Santa Cruz’s Stefano Profumo finishes 8th in Napa Valley Marathon

Santa Cruz resident Stefano Profumo placed eighth in the 34th annual Napa Valley Marathon in Calistoga on Sunday. Profumo crossed the finish line in 2 hours, 41 minutes, 43 seconds — about 15 minutes off winner Chris Mocko of San Francisco. Mocko won in 2:24:38.

The only other Santa Cruz County resident to make the top 100 was Capitola’s Max Selleck, who finished 95th in 3:13:57.

The event also runs a 5-kilometer race. Area competitors to make the top 100 of that were Capitola’s John Hofacre placed 51st in 23:58 and Santa Cruz’s Spencer Spetnagel placed 54th in 24:02.
–Christina Gullickson, CGullTweets on Twitter.

Santa Cruz’s Kelley Puglisi breaks into top five in Hellyer Half

Santa Cruz resident Kelley Puglisi broke into the top five of the women’s field at Brazen Racing’s Hellyer Half Marathon on Saturday. She placed fourth among women in 1 hour, 29 minutes, 3 seconds, and was 18th overall at Hellyer County Park in San Jose.

Puglisi averaged a 6:48 per mile pace time.

San Francisco’s Nick Grover, 32, won in 1:18:51, and Burlingame’s Verity Breen was the women’s winner in 1:23:41.

The half is held in conjunction with a 10- and 5-kilometer races.

In the 10k, Santa Cruz’s Rebecca Doty won the women’s field, placing eighth overall. She finished in 35:47. Aptos’ Jennifer Willoughby, 33, placed second among women and 14th overall [37:24]. The men’s winner was Berkeley’s Brian Collett [31:04].

In the 5k, Capitola’s Angela Wilson placed fifth in 24:49. Morgan Hill’s Kiele Anderson won in 22:15.

The next Brazen Racing event includes the Badger Cove Half Marathon, 10k, and 5k, and is scheduled for March 17 in Del Valle.

–Christina Gullickson, CGullTweets on Twitter.

Capitola’s Valarie Jenkins wins disc golf’s Memorial Championship

Capitola resident and pro disc golf player Valarie Jenkins, the runner-up for the 2011 World Championships, stoked her hot streak for another win — this one coming at the Memorial Championship presented by Discraft in Scotsdale, Ariz., on Saturday.

Jenkins, whose skill has earned her two wins in the last month — at the Gentlemen’s Club Challenge in Las Vegas and at Cal State Monterey Bay’s Otter Challenge — shot 58-59-62-63 to finish with a 10-over 242 in the Memorial. She had a three stroke lead over runner-up Catrina Allen of Pheonix.

With the win came a $1,300 prize, and an unfortunate side effect, Jenkins announced Monday via Twitter.

Jenkins apparently injured her knee, saying on Facebook, “Thought I would come out of the Memorial without injuring myself, but it seems that I’m back to the stupid knee brace again! Looks like a new follow-through needs to happen to allow me to play this game for my future. Hard to change up a routine I’ve been working on all my life.”

Other top Santa Cruz County finishers were Jenkins’ brother Avery, who placed fourth among men by shooting 52-52-49-48 for a 31-under 201 total, and her partner Nate Doss, who placed seventh by shooting 52-47-53-51 for a 29-under 203. Avery takes home $1,550 for his finish and Doss takes home $1,300.

“The Memorial is all over… Did not play as well as I would like but sometimes you just dont have it. Great groups all week!” Doss, the defending world champion, tweeted earlier today.

–Christina Gullickson, CGullTweets on Twitter.

Editor’s Note: This post was updated at 11:30 a.m. March 4, 2012.

High school mountain bikers Bryan Duke, Jacob Albrecht go 1-2 in opener

Salinas High’s Bryan Duke and Santa Cruz’s Jacob Albrecht [Santa Cruz Composite] dominated the boys varsity race in the NorCal High School Mountain Biking League’s opening event of the season — the Granite Bay Challenge — on Feb. 26. The duo finished within 18 seconds of each other, but more than a solid minute over the next fastest competitor, according to results posted on the NCHSMBL website on Friday.

Duke won in four laps, crossing the finish line in 1 hour, 32 minutes, 31 seconds, and Albrecht followed in 1:32:49. Tamalpais High’s Skyler Taylor followed in third [1:34:07], the Drake Pirates’ Lucas Newcomb followed in fourth [1:36:04], and San Marin High’s Matthew Erbentraut rounded out the top five [1:36:18].

Albrecht’s finish, which came with 540 points, helped pace his team — the SCC — which is now 11th in the standings with 1,488 points. The Spartans High School Mountain Bike Composite is in first place with 2,024 points.

Independent rider Shayna Powless won the girls race [three laps, 1:20:01] and was followed by Redwood High’s Josie Nordrum [1:20:30] in second, the Branson Bulls’ Kate Courtney [1:20:35] in third, the Drake Pirates’ Mackinzie Stanley in fourth [1:26:26], and independent rider Julie Barton in fifth [1:26:33]. No Santa Cruz County girls compete at the varsity level.

Other Santa Cruz County teams in the standings are the Santa Cruz Mountains Composite at 14th after its debut race with 1,395 points and the Aptos High team, which is at 15th with 1,306 points.

Pacific Collegiate School student and defending state high school mountain biking champion Tobin Ortenblad said via Twitter that he was absent from the opener because he was still resting up from the cyclocross season, where he represented the United States at worlds. He does expect to compete in the NorCal league this season.

The next NCHSMBL event, the Monterey Bay Classic, is scheduled for March 18 in Monterey.

–Christina Gullickson, CGullTweets on Twitter.

Editor’s Note: This post was updated at 11:36 a.m. March 4, 2012.

SHARP SHOOTERS: Santa Cruz Archers Karen Williams, Jeanne Bueke score silver at State Indoor tourney

Santa Cruz Archers‘ Karen Williams and Jeanne Bueke both placed second in their respective divisions, and SCA board member Ed Terribilini earned bronze, according to State Indoor Championship results that were released last Sunday.

The championships, which saw 22 records set, were run during the month of January at multiple locations throughout the state. Williams, Bueke and Terribilini competed at SCA’s DeLaveaga Park Archery Range in Santa Cruz.

Williams, a Scotts Valley resident, earned her silver finish in the adult female Olympic-style division after shooting two bull’s-eyes in the center X — about the size of a dime, according to SCA’s Henry Bertram — en route to 353 points. She finished just behind Cherry Valley’s Timalyn Enright [390] and in front of Palomo Archery’s Suzette Warren [344].

Bueke, a Ben Lomond resident, also shot two bull’s-eye Xs en route to a second-place finish, where she placed second to Willow Creek’s Diana Dancz [374]. They were the only two competitors in the senior female Olympic-style division.

Williams and Bueke were the only ones in their divisions to shoot bull’s-eye Xs.

Terribilini’s third-place finish came in the men’s senior Traditional Recurve division, where he also shot two bull’s-eye Xs — an accomplishment in a division wherein archers do not use sights or stabilizers. The Watsonville resident scored 339 points. His division was won by Predator Archery’s Paul Henry [347] and Lodi’s Doug Brown was second [341].

–Christina Gullickson, CGullTweets on Twitter.