December 13, 2013 (Annecy-Le Grand Bornand, France) – Team USA’s men posted an eighth place finish in today’s 4×7.5-kilometer relay at World Cup 3. The squad – Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY), Jeremy Teela (Heber City, UT), and Leif Nordgren (Marine, MN) – crossed the finish at 1:15:59/0+11, 1:58.1 back from Russia (Tcherezov, Loginov, Garanichev, Shipulin) winning today’s relay with a time of 1:14:01.8/0+5, edging out Germany (Lesser, Birnbacher, Peiffer, Schempp) finishing second (1:14:02.1/0+5). Austria (Sumann, Mesotitsch, Landertinger, Eder) took third (1:14:28.6/0+7).

Lowell Bailey © US Biathlon/NordicFocus

Bailey raced the opening leg for Team USA, cleaning prone and using two extra shots in standing, tagging off to Burke with Team USA in second place. Burke took two extra shots in both prone and standing stages, tagging to Teela with the team in sixth place. With two extra shots in prone, and shooting five for five in standing, Teela tagged Nordgren with the team in eighth place. Taking two extra shots in prone, and one in standing, Nordgren sprinted to the finish, battling Switzerland for a seventh place finish. At the finish Team USA finished eighth, just 0.2 out of seventh place.

“It was a little rough entering the range,” said Bailey. “I fell and lost a bit of time on the last uphill before the range entrance. We had great skis today and I was able to get back up into the lead group by standing. With a couple of extra rounds, I was still a bit off the lead when I left standing, but I felt good on the last loop and was able to make up some time before I tagged Tim. Le Grand Bornand is a great venue and I’m looking forward to the next two races!”

“Today was a solid relay for us with an eighth place,” said Burke. “We were happy to improve on our 10th place from last week but we are definitely capable of more. I would say that we all had decent races but no one really had a great race and that is what we need for a better place. Overall though, I would say that everyone is getting stronger with each race series and that is a good sign!”

Complete results from the men’s relay are available here.

World Cup 3 competition continues tomorrow with the sprint events beginning at 4:30am(EST) for the women, and 7:15am (EST) for the men. Watch both races live here.