December 12, 2014 (Hochfilzen, Austria) –  American Tim Burke shot well with only one penalty in the men’s 10km Sprint to finish 13th at round two of the IBU World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria. Johannes Thingnes Boe of Norway shot clean on his way to victory over Germany’s Simon Schepp who also shot clean in second at 14.3s followed by teammate Andreas Birnbacher at 17.9s.

Tim Burke (USA) © Nordic Focus

Conditions were sunny with temperatures just above the freezing mark. A lack of snow earlier in the week forced race organizers to move snow onto the course for this weekend’s events, but the conditions on Friday appeared close to ideal.

“Today was one of those classic biathlon days where it’s hard not to ask the ‘what if’ question,” said Burke in a team release. “I’m happy with how I executed during the race today besides the last shot. That last shot probably cost me a podium but other than that, it was another solid performance. Most importantly, I am not far behind for the pursuit, so a top result is still possible Sunday.”

Johannes Thingnes Boe © Nordic Focus

Burke’s teammate Lowell Bailey shot clean finishing 57.6 seconds behind Boe and tied for 17th with Bulgaria’s  Krasimir Anev.

Canada’s Nathan Smith finished 44th (3 penalties) at 1:57, Brendan Green (Can) placed 49th (2 penalties), Leif Nordgren (US) was 51st (1 penalty), Russell Currier (US) was 61st (3 penalties) and Scott Perras (Can) finished 100th (6 penalties).

Makarainen Again 

Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen took her second consecutive victory in the women’s 7.5km Sprint suffering one penalty in prone on her way to victory over Italy’s clean-shooting Karin Oberhofer in second with Norwegian, Tiril Eckhoff, on the podium in third also with one penalty at 29.9s behind the winner.

Kaisa Makarainen (FIN) © Nordic Focus

The top North American was Susan Dunklee (USA) in 29th with 2 penalities at 1:29 behind Makarainen. Rosanna Crawford (Can) followed in 34th at 1:33 with one penalty with Team USA’s Annelies Cook Cook in 50th (1 penalty), Canada’s Megan Heinicke in 61st (3 penalties), Sarah Beaudry (Can) was 63rd (1 penalty), Quebec’s Audrey Vaillancourt placed 66th (1 penalty), Hannah Dreissigacker (USA) crossed the line in 78th (7 penalties) and Zina Kocher (Can) finished 82nd. (5 penalties).

Susan Dunklee (USA) © Cor Vos

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