January 21, 2016 (Arber, Germany) – The USA’s Hannah Dreissigacker led the North American effort at the IBU Cup 6 in Arber, Germany delivering a 10th place finish in the women’s 7.5km sprint with clean shooting, while Canada’s Sarah Beaudry was 13th also shooting clean followed by Maddie Phaneuf (USA) in 14th with no penalties as well.

Russia claimed two of the top three spots with Olga Iakushova (23:30.1/+1) taking first and Galina Nechkasova (23:51.7/+1) placing third. Ukraine’s clean-shooting Iana Bondar was second (23:35.6).

“I’m so happy to have finally put together a good race,” exclaimed Dressigacker. “I’ve had so many frustrating races this year…I haven’t been skiing or shooting at the level that I am capable of or that I have in the past. I’ve had to really work at getting my confidence back on the shooting range, and today that effort paid off. I didn’t pace the skiing that well, even though pacing well had been my goal for today. I really flooded with lactic acid on the last lap and lost valuable time, but I gave it my all and I’m happy with the effort.”

Scott Perras (CAN) was the top NA skier in the men’s 10km sprint in 34th followed by Max Durtschi (USA) in 36th and Patrick Johnson (USA) in 42nd. The Russian team swept the podium in the men’s sprint with Matvey Eliseev (27:40.0/+0), Yury Shopin (28:08.5/+1) and Petr Pashchenko (28:14.0/+1) taking the top three spots.

“Complete team effort today from the wax technicians, coaches, and athletes,” said Durtschi. “Everyone contributed to a great day of racing. I did not feel 100 percent today, but gave it everything I had on a tough course. I really like the terrain here in Langdorf, Germany, and wanted to have a great race. Looking forward to the pursuit tomorrow.”

With files from US Biathlon

Women’s Results here.
Men’s Results here.