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Burke takes 24th in Ruhpolding

Tim Burke placed 24th as the top American in Sunday’s World Cup biathlon 12.5-kilometer pursuit race in Ruhpolding, Germany. Teammate Lowell Bailey finished 28th.

Burke, of Paul Smiths, got off to a great start by cleaning both prone stages to move up to 11th out on the course. However, two misses in the first standing stage knocked him back to 28th and, despite another miss in the final standing stage, he rallied back to place 24th, 1:31.6 back of the winning time.

“Today was another solid race for me,” Burke said. “I felt solid on the course but have not quite found my timing on the shooting range. I feel like things are headed in the right direction for me and I am looking forward to competing in Antholz next week, which has always been one of my favorite courses.”

Bailey, of Lake Placid, started close behind in 18th position and finished 26th, two seconds back of Burke. Like Burke, Bailey also cleaned in prone but had one miss in each of the standing stages.

“I struggled a bit on the skis,” Bailey said. “No explanation, but I’m still happy with a solid top 30 going into Antholz. It was difficult conditions with falling snow, so I was satisfied with the shooting. Of course, I wish I could have those two misses back, but I’ll have to wait until Antholz.”

The third member of the American men’s team competing in the pursuit, Sean Doherty (Center Conway, New Hampshire), finished 43rd, 3:22.1 back with four penalties.

France’s Martin Fourcade battled through the heavy snow with three penalties to claim his 10th win of the season in 33:57.5. Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen shot clean but finished second, 22.5 seconds back. Michal Krcmar of Czech Republic, also shot clean to take the last podium spot, 19.5 seconds behind Fourcade for his first career podium.

Susan Dunklee, of Barton, Vermont, was the top American woman Sunday, placing 24th in the 10K pursuit.

Starting in the 32nd position, Dunklee got off to a less-than-ideal start missing three of her first five targets from the prone position. After three laps around the penalty loop, Dunklee found herself all the way back in 51st place among the 54 starters.

“You can never count on your position to hold steady in a biathlon race,” Dunklee said. “Whether you are in the lead or bringing up the rear, the task is the same: focus on one lap at a time and one stage at a time. It was disheartening to miss three in the first shooting stage but my job was to continue executing my race plan no matter what.”

And execute the plan was exactly what Dunklee did. She went on to hit 14 of her final 15 targets and come all the way back to finish 24th, 3:07.2 back of the lead.

“I posted my best skiing splits of the season and some of the fastest shooting times in the field,” Dunklee said. “That will give me confidence going forward.”

Dunklee recorded the third-fastest range time in the field and eighth-quickest course time. Her final loop time of 5:07.5 was best overall.

Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen won the women’s pursuit, a day after taking the sprint title. She had only one standing penalty on her way to a 30:58 win. Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalova was second, with two penalties, 1:00.9 back. Third place went to France’s Marie Dorin Habert with three penalties, 1:32 behind Makarainen.

The next stop for the biathletes will be in Antholz, Italy, where BMW IBU World Cup 6 will take place Thursday through Sunday.

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