March 20, 2015 (Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia) – In the final women’s 7.5km sprint of the season, the USA’s Hannah Dreissigacker turned in a career-best 14th with one penalty at 1:26.4 behind winner Kaisa Makarainen (FIN) at the IBU World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.

Hanah Dreissigacker (USA) © Nordic Focus

Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier finished second, also with one penalty at 14.2 seconds back while Darya Domracheva of Belarus was third, with two penalties, at 15.5 seconds behind. Makarainen gained more than 12 seconds in the final loop of Friday’s race to win in 19:49.1, with a single penalty.

Dreissigacker’s teammate Susan Dunklee finished 26th with four penalties followed by Canadian Rosanna Crawford in 28th with three missed targets.

Susan Dunklee (USA) © Nordic Focus

Together with Susan Dunklee’s (Barton, Vt.) 26th-place finish (21:38.5/+4), both U.S. athletes qualify for Saturday’s pursuit competition.

“I was not expecting a new best result with one miss, but I guess the whole field struggled a bit with the shooting, so it was better than I thought,” said Dreissigacker. “I had a frustrating world championships, not shooting well the whole time, so I’m just really happy to now be able to end the season on a better note. And, I’m psyched for the pursuit tomorrow!”

Rosanna Crawford (CAN) © Nordic Focus

The wind did seem to affect Dunklee on the range today as she missed one target in prone and three in standing, but made up for the lost time in the penalty laps by posting the fifth-fastest course time in the field.

Final podium © Nordic Focus

“Today’s sprint was our last opportunity to score team Nation Cup points and we had a close battle going for the top 15,” said Dunklee. “We fought for every place. I am so proud of Hannah putting together her career-best result today and we sealed 15th. I probably sound like a broken record after last week — my ski shape feels phenomenal right now and would put me in a very high position if I were to shoot well. Unfortunately, the standing got the best of me this time.”

Dreissigacker and Dunklee secured a top-15 ranking for the U.S. in the Nation Cup standings, ensuring four starters at next season’s IBU World Championships.

Full results here.