GRP biathlete Susan Dunklee led the US Women’s team with an 18th place performance in the Sprint Competition at IBU World Championships in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Clare Egan also qualified for the February 14th Pursuit race by virtue of her 54th place finish. They will join their US Biathlon teammates Deedra Irwin and Joanne Reid in the Pursuit. 

Dunklee, the defending silver medalist in this race, was the 71stof 99 women to take to the course. After her first 2.5km loop, Dunklee hit all 5 of her prone targets in 31 seconds. Susan exited the range in 14th place, 20 seconds behind first place. 

Susan kept the pace hard on the second loop and entered standing in the hunt for the top 10 places. Again, Susan showed her class and experience, hitting all of her standing targets, and posting a perfect 10/10 shooting score on the day. 

After fighting hard through the final 2.5km loop, Susan completed the competition ranked 18th, 1:17 behind World Champion Tirl Eckoff of Norway. Susan will be looking to improve her position in the Pursuit competition. Dunklee is a mere 18 seconds from the top 10, and about a minute away from the podium. 

Clare Egan showed good form on her skis, posting the 21st best course time, and the 7th fastest second lap. Egan’s speed on skis was enough to overcome a single prone miss and three mistakes in standing. Egan will also be looking to pick up places in the Pursuit race, with the top 25 places less than 30 seconds away.Egan ended the day ranked 54th. 

The race took place under sunny skies, and was decidedly colder than average for Central Europe, with an air temperature of 15 degrees Fahrenheit and occasionally blustery winds. 

Susan and Clare will be joining their GRP teammate Jake Brown in Valentine’s Day pursuit competitions. Brown begins the men’s Pursuit at 7:15 EST. Dunklee and Egan will get underway at 9:30 EST. 

Check out full replays of every competition, detailed results and race reports from IBU World Championships at www.biathlonworld.com