January 19, 2012 (Antholz-Anterselva, ITA) – Germany’s Magdalena Neuner missed only one shot on her way to a convincing win in the Women’s 7.5km Sprint at Antholz-Anterselva, in Italy. Conditions were perfect for a fast race with overcast skies, fast tracks, and very little wind.

Susan Dunklee of the USA led the North American women with a career-best 17th place finish. Dunklee was just 1:36 back of the World Cup leader Neuner who finished 17.5 seconds ahead of Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen, while Darya Domracheva of Belarus claimed third.

Dunklee will now race among a select group of 30 starters in Sunday’s 12.5 km Mass Start event. “The race felt like it went by really fast today and the course was very different than any we have raced this year, with fewer hills,” said the rising US star.

“My coach and I did a dry-fire session a couple days ago to dial in the shooting, and we found a couple small things to work on that made a big difference in prone. I am very excited about the result. I knew it was possible if I could only bring all the pieces together on the same day,” added Dunklee.

Other North American women’s results saw Sara Studebaker (USA) finishing 43rd today while Canada’s Megan Imrie was 47th, with Tracy Barnes (USA) in 57th, Zina Kocher (CAN) in 62nd, Rosanna Crawford (CAN) in 63rd, while Annalies Cook (USA) finished 74th.

World Cup racing continues in Antholz-Anterselva with the men’s 10km Sprint on Friday.

Full results HERE.