Jan 05

Burke and Studebaker Post Top Finishes for Team USA in Oberhof Sprints

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OBERHOF, Germany (January 5, 2013) -  Dense fog and rain in Oberhof at today's IBU World Cup Sprints, continued to make for challenging conditions at the range, but Team USA athletes Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) and Leif Nordgren (Marine, MN) showed strong shooting, shooting clean and +1, respectively.

Studebaker posted a 29th place finish in the 7.5K Sprint with a time of 23:18.1, +2:00.9 minutes back from today's winner Miriam Gossner (GER) with a time of 21:17.2/0+2. World Cup leader Tora Berger (NOR) took second with clean shooting and a time of 21:19.2. Andrea Henkel (GER) finished third, shooting clean with a time of 21:41.3. Annelies Cook (Saranac Lake, NY) finished 72nd (25:14.4/2+3). Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT) did not start in today's race due to sore throat. 

"Today was a solid day for me," said Studebaker, "I was really happy to shoot so well since the conditions were really variable. I got pretty lucky with not too much wind or fog when I was on the range, and felt really relaxed about my shooting. Skiing was a little tough for me today, but I'm psyched to have such a solid result. This is a really tough course, and definitely not my favorite, but for me it's important to have as much racing as possible going into World Champs, so I'm looking forward to tomorrow!"

Extended results from the women's 7.5k Sprint are available here. The women's Pursuit will be webcast live beginning at 7:10 am (ET) here.

Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) posted the top finish for Team USA's men in today's 10k Sprint, finishing 26th with a time of 26:24.3/1+1, +1:16.4 back from Dmitry Malyshko (RUS), winning the first individual World Cup of his career, posting 25:07.9 (1+0). Nordgren finished 36th with a time of 26:48, and 1 penalty in standing. Evgenly Garanichev (RUS) finished second (25:20.5/1+0) and Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen took third with a time of 25:21.0 (0+1). 

"Today was not such a great race for me," said Burke. "I shot two penalties and my feeling on the skis was just OK. I think I will need a few more races to get back into the swing of things after the Christmas break. I am definitely paying the price a bit for traveling home for Christmas, but I am confident that I will be back when it counts at World Champs."

"I was really happy with my race today," said Nordgren. "I felt like this was probly the best skiing I've had this whole season so far. I felt really relaxed on the skis, but I was still able to drive hard, and fight on the steep uphills. In the shooting range I tried to be as relaxed as possible. With the fog on the range I just shot very slow and controlled, and it worked out pretty good!"

Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) finished  51st (27:21/+3), and Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) finished 64th (27:37.8/+4). Burke, Nordgren & Bailey will race tomorrow's Pursuit, webcast live here at 9:35 am (ET). Extended results from the men's 10k Sprint are available here.

Impressive Finishes at IBU Cup  for Team USA in Otepää 

IBU Cup competition opened today in Otepää, Estonia with Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) posting the top finish - 15th -  for Team USA in the women's 15K Individual with a time of 52:26.5 (0+2+0+1), +5:14.5 back from Russia's Ekaterina Iourieva, winning with a time of 47:12.0 (0+1+0+1) Hannah Dreissigacker (Morrisville, VT) finished 24th (54:23.5/0+4+0+3), Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO) posted a time of 54:32.6 (1+1+2+2) to finish 26th, and Katrina Howe (Gilford, New Hampshire) finished 57th (1:02:17.2/1+5+2+3). Complete results from the women's 15K Individual are here.

Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, Minnesota) had the top finish, 33rd (58:47.4/1+1+1+1), for Team USA in the men's 20k Individual, +6:01.7 back from Victor Vasilyev (RUS) posting 52:45.7/+1 to win today's race. Bill Bowler (Wausau, Wisconsin) finished 34th (59:19.9/1+2+2+0), Jeremy Teela (Heber City, UT) placed 38th (59:34.3/1+4+0+1), and Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) finished 63rd with a time of 1:03:44.3 (1+4+2+1). Extended results from the men's 20k Individual cane be found here.