: 1991 (DIII), 1993 (DII), 1995 (DII), 2001, 2003, 2005
Conference Tournament Champions: 2001 (MAAC), 2003 (MAAC), 2005
Conference Regular Season Champions: 2002 (MAAC), 2003 (MAAC)
Rivals
Robert Morris A new rivalry, it heated up when RMU joined the Lakers in the AHA. Erie is just a quick drive up from Pittsburgh on I-79. The inital match-up came in the first year of RMU's program during the 2004-05 season when the Lakers won by a score of 8-2. MU currently leads the series 6-4-3.
Canisius The rivalry between the Lakers and the Golden Griffins extends back to club hockey.
Note: To be honest I don't know much about the rivalries and could not find much in the way of information. I'm sure someone out there knows more than I do. If you do, please let me know. Thanks!
2012-2013 Season
Record: 19-17-5 (12-11-4)
Coach: Rick Gotkin
2012-2013 Roster
Season Summary
Improving on their finish in 2012, Mercyhurst made it all the way to the AHA final against Canisius. Big wins along came in the form of a 5-2 victory over Maine in Orono; a 3-2 OT win over Canisius; and in the AHA quarterfinals against Holy Cross. Mercyhurst would finish the regular season in sixth place before catching fire and reaching the AHA championship game. With the quarterfinal series against Holy Cross tied 1-1, goalie Jordan Tibbet stopped all twenty-eight Crusader shots to preserve the 1-0 victory. In the semifinals the Lakers bested the Huskies of UConn, 4-1, setting up the pivotal game with with the Griffs. Ultimately, however, another AHA championship was not meant to be as a disastrous second period doomed the Lakers. Canisius' win propelled their program into the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. Coach Gotkin would say after the championship game, "The second period was an absolute schmozzle. I've been doing this a long time and it was one of the craziest periods of hockey I've ever been a part of. It was a nightmare second period for us."
2013-2014 Season
Schedule
Drafted Players on Roster: None
Key Games

• Jan. 23 and 25 vs Canisius
• Feb. 7-8 @ Air Force
• Feb. 21-22 vs Niagara

Players to Watch

• Matthew Zay, F, Jr: Finished the 2012-13 winning the AHA scoring title. Named to the Atlantic Hockey Association Third Team. He had at least one point in 26 contests, nine multiple-point games, and two separate scoring streaks of seven consecutive games during the season.
  
• Daniel O'Donoghue, F, Sr: Captain of the team. He finished third on the team in scoring with 12 goals and 24 assists for 36 points. Had career-highs in goals (12), assists (24), points (36), plus/minus rating (+15), and shorthanded goals (3).
  
• Jordan Tibbet, G, RS-Jr: Started 15 games in goal last season, finishing with a 7-7-1 record. He replaces departed starting netminder Max Strang. Last year he posted a .925 save percentage and 2.51 goals against average.
  

Mercyhurst History
Greatest Players:

• Gary Bowels, G: Bowels was the first goalie in program history. During his four years, Mercyhurst went a combined 64-44-6. He still holds the records for most wins (56), most minutes played (5627:55), and most games played (101). He was the goaltender of record when the Lakers won their first playoff game, a 5-4 triumph at Elmira March 8, 1991. He was chosen team captain in both his junior and senior seasons, and played in 101 of 114 games in his four years. Of those 114 games, only 35 were played in Erie.
  
• Scott Burfoot, F: He set nearly every team-scoring record during his career, including most goals, points and assists. In his junior year, 1990-91, Burfoot led all college/university players in points with 96. Twice named ECAC West Player of the Year, 1990-91 and 1991-92, he continued his brilliance on the ice as a member of the Erie Panthers, leading the East Coast Hockey League in points in 1994-95.
  

Note: These are the only two hockey inductees, along with the 2000-01 team, in the Mercyhurst Hall of Fame. If you believe there are other "greatest" players, please let me know who they are and I will add them to the list.
Greatest Coaches:

• Rick Gotkin, 453-323-65 (266-213-50 in Division I): Coach Gotkin returns to Mercyhurst for his 26th year behind the bench. Taking over the program in its second season, Gotkin is the the only coach in NCAA history to lead a school to the NCAA Tournament at all three levels. He has guided the Lakers to more than 400 wins, six NCAA tournament appearance, and four league championships. In his distinguished career he has produced seven All-Americans, four ECAC (Division III) Players of the Year, three ECAC Rookies of the Year, five MAAC First-Team selections, 20 AHA All-Conference selections, and two AHA Rookies of the Year. In 2001, he was named MAAC Coach of the Year and a finalist for the Spencer Penrose Award.

Greatest Games:

• Mar. 17, 2001 vs Quinnipiac, 6-5: Mercyhurst pounced on two defensive breakdowns with ten minutes remaining to claim their first MAAC title. Eric Ellis beat goalie Justin Eddy to tie the game with nine minutes left, and Mike Carter got the winner when two Quinnipiac defensemen went after Ellis in the corner. Ellis fed an open Carter in front with 6:48 left. The MAAC championship secured a spot in the NCAA Tournment, the first time the program had made it to the tournament at the Division I level. The Lakers faced vaunted Michigan in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Despite stopping 47 Wolverine shots, goalie Peter Aubry and his Mercyhurst teammates were unable to pull off the upset, losing 4-3.
  
• Mar. 23, 2003 vs Quinnipiac, 4-3: Defenseman T.J. Kemp scored on the power play with 11:15 remaining to break a 3-3 tie with the Bobcats to earn the second MAAC championship in program history. Laker David Wrigley was named tournament MVP. A week later the Lakers clashed with eventual NCAA champion Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA tournament, ultimately falling by a score of 9-2.
  
• Mar. 19, 2005 vs Quinnipiac, 3-2 OT: Mercyhurst overcame two separate deficits en route to their first AHA championship. Tournament MVP Scott Champagne scored the game winning goal 4:56 into overtime. The win propelled the Lakers to their third appearance in the NCAA Division I tournament in five years. Facing Boston College in the opening round, the Lakers' Mike Ella made 52 saves against the Eagles, three short of the NCAA record for a non-overtime game. The Lakers would not be able to pull off the victory, however, losing 5-4.
  

School and City Information
City Population: 101,047
School History
Mercyhurst University is a Catholic liberal arts college.

In 1926, Mercyhurst College opened its doors on a wind-swept hill overlooking Lake Erie, just a few blocks away from the city's southern boundary. Today, the college is in its 87th year after being founded by the Sisters of Mercy of the Erie Catholic Diocese, who were led by Mother M. Borgia Egan, first president of Mercyhurst College.
In Mercyhurst history, five dates stand out above all others: Sept. 20, 1926, when the college opened; Oct. 5, 1928, when the school received its charter; Feb. 3, 1969, when the board of trustees voted to admit the first class of men to Mercyhurst; March 27, 1991, when the 100-year old Redemptorist Seminary in North East, Pennsylvania was purchased for use as the North East campus; and May 28, 2005, when Mercyhurst College purchased a 405-acre site in Girard, formerly the site of the Divine Word Seminary, as the future site of Mercyhurst West, now in operation in a temporary facility in Girard, Pennsylvania.
In 2012, Mercyhurst College officially became Mercyhurst University and opened an academic center in Dungarvan, Ireland.

Source
Traditions
I am not aware of any traditions, but if anyone is please let me know.
Local Dining:
Head over to Peach Street, a seven minute drive from campus. There you will find multiple restaurants and stores.

• El Canelo - Mexican
  
• Casablaca Grill - Middle East Mediterranean
  
• Plymouth Tavern
  
• Cornerstone Bar & Grill
  
• Presque Isle Downs is a casino and horse racing track just south of Erie.
  

Random Trivia:

• Rowing is the only other men's sport that competes at the Division I level.
  
• All other sports compete in Division II, primarily in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
  
• The music contest at the beginning of the film That Thing You Do! was filmed at Mercyhurst. The fictional band The Wonders were depicted as residents of Erie.
  

Academics
Mercyhurst offers more than 50 undergraduate majors, with 67 concentrations as well as unique adult programs and eight graduate degrees. Its main 75-acre campus is set in Erie, the state's only port city; the campus is approximately 100 miles from Cleveland, OH and Buffalo, NY and 130 miles north of Pittsburgh, PA.
The university is comprised of five schools:

1. The School of Arts & Humanities
2. The Walker School of Business & Communication
3. The Hafenmaier School of Education & Behavioral Sciences
4. The Zurn School of Natural Sciences & Mathematics
5. The School of Social Sciences

Mercyhurst is best known for its programs in archaeology and forensic anthropology, intelligence (Institute for Intelligence Studies and Center for Information Research Analysis and Training), forensic science, dance, music, and art therapy.
Notable Alumni:
James "Buster" Douglas: Former undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion. Knocked out previously undefeated champion Mike Tyson, who was considered to be the best boxer in the world.
Meghan Agosta: Two-time Olympic gold medal winner with for the Canadian women's ice hockey team. In 2010 she was named MVP of the Olympic women's tournament in Vancouver.
What is and what is to come
Expectations are high in Erie to begin the season. The Lakers were picked second in the AHA Coaches poll behind Niagara and tied with Air Force. Falling in the AHA championship to Canisius has left a bitter taste in the players' mouths. Eight of their top ten scorers return this season; their top three forwards (Jay, O'Donohue, and Ryan Misiak) all return as does most of their defense, led by senior Nick Jones and junior Tyler Shiplo. The only question remains in goal with Tibbett; how he performs will account for how far this team is able to go.
It's been eight years since Mercyhurst's last appearance in the NCAA tournament. Can they get over the hump this year and make it back? That remains to be seen. Last year's run to the AHA championship showed that they are a team to be wary of: This year the Lakers will play 25 games against schools currently ranked in the USCHO.com poll. The challenging schedule, coupled with the experience from their AHA tournament run last year, should prove invaluable.
Coach Gotkin knows what he's doing. He's built the program from the beginning and has consistently put winning teams on the ice for twenty-six years. I can't imagine that they would have a significant drop off as long as he is coaching.
Miscellaneous

• Mercyhurst women's hockey also competes in Division I and have appeared numerous times in the NCAA tournament. They have reached the Frozen Four on three occasions (2009, 2010, 2013). In 2009 they finished as runners-up, falling to Wisconsin in the final, 0-5. In 2011 Mercyhurst hosted the women's Frozen Four at Erie Insurance Arena, home of the Erie Otters of the OHL and Erie Bayhawks of the NBA D-League.

Note: I'm not a student or graduate of Mercyhurst. All of this information was culled from around the internet. I can count on one hand the times I've been to Erie. It's a strange but lovely city.
Credit to JohnDoeMonopoly for heading the project. I'm a little late to the party, I realize, but I was surprised to see how many teams were not profiled. These are fun to make and it's interesting to learn about schools I have only been vaguely aware of in the past.
Thanks for reading!