Santa Cruz’s Carlo Facchino goes the ‘full distance’ in Vineman triathlon

Santa Cruz’s Carlo Facchino joined more than 1,000 extreme athletes for the “full distance” Vineman Triathlon in Sonoma County over the weekend, and he finished in the top 50.

Facchino placed 50th overall, 46th among men, and 12th in his division, crossing the finish line in 11 hours, 17 minutes, 43 seconds.

The 37-year-old completed the 2.4-mile swim in 1:05:23, the epic 112-mile bike in 5:42:23 and the marathon 4:21:29.

John Dahlz of South San Francisco won in an overall time of 9:29:28.

Results in this report are from RaceResults360.com.

Two Santa Cruz area triathletes place in top 25 of Ironman 70.3 Vineman

Santa Cruz resident Paul Matthews was one of two county residents to place in the top 25 of the Ironman 70.3 Vineman triathlon in Sonoma County on July 15, coming in third overall.

Matthews completed the race in 3 hours, 47 minutes, 55 seconds to finish behind winner Greg Bennet of Boulder, Colo., [3:45:39] and runner-up Joe Gambles, also of Boulder [3:46:14].

Matthews, 29, finished the 1.2-mile swim in 21:54, the 56-mile bike in 2:07:09, and the 13.1-mile run in 1:15:54.

Fellow Santa Cruz resident and pro triathlete Eric Clarkson placed 23rd [4:13:27]. He finished the swim in 23:35, the bike in 2:20:41 and the run in 1:25:25.

The event was a qualifier for the Ironman World Championships, which will be held in Las Vegas in September.

Results included in this report are from RaceResults360.com.

Ben Lomond’s Gerry Hatcher wins CCCX cross country race

Ben Lomond resident Gerry Hatcher [Scotts Valley Cycle Sport] completed six laps in the men’s Cat 1 45-54 age division race in 2 hours, 9 seconds for the win in Central Coast Cyclocross’s Cross Country mountain biking event No. 8 in Fort Ord on Saturday.

Hatcher was 1:45 ahead of the next closest finisher, Scott Zavack of Los Gatos [2:01:54]. Third-place finisher Steve Wade [Quadzilla] clocked in at 2:03:27. Zavack rides for Buycell.com.

Other racers from Santa Cruz County who won were as follows: Felton’s Kim Midstokke [Midstock Construction/Spokesman] in the men’s Cat 2 35-44 age division, going five laps in 1:43:00; Scotts Valley’s Scott Martin [Bicycle Trip] in the men’s Cat 2 55-plus age division, going five laps in 1:51:39; Santa Cruz’s Mike Martin [Team Santa Cruz] in the Cat 2 single-speed division, going five laps in 1:52:33; Ben Lomond’s Graham Dittman [unattached] in the men’s Cat 3 19-34 age division, going four laps in 1:25:09; and Scotts Valley’s Jackson Currie [unattached] in the men’s Cat 3 35-44 age division, going four laps in 1:29:13.

Santa Cruz’s Janel Lodge [Family Cycling Center] was also a winner after going the women’s Cat 2 45-plus division alone, completing five laps in 2:10:19.

Results included in this report are from the CCCX website. The season cross country finale and state championships are scheduled for Sept. 2.

Santa Cruz’s Nat Young advances to the Round of 48 in the Nike US Open of Surfing

Santa Cruz resident and pro surfer Nat Young placed second in his heat to advance from the Nike U.S. Open of Surfing’s Round of 96 this morning in Huntington Beach.

Young earned a two-wave heat score of 12.27 to make the Round of 48, where he will face Josh Kerr, Willian Cardoso and Mitchel Coleborn.

Young’s heat in the Round of 96 was won by 2009 champ Brett Simpson, who earned 13.67 points, and both Jano Belo [9.60] and Heath Joske [5.27] were eliminated.

Results included in this report are from the US Open of Surfing website. The event streams live here.

Another Santa Cruz native, Raven Tershy, who won X Games gold in 2011, will also compete this week in the event’s skate portion of the event. To keep track of when he’s up, you can sign up for an athlete heat alert.

Dent Earl top Santa Cruz County finisher in San Francisco Marathon

Aptos resident Dent Earl  was the top Santa Cruz County finisher in the San Francisco Marathon and Watsonville’s Natalia Cordoba-Velasquez was the top county finisher in the 5-kilometer on Sunday.

Earl, 32, crossed the finish line of the 26.2-mile race in 3 hours, 36 minutes, 37 seconds to place inside the top 1,000. He was 756 overall and 654 among men.

Just under 6,500 runners finished the race. Nathan Krah of Salt Lake City, Utah, won in 2:26:44, and San Francisco’s own Devon Crosby-Helms won the women’s race in 2:44:02.

Cordoba-Velasquez, 38, placed 147 overall in the 5k [26:33] and was 47th among women. That race was won by Chris Badolato of Reno, Nev., who finished in 16:41. The women’s winner was Vanessa Taylor of Spencerport, N.Y., who crossed the finish line in 19:33.

Results in this report are from the SF Marathon site.

Santa Cruz’s Nic Hdez eliminated from Nike US Open Pro Junior

Santa Cruz resident Nic Hdez won his first heat in the ASP Pro juniors competition, which is part of the Nike U.S. Open of Surfing, before being eliminated in the Round of 32 on Saturday.

In the Round of 64, Hdez scored a two-wave total of 9.77 points [each wave can earn up to 10 points] to dominate his first heat. J.D. Lewis placed second with an 8.83 total to also advance, and Ethan Carlson [5.87] and Pat Schmidt [4.20] were both eliminated.

In the Round of 32, Hdez was eliminated when he placed last  in his heat with a 4.43 to Hiroto Arai of Japan’s 13.24.

The Nike U.S. Open of Surfing’s main draw is scheduled to kick off Monday, with live streaming footage here. The event runs through Aug. 5.

Video: Interview with Tommy Zaferes after his 3rd straight Sandman Triathlon win

Aptos resident and pro triathlete Tommy Zaferes, who is just back from training and competing in Europe this summer, won his third-straight Sandman Triathlon at Seacliff State Beach in Aptos on Sunday.

Here’s a quick clip of the interview I did afterwards.

Results from the race will be posted as soon as possible here.

Santa Cruz’s John Hauer wins CCCX downhill race

Santa Cruz resident John Hauer [X-Fusion] won the men’s pro division of the Central Coast downhill mountain biking race at Toro Park in Monterey on Saturday.

Hauer sped down in 2 minutes, 48.42 seconds for the win, with Concord’s Ian Massey [Point 1/WTB] taking second in 2:49.32 and Santa Cruz’s Jeff Kendall-Weed [IBIS Cycles] taking third in 2:49.56.

Other division winners from Santa Cruz County were as follows: Santa Cruz’s James Bradley [unattached] won the men’s Cat 2 45-54 age division in 3:29.21, Santa Cruz’s Elli Freiburn [Spokesman] won the women’s Cat 2 division race in 3:49.24,   and Aptos’ Devin Kjaer [Family Cycling Center] was a double-winner in the junior boys 13-and-under division in 3:15.97 and the junior boys 18-and-under Cat 3 division in 3:17.20. He was the only entrant in the under-18 division.

Results included in this report are from the CCCX website, which has lots of photos of the event.

Saturday’s event was the seventh of the eight-race season. The season finale is scheduled for Aug. 25.

–Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Jacques-Maynes brothers finish in top 15 of Cascade Cycling Classic stage race

Andy and Ben Jacques-Maynes, twin brothers from Watsonville and pro cyclists, placed in the top 15 of the Cascade Cycling Classic in Bend, Ore., over the weekend.

Andy Jacques-Maynes finished 14th overall with his best finish of the stage race coming in the criterium Friday, when he placed fourth in the same time as winner Carlos Alzate Escobar [1 hour, 13 minutes, 49 seconds]. Escobar rides for Team Exergy, and Andy Jacques-Maynes rides for Kenda/5-Hour Energy.

Andy Jacques-Maynes, who now lives in Corralitos, had three top-10 finishes over six events.

Ben Jacques-Maynes placed 15th overall with his best finish of the stage race coming in the time trial Tuesday, when he placed 10th in 5:09.84. Winner Chad Haga of Fort Collins, Colo., finished in 5:02.64. Haga rides for Optum, and Ben Jacques-Maynes rides for Bissell Pro Cycling.

The overall stage race winner was Francisco Mancebo from Watkinsville, Georgia.

Results in this report are from USACycling.com.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Captiola’s Valarie Jenkins finishes runner-up for second straight year at World Disc Golf Championships

Professional disc golfer and Capitola resident Valarie Jenkins placed second in the PDGA’s World Disc Golf Championships in Charlotte, N.C., missing the international title by just one throw over the weekend.

Jenkins, who also finished second at last year’s worlds, shot a 24-under 404 through the eight-round tournament. She placed behind champion Sarah Hokom [25-under 403] of Caldwell, Idaho, but ahead of third-place finisher Catrina Allen of Phoenix.

“Like the ESPN commercial I keep seeing.. “If losing didn’t hurt so bad, winning wouldn’t feel as good” #1strokefromvictory” Jenkins tweeted later.

Capitola’s Nate Doss, the defending men’s world champ, placed seventh in his division with a 65-under 374 through seven rounds. Only four players make the final round.

Paul McBeth of Clearwater, Fla., became the new world champ with an 83-under 387 through eight rounds. Richard Wysocki of Fort Mill, S.C., was second [392] and Nashville’s Will Schusterick was third [396].

Aptos’ Shasta Criss placed 24th overall with a 43-under 396 and Avery Jenkins, Valarie Jenkins’ brother, tied for 39th with a 37-under 402.

Results in this report are from the Professional Disc Golf Association’s website.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets