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.