December 19, 2015 (Pokljuka, Slovenia) – The USA’s Susan Dunklee took home her second top-10 in two days placing 10th in the women’s 10km pursuit with two penalties at IBU World Cup 3 in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Laura Dahlmeier of Germany shot clean for the win in 30:08.8 with Marie Dorin Habert (Fra), who also shot clean, in second at 18 seconds back, while Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen finished third with one penalty at 55.2 seconds behind.

Susan Dunklee (USA) © Nordic Focus

Dunklee was the sixth skier off the line and battled to stay within the top-10 throughout the race. A miss at the first prone shooting stage knocked her down to 11th, but she regrouped for a clean standing to jump back up to eighth. Another miss at the second prone stage bumped Dunklee back to 12th but she came through in the clutch with a clean round in the final standing to secure 10th place in a time of 31:44.3 and qualify for Sunday’s women’s 12.5km mass start.

“Two top tens in two days and I am very satisfied,” said Dunklee. “My legs felt a little heavy so I wasn’t able to push the skiing as well as yesterday, but my shooting keep me in it. Cleaning that last standing stage is so important in a pursuit for securing a top finish. It felt wonderful to cruise on past the penalty loop and not go in.”

Final podium (l-r) Dorin Habert, Dahlmeier, Makarainen © Nordic Focus

Julia Ransom was the top Canuck in 44th with five penalties, while Rosanna Crawford struggled in prone shooting to finish 45th with six missed targets while Megan Tandy did not finish.

“It was a tough day for our team,” said Eric de Nys, high-performance director, Biathlon Canada. “The coaches are thinking there may be a bit of a flu bug going around. Nathan and Rosanna both felt off today. Christian completely cramped up and Megan blacked out on the course. It was an off day, but they will review the day with the athletes and bounce back from this.”

The BMW IBU World Cup 3 concludes Sunday with the men’s and women’s mass start races.

Full results here.