Dunklee and Dreissigacker at IBU World Cup 3 in Annecy- Le Grand
Hannah Dreissigacker racing in Annecy-Le Grand this past weekend. Photo Detlef Eckert
Last Updated: 18.Dec.2013
Last weekend, when the US Women’s Biathlon team finished 8th in the 4x6k relay in Hochfilzen, Austria, it was a historic result. Fast forward to the past weekend in Annecy- Le Grand, France, where the women’s relay took 8th place again. This time, the result wasn’t a historic best, but rather an indication of what is possible. The US team of Susan Dunklee, Sara Studebaker, Hannah Dreissigacker, and Annelies Cook is hungry for more, and they know it is within reach. They saw the Canadian team take 4th in the very same relay so they know what it will take to get a top result. In Friday’s relay, both GRP athletes Susan and Hannah had great results. Susan is settling into the scramble leg nicely for the second weekend in a row, and in her leg she only used one spare to keep the US team within 33 seconds of the lead. Hannah also skied fast in her leg, but most importantly she cleaned her targets without using any spares. It seems that she is able to bring her very best shooting on relay day, as last weekend she also cleaned, using only one spare. It will be exciting to see if the US women can keep improving on their relay results following the holiday break.
Unfortunately, Saturday’s 7.5k sprint was a little tougher for the US women. Susan was the top American in 60th place, shooting 1+3. She was also the lone qualifier for Sunday’s pursuit, which is only the top 60. Hannah also shot 1+3 and ended her day in 77th place. The following day, Susan was able to move up 7 places over the course of the 10k pursuit, with 5 misses over 4 shooting stages.
Both Susan and Hannah are back in the US now for some training as the IBU World Cup doesn’t resume until January 3rd in Oberhof, Germany.
Results from the weekend are here: