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RUHPOLDING, Germany (January 11, 2013) - Annelies Cook (Saranac Lake, NY) had a career-best race in today's 7.5k sprint at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding. Shooting clean in both stages, Cook posted a time of 22:22.0 for 26th place, 1:24.8 minutes back from Germany's Miriam Gossner, winning the sprint with a time of 20:57.2 (0+1), Darya Domracheva (BLR) took second (21:04.3/0+1), and Kaisa Mäkäräinen (FIN) finished third (21:14.7/1+0).

"Today was a performance I have been hoping to finally have," said Cook after today's race. "It was my personal best so far, and that is always an awesome feeling. I have been a bit frustrated with shooting lately especially because I think there has been an improvement in skiing, so it felt wonderful to clean all my targets!  Before the race, I told myself that I needed to hit all my targets to do well and then I thought to myself, ‘no that's not right. I WANT to hit my targets and I am GOING to hit my targets.’ Who knows if that worked, but you start to get superstitious sometimes! 

"It was a totally different day on skis than the relay," Cook added. "The relay was fast, icy snow and today there was fresh powder that was quite dry and sticky. It made the skiing very difficult for me and I think for everyone. Even though the course wasn't that difficult, with the snow conditions it was super hard. Right down the middle of the track was a glazed section where everyone would ski and that was quite slippery, but as soon as your skis hit any new snow, then they would immediately slow down. So your balance muscles got completely tight immediately and there was nowhere to ski powerfully and relaxed. My legs were killing me!"

Sara Studebaker (Boise, ID) also had a strong race today with clean shooting, finishing 33rd (up from a start at 55) with a time of 22:29.7. "Today was definitely tough conditions, and I was happy to be able to capitalize on our great skis and shoot well," said Studebaker. "This was a big step for me as I finally felt good skiing. I feel like things are definitely on the upswing for me, and I'm looking forward to Antholz and then heading to World Champs!"

"Today was a good confirmation that with our training, and our goal setting we are headed in the right direction," said Jonne Kähkönen, US Biathlon women's head coach. "The shooting is coming together and it's good to see that the team is performing at the level they can be and should be."

"It was a really strong performance by the women's team, especially from Annelies and Sara." said US Biathlon High Performance Director Bernd Eisenbichler. " They had super shooting in very tough conditions."

Susan Dunklee (Barton, VT) missed one at each shooting stage, finishing 53rd with a time of 23:06.7. Lanny Barnes (Durango, CO) started with bib 89, but did not finish the race due to illness. Extended results from today's 7.5k sprint can be found here.

World Cup 5 racing continues in Ruhpolding tomorrow with the men's 10k sprint starting at 12:15pm (ET). Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) will start with bib 19, Leif Nordgren (Marine, MN) bib 25, Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) bib 37, Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) bib 81, and Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) with bib 86 among a field of 102 competitors.  The men's sprint will be webcast live here.

Dreissigacker Takes Top Finish for Team USA at IBU Cup in Ostrov

Hannah Dreissigacker (Morrisville, VT) had the top finish for Team USA with an 18th place in today’s 7.5k IBU Cup sprint in Ostrov, Russia. Finishing the race in 26:03.5, Dreissigacker posted the 11th best skiing time, but shot 1+2 on the range, 2:04.6 back from Ekaterina Iourieva (RUS), winning with a time of 23:58.9 and clean shooting. Valentina Nazarova (RUS) took second (24:05.7/0+0), and Ane Skrove Nossum (NOR) finished third (24:09.7/0+0).

Tracey Barnes (Durango, CO) finished 29th in the Ostrov sprint event with a time of 26:38.9/1+0, and Katrina Howe (Gilford, New Hampshire) was 39th (28:20.8/2+2). Extended results from Ostrov are available here.

Jeremy Teela (Heber City,UT) finished 39th  (29:23.1/1+2) in today’s 10k IBU Cup sprint. Bill Bowler (Wausau, Wisconsin) finished 41st (29:26.2/0+2), and Wynn Roberts (Battle Lake, Minnesota) posted a time of 30:38.8/1+3 for 61st place.

Alexey Slepov (RUS) won today’s sprint with a time of 27:17.8/0+1, Sven Grossegger (AUT) finished second with clean shooting and a time of 27:19.1, and Daniel Bohm (GER) was third with 27:26.9 and clean shooting. Extended results from today’s 10k sprint are available here.

Racing continues tomorrow in Ostrov with the men and women’s pursuit events.