January 22, 2017 (Antholz, ITA) – Team USA was in second early on in the women’s 4x6km Relay but fell back and ended up 13th as Germany triumphed over France in second at 24.2 seconds behind with Italy in third at 33.4 seconds back. Canada finished 18th at 4:12 behind using eight spare rounds.

Clare Egan got off to a solid start to move the team up to fourth but made the first exchange with Dunklee in ninth. Dunklee jetted the team into second when she tagged Joanne Reid. Reid suffered two penalty loops and fell to 13th as she handed off to Maddie Phaneuf who moved up briefly to 10th but faded back to 13th at the finish line at 2:46.5 off the lead.

“We had a great day and I am proud of how every one of my teammates performed and the effort they gave,” commented Dunklee. “This race sends us into our pre-world championships training camp on a good note.”

Canada’s Megan Tandy, Julia Ransom, Emma Lunder and Rosanna Crawford had their challenges as well and battled to 18th overall on the day.

The women’s relay with 23 teams on the start, closed BMW IBU World Cup 6 in Antholz and the German team of Vanessa Hinz, Maren Hammerschmidt, Franziska Hildebrand and Laura Dahlmeier dominated for their third relay win of the season.