Pineland Farms, New Gloucester, ME, May 20. The newly elected USBA Board of Directors assembled here this past weekend for its first meeting to chart a new direction for the Association, including the appointment of Max Cobb as Executive Director.

Chairman Larry Pugh set the tone for the coming four years commenting that the new USBA Board would operate with “openness and transparency,” always keeping the interests of the athletes first.

With this as the priority, the new US Biathlon High Performance Plan (HPP) was unveiled with the goal “to succeed with honor to achieve world class results in a way that brings honor to our team, community, country and ourselves.” The plan includes re-establishing and expanding the RCE (Regional Centers of Excellence) program, the North American circuit of competitions, and providing the necessary support to bring success at every level of international competition, including Olympic Winter Games and World Championships, as well as World Cup, European Cup and World Junior Championships.

Preceding the day’s agenda, Chairman Pugh announced the appointment of long-time USBA employee Max Cobb as the new Executive Director, praising his work reorganizing USBA operations and programs in recent weeks, while also transitioning the Association’s move from Vermont to Maine.

Cobb, a 1987 Dartmouth graduate, for many years USBA Program Director and most recently Marketing Director, is highly respected in both domestic and international biathlon circles. He was a catalyst in the original HPP that saw the US develop internationally competitive athletes including 1997 World Junior Champion Jay Hakkinen, Rachel Steer and World Junior Medalists Lanny and Tracy Barnes.

Cobb also assisted in the development of most of the new biathlon facilities in the US including two in Maine at Fort Kent and Presque Isle, Mount Itasca in Minnesota and the 2002 Olympic venue at Soldier Hollow, Utah. Internationally, he serves as secretary for the International Biathlon Union (IBU) Technical Committee, was Chief of Competition for Biathlon at the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Winter Games and most recently was an International Referee at the 2006 Torino Olympic Winter Games. Cobb currently resides in Westford, Vermont with his wife Rosemary, sons Charlie (7), Timmy (5), and 8 month-old daughter Virginia.

The new Executive Director commented on his position and the future of the Association. “I look forward to working with our new Board and our outstanding group of athletes in the coming years. We have a terrific group of talented and dedicated athletes who thrilled us at the Olympic Games in Torino, both on and off the field of play. They have welcomed the new Board of Directors with great enthusiasm. Together, we see the next four years leading up to the Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada as offering enormous opportunities for success at every level for US Biathlon.”

Additional subjects covered during the meeting included proposed new athlete selection procedures, staffing, the annual Summer Festival competitions, committee assignments, fundraising and the budget. After the meeting, Board members had the opportunity to visit the new USBA office which is currently being decorated with biathlon memorabilia and photos with the assistance of the Maine Winter Sports Center and TD Banknorth.