December 13, 2009 (Hochfilzen, Austria) – US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY), Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, Alaska), Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) and Jeremy Teela (Heber City, UT) claimed 10th on Sunday in the men’s 4×7.5km relay as Austria won in 1:16:13.1 for the hometown crowd followed by Russia in second and Germany in 3rd. Canada’s team of Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, of Shannon, Que., Brendan Green, of Hay River, N.W.T., Ottawa’s Robin Clegg who races out of Quebec, and Edmonton’s Jaime Robb, finished 17th.

Zina Kocher, of Red Deer, Alta., teamed up with Megan Imrie, of Falcon Lake, Man., Sandra Keith, of Calgary, and Megan Tandy, of Prince George, B.C., to place 13th in the women’s 4x6km relay won by Russia in 1:13:37.0 followed by France in second and Sweden in 3rd. The USA did not compete.

US Biathlon Release – Relay Scores 10th Place in Hochfilzen, Austria
by Viktoria Franke December 13, 2009

The US team might be spoiled with two podiums in the individual races and the 7th place in the relay last week in Östersund but although Hochfilzen did not turn out to be a second Östersund it was nevertheless yet another presentation of the current strength of the team.

Today’s relay was the last competition in Austria, tomorrow the team will head to Slovenia for the last December World Cup. With the 10th place in today’s relay the team will have enough self confidence to show some more good results in Slovenia.

“Our goal was a top ten place and although it was pretty tight, we managed it”, analyzed shooting coach Armin Auchentaller after the race. Lowell Bailey started for the US relay with two misses in prone which threw him back on a 16th place before the first exchange. “I felt good today and standing was fine as well. I don’t know what happened in prone but those two misses were too much. So I guess I am not quite there yet. I am not worried about my shape or anything like that but I definitively need to get better,” Bailey reflected self-critically after the race.

Second in the race for the US was Jay Hakkinen who did a good job in his last World Cup race before Christmas, advancing from 16th to 13th. “Today really was a good race day for me. I felt way better today than during the last days and although I didn’t shoot perfect it was pretty close.” Hakkinen needed three extras overall and handed over to Tim Burke just an instant after last week’s relay winner France. Burke showed his usual strength and moved up with just two extras to place eight before the last exchange. Jeremy Teela as the last starter also showed a good performance in prone with no misses, in standing on the contrary he needed three extras but still managed to stay out of the penalty loop, ensuring the US team the 10th place overall.

With a seventh place in the overall Nations Cup the US team also proves on paper that it’s among the favorites for the next World Cup stop in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Jay Hakkinen though will miss the stop in Slovenia to spend some more training time in Oberhof, Germany.

Biathlon Canada Release – Canadian Women 13th in World Cup Relay
Men’s squad finishes 17th in Relay

Hochfilzen, Aut. – The Canadian Women’s Biathlon Team wrapped up the Austrian stop of the World Cup season by finishing 13th in a 4 x 6-kilometre team relay on Sunday in Hochfilzen, Austria.

Coming off her strongest two performances of the year where she finished 18th in the sprint and 21st in the pursuit competition, Zina Kocher, of Red Deer, Alta., teamed up with three other Canadians – Megan Imrie, of Falcon Lake, Man., Sandra Keith, of Calgary, and Megan Tandy, of Prince George, B.C., to clock a combined time of one hour 20 minutes 3.3 seconds.

The Russian women took the gold in the relay with a time of 1:13:37.0. France was second at 1:13:40.8, while the Swedish team grabbed the bronze medal with a time of 1:13:41.6.

Meanwhile, the Canadian men fell short of their original relay result last weekend in Sweden where they were 14th. The team of Jean-Philippe Le Guellec, of Shannon, Que., Brendan Green, of Hay River, N.W.T., Ottawa’s Robin Clegg who races out of Quebec, and Edmonton’s Jaime Robb, finished 17th with a time of 1:20:48.6 in the men’s 4×7.5-kilometre relay competition.

The Austrians defended their home turf by winning the men’s competition with a time of 1:16:13.1. Russia celebrated the silver after stopping the clock at 1:16:38.8, while Germany rounded out the men’s podium in third with a time of 1:16:45.1.

Biathlon Canada, the governing body for biathlon in the country, oversees the Canadian Championships, Eastern and Western Canadian Championships, and the North American Cups held in Canada. The organization’s mandate is to provide national level programs for the continuous development of biathlon athletes from the grassroots to the elite level. For more information on Biathlon Canada, please visit their Web site at www.biathloncanada.ca.

Women’s Relay results here.
Men’s Relay results here.

Results (brief)

Women
1. Russia, 1:13:37.0
2. France, 1:13:40.8
3. Sweden, 1:13:41.6
4. Germany, 1:13:56.5
5. Norway, 1:15:47.6.

13. Canada, 1:20:03.3

Men
1. Austria, 1:16:13.1
2. Russia, 1:16:38.8
3. Germany, 1:16:45.1
4. France, 1:17:37.8
5. Norway, 1:17:40.9.

10. USA, 1:18:19.8
17. Canada, 1:20:48.6