March 06, 2015 (Canmore, AB) – After a long week of racing, speed merchant Zina Kocher of Red Deer woke up Friday morning feeling sluggish. Her energy was low, she hadn’t raced well in Wednesday’s Individual race and one of the toughest season’s of her career was drawing to a close.

But even on her slow days, Kocher is one of the fastest biathletes in the world. Instead of simply going through the motions, the resilient Kocher drew upon that adversity to lay down the fourth fastest time of the day in the Women’s Sprint at IBU Cup 8 in Canmore on March 6.

Confident after her silver medal performance in Sunday’s sprint race, Kocher, 32, wanted another taste of the podium after a 19th place finish in Wednesday’s individual race. Warm, swirling winds wreaked havoc in the range, but Kocher still shot 8/10 and finished in 20:49 to secure a spot in the flower ceremony. Canada has placed a female skier in the top-six in every race this week.

“I’m happy with it. I wasn’t actually feeling too great this morning. I had to focus more on believing that I felt really good, being positive and getting back the clarity of shooting,” said Kocher. “I was frustrated with my performance in the individual. I just didn’t feel as focused and clear in the shooting as I did on Sunday.

Russia’s Anna Nikulina missed one target to win the race in 20:09, edging Germany’s Karolin Horchler, who shot clean (20:19.2). It was Horchler’s fourth time on the podium in Canmore. Marine Bolliet of France was third (20:34). Nikulina was also awarded with the IBU Cup Overall women’s sprint title at the end of the race, after finishing the year as the top woman on the circuit.

Kocher lucked out as the winds died down in her final trip to the range, allowing her to carefully concentrate on her process. Just like her silver medal performance on Sunday, Kocher broke her race down mentally into several intervals.

“I was lucky with the wind that it died down. With my last shot, it started to pick up again. I took too long and ended up missing. It’s frustrating because that would have landed me on the podium,” Kocher said. “It’s not a perfect race, but a lot more perfect than my season has been. It’s good to end it that way.”

After Saturday’s mixed relay, Kocher plans to finish her season at the Canadian Biathlon Championships in Hinton, Alberta.

Kocher was one of three Canadians to land in the top 20. Emma Lunder of Vernon, B.C. shot 7/10 and finished 16th (22:12), followed by Claude Godbout of Valcartier, Que, who was 19th (22:28). Other Canadian finishers included: Erin Yungblut (23rd), Leilani Tam Von Burg (30th) and Sarah Beaudry (33rd).

IBU Cup 8 concludes Saturday with the mixed relay. The race begins at 10 a.m. At the Canmore Nordic Centre.

Full results here.