Cape Elizabeth native Clare Egan turned in the best performance of her biathlon career Friday in the World Cup women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint in Kontiolahti, Finland.

Competing for the first time since the PyeongChang Winter Games, Egan placed 13th from a field of 96. Olympic gold medalist Darya Domracheva of Belarus won the race in a time of 20 minutes, 56.8 seconds. Egan hit 9 of 10 targets and finished 46.9 seconds behind Domracheva.

“It’s been a long time since I had a personal-best result,” Egan said. “It’s a bit of a surprise to do it even with one miss, but I had a personal-best ski rank today and that’s biathlon. It always feels good to have a personal best.”

Egan wore bib 17 and started between two of the top five athletes in the World Cup rankings – Domracheva and Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier.

“When I saw the start list (Thursday) I have to admit I was a little intimidated,” Egan said. “But when I could see Darya for most of the first loop I knew I was having a good start. I didn’t see her again after the prone shooting but I benefited from skiing around (Canadian) Emma Lunder and of course I did everything I could to hold off Laura on the last loop. I’m really proud that I made it to the line just a few seconds ahead.”

This was the third time in her career that Egan, 30, placed in the top 20 in a World Cup event. In December 2015 she was 16th in a sprint in Oestersund, Sweden, and last winter she was 20th in sprint at the world championships in Hochfilzen, Austria.

Egan cleared all five prone targets and hit four in standing. Her result qualified her for the second mass start of her career, a 12.5-kilometer race with four shooting stages on Sunday involving only 30 women.

Three other Americans raced Friday. Susan Dunklee of Vermont placed 36th with three missed targets, Emily Dreissigacker of Vermont placed 62nd with two and Joanne Reid of California placed 74th with two.

Domracheva missed only one shot, her final standing shot, to win the sprint. Franziska Hildebrand of Germany finished second, shooting clean, only half a second behind. Third place went to Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi, with one penalty, 5.5 seconds back.

At the Olympics, Egan placed 61st and 62nd in the sprint and individual races but turned in a 10-for-10 shooting performance in the women’s relay as the United States placed 13th.

“I was extra motivated to take advantage of these last few weeks of racing because I’ve had a mediocre season,” Egan said. “And I felt confident after capping off the (Olympic) Games with a season-best performance with perfect shooting in the women’s relay. Rest, motivation and confidence, plus best-in-the-world skis, is a good recipe for success.”

On Saturday, Egan will lead off the U.S. mixed relay. Reid, Tim Burke and Sean Doherty follow.

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