Lowell Bailey of Lake Placid moved up a notch in the overall biathlon World Cup standings Thursday after placing 21st in the 10-kilometer pursuit at the IBU World Cup event in Hochfilzen, Austria.
Bailey's time of 24:58.1 (1 miss+0 misses) was the top finish among his U.S. teammates and moved him to the sixth spot in the overall standings. Norway's Tarjei Boe won Thursday's race in 23:57.2 (0+0), followed by Timofey Lapshin of Russia with a 24:14.4 (0+0).
Jay Hakkinen of Alaska was the next American with a 45th-place finish in 25:33 (0+0). Tim Burke of Paul Smiths finished 63rd in 25:49.7 (1+2).
"I had a good solid race with good skiing and finally getting a clean race," Hakkinen said. "Unfortunately, a snowstorm came down before the race and stopped after my first loop, so the later starters got a big advantage."
Annalies Cook of Saranac Lake will make her World Cup season debut today in the 7.5-kilometer sprint in Austria. Cook will start from the 84th position.
Susan Dunklee of Vermont and Sara Studebacker of Idaho will also start for the U.S. women's team.