AMHERST - It came as a surprise when Megan Proctor heard her name being called for third place.
Now, the corporal with the 154 Amherst Anson Air Cadet Squadron is heading to Prince Edward Island as part of the provincial cadet biathlon team.
At the age of 13, Megan is going into her third year with cadets and had never competed in a biathlon before. Neither had the rest of the squadron.
But the squadron decided to enter six of its members in a biathlon event in Truro recently where Megan came home with a bronze medal.
"We were going to just check out the biathlon and then we decided to compete," she said, noting the cadets practiced only a handful of times before competition.
"The girls ended up doing well, with myself and our senior member coming back with medals," he said.
During the biathlon, participants had to run circuits and fire at targets.
"Depending on the weather, we would have run and either roller or cross-country ski, then shoot at a target five times, then run again," Megan said, adding they ran a total of three times and shot twice.
"We were timed when running and if we missed a target, 40 seconds would be added to our run time," she said.
All run times were totaled together for their final time.
With her placing, Megan was named to the provincial team, which will compete Feb. 5 to 7 in Prince Edward Island.
"I'm very excited, but it's going to be tough on me because I'm the only one from here going."
Megan said that many of the other cadet teams that had entered the previous event were serious about the sport.
"A lot of them trained about three times a week and were all wearing bodysuits or Under Armour," she said, "so when they called my name for third place in the junior category, I was really surprised."
With a pair of skies and poles at her house, Megan has yet to begin practicing for the provincial competition, but plans to start soon.
She said she'll be practicing in her backyard, and possibly around the armouries as well.
rtetanish@amherstdaily.com
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