January 8, 2010 (Oberhof, Germany) – Laura Spector of the United States missed just one shot in a 19th place effort on Saturday at the women’s 7.5km Sprint in Oberhof, a race that coaches are dubbing “the best day ever for the US Women’s team.”

The result, which marked a personal best for Spector, put the athlete just 1:50.8 behind the day’s winner, Anna Kristin Flatland of Norway.

Spector, who hasn’t raced in nearly three weeks, expressed her excitement after the race to be getting back on the course: “It was nice to finally race again but I was a bit nervous on the track. The technicians did a great job with my skis today so the big downhill here in Oberhof got really fast,” said Spector according to the US Biathlon team website, “There was a lot of deep snow in the corner on the bottom of the hill. It actually was worse today since it got so warm but luckily I managed to stay on my feet.”

The rain and thick fog that had been terrorizing the Oberhof World Cup venue all week finally subsided Saturday morning, giving way to clearer skies and warmer temperatures.

Fellow US competitor Sara Studebaker also had a great race, posting a solid 40th place performance. Her finish was good enough to garner World Cup points after a 2-miss race in which she finished with a time of 26:07.4.

The big news, however, came with the announcement that Spector’s top 20 finish will qualify her for contention in Sunday’s 12.5km Mass Start. “Laura’s qualification, Sara ranking within the World Cup points and the great results at today’s IBU-Cup make today the best day in the history of the U.S. women’s team,” said team leader Bernd Eisenbichler.

Zina Kocher had the top result for Team Canada, finishing 45th with four misses and a time of 26:17.8.

Along with Norway’s Flatland, the podium consisted of second place finisher Magdalena Nuener of Germany, who ended the day with a pair of misses and a time of 23:35.2, just less than 6 seconds out of first. Germany’s Andrea Henkel rounded out the medal winners with a one-miss performance on her way to a finishing time of 23:44.7.

Full results HERE.

Results (Brief)

1. Anna Kristin Flatland, NOR (1+0) 23:29.5
2. Magdalena Nuener, GER (1+1) 23:35.2
3. Andrea Henkel, GER  (0+1) 23:44.7
4. Darya Domracheva, BLR (2+0) 24:04.5
5. Kaisa Måkåråinen, FIN (2+1) 24:05.4

19. Laura Spector, USA (0+1) 25:20.3
40. Sara Studebaker, USA  (0+2) 26:07.4
45. Zina Kocher, CAN (1+3) 26:17.8
49. Megan Imrie, CAN (0+3) 26:27.5
85. Melanie Schultz, CAN (2+3) 29:13.2