U.S. Biathlon Announces World Cup and IBU Cup Rosters for January

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The United States Biathlon Association (USBA) has announced its World Cup and IBU Cup rosters for the second period of racing.

World Cup

The women’s World Cup team will remain the same, with Susan Dunklee leading the way. Dunklee earned her first podium of the season on Friday in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. After several top finishes she is ranked 11th overall on the World Cup. She is joined by Clare Egan, who had a top finish of 30th this season in the pursuit in Östersund, Sweden. In addition Joanne Reid, who finished 29th in the individual in Östersund, will stay on tour.

The men’s World Cup team is led by Lowell Bailey, who notched a top-ten in the Nove Mesto pursuit. As a result of Bailey’s consistency, he is currently ranked ninth in the overall rankings. He is joined by Tim Burke, who finished 16th in the Östersund individual, and Russell Currier, whose best mark of the season is 54th in the same race. Those three formed the World Cup squad for the first period of racing. Finally, 2014 Olympian Sean Doherty will join them after recovering from a bout of mono that kept him off the international circuit in December. And Leif Nordgren is qualified for the campaign but is still nursing a broken toe.

IBU Cup

In addition to the World Cup team, USBA also named a roster for the second-tier IBU Cup based on trials held at Mount Itasca, Minnesota, on December 15-19.

Women:
Maddie Phaneuf (Old Forge, N.Y.)
Emily Dreissigacker (Morrisville, Vt./Craftsbury Green Racing Project)
Hallie Grossman (Craftsbury Green Racing Project, Vermont)
Siena Ellingson (Minnetonka, Minn.)

Men:

Paul Schommer (Appleton, Wis./U.S. Biathlon X-Team)
Alex Howe (Craftsbury Green Racing Project, Vermont)
Jake Ellingson (Mt. Itasca Biathlon, Minn.)
Max Durtschi (Ketchum, Idaho/U.S. Biathlon X-Team)

In the opening sprint at Mount Itasca, Schommer won a 1.5-second victory over Howe, with Durtschi just one more second back. Both Schommer and Howe had two penalties and Durtschi just one. Then in the women’s sprint, Phaneuf had a single penalty to collect a 37.3-second win over Dreissigacker, who had missed two shots. Siena Ellingson was third, +43.8 with one penalty.

In the mass start at Mount Itasca, Schommer won again over Howe, this time by 29.8 seconds. Doherty, there for the races but pre-qualified for the World Cup campaign, finished third, +30.8. Perhaps most noteworthy, Phaneuf was the only competitor, male or female, to clean all four shooting stages, and as a result picked up a huge win over Dreissigacker, crossing the line two minutes and 56 seconds ahead of her closest rival. That’s in part because Dreissigacker had six penalties. N ext across the line was third-place Grossman (+3:13.7) with seven missed shots.

Then in the final sprint competition Jakob Ellingson had just a single penalty for some of the best shooting of the day. As a result he got the men’s win by 35.9 seconds over Schommer, who missed four shots. Howe was third (+39.4), thanks to three penalties. Phaneuf completed her clean sweep of the women’s races by picking up a 25.9-second win over Dreissigacker, with two penalties to Dressigacker’s three. Grossman was again on the podium in third despite seven penalties (+2:14.2).