December 04, 2014 (Ostersund, SWE) – Canada’s Megan Heinicke had the race of her life placing 12th in the women’s 15-kilometre individual competition with one penalty at the IBU World Cup season opener in Oestersund, Sweden. Her teammate Rosanna Crawford also had a strong start placing 16th with three penalties at 3:52, while Susan Dunklee was the top American in 21st at 3:59.1 also suffering three penalties.

Canada's Megan Heinicke © Nordic Focus file photo

Belarus star Darya Domracheva held on to take the victory despite missing one shot in each of her final two stops at the range. Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen was second at 27.9 behind also with two penalties  (0+1+1+0), while Valj Skardino, of Ukraine, shot clean for the bronze at 38.1 behind.

Heinicke, a 26-year-old two-time Olympian from Prince George, B.C., was solid in the soft, slushy snow and challenging downhills.

“I was able to race the IBU Cup last weekend which gave me a chance to test the waters and get the feel for racing again,” said Heinicke, who crushed her personal best barely cracking the top-30 in individual racing throughout her career. “The course was difficult today. There wasn’t a lot of rest for the legs in today’s race.”

“The key to success was being relaxed, not feeling any external pressure and truly being focused on a few key factors shooting,” added Heinicke. “I took my time in the shooting range, and just had one of those days where I was able to block out everything except for my keyword when I was standing on the mat. I’m heading into this season more relaxed and just thankful I’m able to pull together good performances.”

Crawford was excited with her result. “My skiing was a lot better than I expected. I was aiming for a top-30 today, so I’m pretty excited to finish in 16th. Shooting is always important in an individual with one minute penalties. Unfortunately my brain got in the way on my last standing and I missed the first two shots. I’m looking forward to the weekend.”

The USA’s Dunklee who landed her first podium at the end of last season, had the seventh-best course time. “We had really tough conditions in our race today – deep slush over patches of ice,” said Dunklee. “I tried to stay focused on whatever hill or corner was immediately ahead of me. I didn’t feel smooth or efficient on skis, but I knew no one would in these conditions. Today was a solid start with valuable World Cup points, but I also know I can improve going forward.”

Team USA’s Annelies Cook Cook finished 73rd (4 penalties), Zina Kocher (CAN) was 76th (7 penalties), Quebec’s Audrey Vaillancourt placed 81st (4 penalties) and Hannah Dreissigacker (USA) crossed the line in 86th (7 penalties).

Full results here.

With files from US Biathlon and Biathlon Canada.