Lake Placid's Van Ledger competes in Monday’s biathlon single mixed relay at Lake Placid’s Mount Van Hoevenberg during the Winter World University Games. (Enterprise photo — Peter Crowley)

LAKE PLACID — Homegrown biathlete Van Ledger was a sharpshooter Monday, turning in another excellent performance on the range in Monday’s biathlon single mixed relay at the Winter World University Games.

The U.S. duo of Ledger and Cheresa Boulley finished eighth out of 12 nations, above Canada but below the traditional European powerhouses. The Czech pair of Tereza Jandova and Jakub Kocian won with brilliant shooting — they missed just three shots in their combined eight five-target sessions — as well as top-notch skiing. They led the entire race.

Only the Czechs shot better than Ledger, although his three misses were tied with those of Norway’s Vibeke Kvistad Dengerud. Ledger duplicated his performance from Saturday’s 15K individual event, again cleaning two stages with only three misses total.

Behind the Czechs there was a scramble for silver, which France won as Axel Garnier passed Ukraine’s Stepan Kinash on the last lap. Garnier’s French partner was Pauline Machut; Kinash’s Ukrainian teammate was Yuliia Horodna.

Boulley, of Minnesota, also shot well except for her first standing stage, in which she drew a penalty loop that slowed the team down a bit. In relays, each biathlete has five rounds loaded in the rifle, plus three spares; if they do not hit all five targets with those eight rounds, they have to ski a penalty loop. Loops can be major setbacks since top competitors usually avoid them, but they can be overcome. Kazakhstan’s relay team rallied to fourth place Monday despite Alexandr Mukhin having to ski four penalty loops in his first shooting stage.

Ledger was born and raised in Lake Placid and has trained with U.S. Biathlon at Mount Van Hoevenberg — so he is very familiar with the challenging new course’s grueling uphills and screaming downhills. He even roller skis this course in summer.

“I know every twist and turn,” he said. “This is the hardest course that I’ve ever raced, without a doubt.”

Monday’s snow was hard and fast, and Ledger’s skiing was solid.

“I’ve felt a little slow on skis recently, but it was a short race, so you can just pound it out,” he said.

He was especially happy about how well he shot. He shot clean his first and last times at the range.

“That first prone shooting felt good ’cause I came in and when I went out, I saw there was still some people laying down,” he said. “To see that, especially in a race like this, is awesome. Visible progress is great.”

When he shot clean again in his last stage, he left the range with a hint of a smile.

“That was awesome,” he said. “It’s been a little while since I cleaned standing in a race.”

The 20-year-old Ledger is a chemical engineering student at Montana State University. He is the lone homegrown athlete in these games, and he carried the U.S. flag at the Opening Ceremonies. “The local support is really hard to beat,” he said.

Boulley, 22, is working on her master’s degree in clinical exercise physiology at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. She said she loves the atmosphere of these games and has enjoyed watching other sports such as freestyle skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined.

She said she felt fast on skis Monday and at one point worked her way up to third position — but that got to her head, which she knows she’s not supposed to allow.

“Overall, I’m happy but I’m not satisfied,” she said.