Brown, Egan, Dunklee, and Patterson Open World Cup Season with Strong Results
Written by GRP Biathlete Raleigh Goessling
Biathletes Jake Brown, Susan Dunklee and Clare Egan, along with cross country skier Caitlin Patterson kicked off the World Cup Season for the GRP this past weekend in Finland.
Caitlin Patterson was first to take to the snow on Friday, in a classic sprint race, the first of a three-race series in Ruka, Finland. Patterson ended the day in 71st place, with an eye to the weekend’s distance racing.
Saturday’s action began with the biathletes contesting an individual competition in Kontiolahi, Finland. An individual competition is 15km long for women and 20km long for men, with both genders completing 2 prone and 2 standing shooting stages with one-minute penalties added onto the competitors time for each missed shot.
In the men’s race Jake Brown made three errors in prone but did not miss a standing target on his way to 55th place, and the third best ranking among the American men.
Clare Egan made one mistake in prone and one mistake in standing on the way to a strong 35th place finish, which placed her second among the US women. Susan Dunklee missed five shots but finished strong by hitting all 5 of her last standing targets in route to a 73rd place finish, good enough for 3rd among her US teammates.
Caitlin Patterson raced a 10km classic on Saturday, the second of the 3 race Ruka series. Patterson placed 50th overall, and 4th for Americans. Caitlin wrapped up her World Cup weekend on Sunday with a pursuit start freestyle race. The start order and time in this race was based on the results of the previous two days of racing. In the pursuit, Caitlin picked up 4 places on her way to 46th place in the 3-race series. After factoring in the time back each competitor started, Caitlin’s time ranked 27th on the day, a superb performance!
Biathlon action wrapped up on Sunday with a 10km Sprint competition for men and a 7.5km Sprint competition for women. In both competitions, athletes shoot 5 prone and 5 standing shots, and ski an extra 150 meters for every missed shot.
Jake Brown had a career best 30th place finish courtesy of fast skiing and only a single prone miss. Jake was also the top American man in the competition. Brown was one-upped by Clare Egan who hit all of her targets and produced an outstanding 27th place finish, which led the American team. Susan Dunklee missed one prone target and two standing shots during her 79th place run, 3rd best among the US women’s squad.
Biathlon World Cup racing picks up again in Kontiolahi, Finland next Thursday December 3rd with Sprint Competitions for men and women.
The next stop of the Cross Country World Cup tour kicks off in Davos, Switzerland on December 12th and will feature Craftsbury’s Adam Martin.