Oakland’s Caitlin Smith wins Dirt Inspires Trail Half Marathon; Michelle Kern is top local runner

Oakland resident Caitlin Smith won the Dirt Inspires Trail Half Marathon with a sizable lead and Michelle Kern was the top finisher from Santa Cruz County at Nisene Marks State Park in Aptos on Sunday.

Smith finished the hilly women’s race in 1 hour, 34 minutes, 57.4 seconds, while runner-up Janelle Stevens of Mission, Kan., crossed the finish line in 1:46:22.2. Kern, a Soquel resident, rounded out the top three in 1:50:18.

In the Dirt Inspires 4-miler, the leaderboard was packed with Santa Cruz County runners: Santa Cruz’s Hallie Carl won in 29:56, Capitola’s Jessica Caldeira was second in 30:08.6 and Watsonville’s Meredith Hawkins placed third in 30:08.6.

In the Dirt Inspires 8-miler, San Francisco’s Sara Tanza won [1:03:46.6], Pleasanton’s Carrie Rassmussen was second [1:08:30.6], and Santa Cruz’s Emily Coonerty placed third [1:11:40.6].

A small selection of men braved the event. Monterey’s William Fleming won the  men’s division of the 8-miler in 1:50:32.3 out of two entrants, and Mountain View’s Stephen Boesch won the 4-miler in 28:33.1, also out of two entrants.

The results included in this report are from Finishlineproduction.com.

Santa Cruz’s Kyle Wade, Karla Wade secure strong finishes in Folsom paddle races

Santa Cruz residents Kyle and Karla Wade had strong showings in their respective divisions in the Day at the Beach stand-up paddle races in Folsom over the weekend.

Kyle Wade, 47, placed ninth overall in the 6-mile elite paddle race, crossing the finish line in 1 hour, 7 minutes, 54 seconds — a little more than five minutes behind winner Jay Wild of Truckee.

Karla Wade, 40, placed seventh among women and 17th overall in the 5-miler for 12-foot-6 boards. She finished in 1:13:38 to women’s winner Valerie Khacahdourian’s [San Carlos] 1:04:22. Derek Dial of Reno, Nev., was the overall winner of that race [57:28].

Results included in this report are from Active.com.

Nat Young, Nic H’dez out of Vans Pro

Santa Cruzans Nat Young and Nic H’dez were knocked out of the 6-Star Coastal Edge ECSC Vans Pro, an Association of Surfing Professionals event, at Virginia Beach, Va., over the weekend.

Young advanced as far as the Round of 48 before being eliminated from the competition by Santiago Muniz and Jeremy Johnston, according to results on the event’s website. With the top two surfers in each heat advancing, Young’s two-wave combined score of 10.87 in small waves wasn’t enough to contend with Muniz’s 13.24 total or Johnston’s 17.30 total.

“I want redemption.” Young tweeted later.

H’dez was eliminated in the second round, after just making it through the first round by 0.04 points. H’dez scored 10.67 in his heat to finish fourth. Muniz [13.10] and Romain Cloitre [13.00] advanced.

Brazil’s Jean Da Silva won the Vans Pro, beating fellow countryman Filipe Toledo 14.76-14.50.

Nic H’dez knocked out of pro junior, advances by 0.04 points in ECSC

Santa Cruz native Nic H’dez was knocked out of the Coastal Edge ECSC Vans Pro Junior at Virginia Beach, Va., this week but managed to advance in the 6-Star Coastal Edge ECSC Vans Pro, an Association of Surfing Professionals event.

In the Vans Pro, H’dez fought his way to a two-wave point total of 7.07, with the next closest finisher, Ryan Croteau, coming in with 7.03 points. Hunter Lysaught won the heat with 11.10.

In the first round of the Vans Pro Junior, H’dez settled for an 8.23, which was good enough for third in his heat. Keanu Asing and Sidney Guimaraes advanced.

In the Round of 96 of the Vans Pro event,  fellow Santa Cruzan Nat Young faces Dane Gudauskas, Brad Ettinger and Koa Smith in heat 1, while H’dez faces Romain Cloitre, Jano Belo and Santiago Muniz in the second heat.

Wednesday was called as a lay day.

Results included in this report are from the Vans Pro website.

Aptos’ Matt Chrabot, Soquel’s Tommy Zaferes head back to World Tri Series this weekend

Aptos resident Matt Chrabot and Soquel resident Tommy Zaferes, both pro triathletes, will represent the Santa Cruz County area on the world stage at the ITU World Triathlon Series sprint event in Stockholm on Saturday.

Chrabot is ranked No. 3 in the WTS and Zaferes has recently had several local successes, including winning the Sandman Triathlon for the third year in a row.

They will also be joined by American Jarrod Shoemaker, ranked No. 1 in the WTS.

This inaugural sprint-distance event features a 750-meter swim, 20-kilometer bike and 5k run, according to a press release from USA Triathlon. It is an International Triathlon Union-sanctioned event and will stream live starting at 5:50 a.m. Pacific Time at triathlonlive.tv.

Capitola’s Valarie Jenkins ties for second at Vibram Open disc golf tourney

Capitola’s Nate Doss takes 9th in men’s open

Capitola resident and pro disc golfer Valarie Jenkins finished just one throw off winner Catrina Allen in the women’s open division of the PDGA-sanctioned Vibram Open at Maple Hill in Leicester, Mass., on Sunday.

Both Jenkins and Sarah Hokom of Caldwell, Idaho, threw 66s in the final round to land at 23-over 263 for the tournament. Allen of Phoenix won the event with a 64 in the final round [262 total].

“Yup.. lost by 1 stroke, again.” Jenkins tweeted after the event.

Most recently, Jenkins missed out on a win by one stroke in the world championships.

Jenkins’ partner Nate Doss also competed, taking ninth in the open men’s division with a 14-under 226 over four rounds. Jenkins’ brother Avery Jenkins took 21st overall [235], and Aptos disc golfer Shasta Criss placed 35th [246]. Cale Leiviska of St. Paul, Minn., won with a 215.

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

Aptos native Tyler McCaul becomes Official Whip-Off World champ at Crankworx-Whistler

Photo courtesy of Crankworx.com.

Aptos native and pro mountain biker Tyler McCaul said in a press release that he learned how to do whips by watching video of Vancouver’s Thomas Vanderham, so imagine how he must have felt beating Vanderham in the Crankworx-Whistler Official Whip-Off World Championships final last week.

A whip is a stylistic aerial-based move where the rider flips out the back of his bike to one side in an effort to get “the bike flat, sideways and dragged out,” according to a press release.

McCaul [Fox] dominated the competition, which was held on the fourth day of the Crankworx’s event Aug. 10-19 in Whistler, B.C., beating out Vanderham, who was second, as well as MVP Brendan Fairclough and Cam Zink, who garnered honorable mention.

“So apparently I’m Whip Off World Champ now!!! So damn pumped!! Thanks everyone for the kind words! Such a fun event @crankworx #whipsdontlie,” McCaul tweeted via Twitter afterward.

McCaul’s brother Cam also had a top-three finish in Whistler, taking third in the slopestyle final. Belgium’s Thomas Genon [UMF Velo Team] won with 90.20 points after three runs, while Sweden’s Martin Soderstrom [Spcialized] was second with 86.80 points and McCaul came in with 82.80 points.

Results included in this report are from the Crankworx website.

For more photos, check out the Crankworx Flickr stream [Warning: Contains some adult content].

Video: Runners come out for the 44th annual Race Thru the Redwoods

Nearly 600 runners came out for the 44th annual Race Thru the Redwoods 10-kilometer at Henry Cowell State Park in Felton on Sunday (even more were there for the kids race).

This is a video of the event. Enjoy!

 

Capitola’s Avery Jenkins, Aptos’ Shasta Criss make top 5 of 38th annual Rochester Flying Disc Open

Capitola resident and pro disc golfer Avery Jenkins placed third, while Aptos resident Shasta Criss took fifth, in the 38th annual Rochester Flying Disc Open in New York over the weekend.

Ricky Wysocki of South Carolina won the PDGA-sanctioned event, throwing a 23-under 174 through four rounds at the Greater Rochester Disc Golf Club.

Dave Feldberg of Oregon was second with a 20-under 177, Jenkins threw a 178, Eric McCabe of Kansas threw a 179, and Criss rounded out the top five with a 183.

Results included in this report are preliminary and considered unofficial. They are from the Professional Disc Golf Association website, where they will later be finalized.

According to his Facebook, Jenkins will next play in the Vibram Open.

Nic H’dez takes second in Surfing America’s 2012-2013 season opener

Santa Cruz’s Nic H’dez finished runner-up to Taylor Clark in the boys 18-and-under division of Surfing America‘s West Coast 2012-2013 season opener at the Del Mar Jetties in Camp Pendleton over the weekend.

H’dez won his first heat and finished second in both the quarterfinals and semis en route to the final heat, where he earned 12.67 points based on his best two waves. Clark won with a score of 14.34. Patrice Curren was third [10.87] and Colin Moran filled out the top four [8.27].

John Mel, a native Santa Cruzan and the son of defending Big Wave World Tour champion Pete Mel, also competed in the event, but was eliminated in both the semifinals of the boys 16-and-under division and the boys 14-and-under division.

The next Surfing America event is scheduled for Oct. 6 at Church Beach at San Onofre State Beach.

Results included in this report are from the Surfing America website.