Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad, Steven Sperling shine at Cat’s Hill Classic

Santa Cruz residents Tobin Ortenblad, the defending state high school mountain biking champion, and Steven Sperling rode to victory in the Mike’s Bikes Cat’s Hill Classic criterium in Los Gatos on Saturday.

Ortenblad, a Pacific Collegiate School student who rides for the Ritte Elite U23 Development Team, edged teammate Matt Schaupp for the win in the junior men’s 17-18 division. Schaupp, of Watsonville, placed second and Petaluma’s Kenneth Gonzales [Team Swift] was third.

Sperling [unattached] won the men’s Cat 4 division over runner-up Chris Leibman of Palo Alto [Webcor/Alto Velo] and third-place finisher Daniel Green of Oroville [Chico Corsa Cycling Team].

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad, Devon Gorry take second at Copperopolis Road Race

Santa Cruz residents Devon Gorry and Tobin Ortenblad, a Pacific Collegiate School student, placed second in their respective races at the Copperopolis Road Race in Milton on Saturday, according to results from USA Cycling.

Ortenblad, who was riding for the Ritte Elite U23 Development Team, finished just behind winner Robbie Farrens of Stockton in the junior men’s 17-18 age division race. Farrens rides for Tieni Duro.

Los Altos’ Matt Valencia [Team Specialized Racing Juniors] rounded out the top three.

Gorry placed second in the women’s Cat 1/2 division, coming in behind winner Rebecca Werner [SportVelo Racing]. Gorry rides for NOW and Novartis for MS. Her Oakland teammate Elizabeth Newell came in third.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets

Santa Cruz’s Jacob Albrecht conquers ‘Hurl Hill,’ wins Laguna Seca Grand Prix

Santa Cruz High student and Santa Cruz Composite rider Jacob Albrecht pulled away from the boys varsity pack on the final climb of the Laguna Seca Grand Prix, dubbed “Hurl Hill,” and held on for the win on Sunday.

The race, at the Laguna Seca Recreational Area in Monterey, was the third NorCal High School Mountain Biking League event and the one with the toughest hills this season.

Albrecht finished the approximately 25-mile trek in 1 hour, 32 minutes, 57 seconds. He was followed by Marin Catholic’s Tyler Smith [1:33:04, second] and Salinas’ Bryan Duke [1:33:14, third].

Independent rider and Pacific Collegiate School student Tobin Ortenblad, the defending state high school mountain biking champion, placed fourth [1:33:23], and the Branson Bulls’ Eliel Anttila rounded out the top five [1:36:02].

Albrecht’s victory boosted his points in the standings; although, he’s still in second behind Duke, who won the first two races of the season. The margin between them narrowed, with Albrecht having 1,604 points to Duke’s 1,631.

Albrecht wasn’t the only mountain biker from Santa Cruz County to bring home a win. Tom Fox [SCC] won the sophomore boys’ 15-mile Division 2 race and Aptos High’s Steffen Andersen won the frosh boys’ 10-mile Division 2 race.

Fox’s win came with a decent lead over runner-up and teammate Chance Tiner. He crossed the finish line in 1:02:15 to Tiner’s 1:03:10. Andersen, though, eked his out, edging Santa Cruz Mountains Composite rider Joe Van Pykeren by two seconds, 41:04-41:06.

The girls varsity race was won by Josie Nordrum of Redwood High [1:24:15]. She leads the girls standings with 1,621 points.

In the team standings, Redwood High is leading in Division 1 with 11,533 points. The Georgiana Bruce Kirby team is the sole Santa Cruz County squad in Division 1 and is currently in 12th place out of 14 teams with 8,744 points. In Division 2, the Spartans High School Mountain Bike Composite leads with 6,071 points and the top Santa Cruz County squad is the SCC, in eighth of 32 teams with 4,532 points.

The next NCHSMBL event is scheduled for April 15 at the Boggs Mountain Demonstration Forest in Cobb.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets

Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad, Jacob Albrecht finish in top 5 of NorCal mountain bike race

Handful of SC County riders capture wins in non-varsity races

Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad, the defending state high school mountain biking champion, placed second in his return to the NorCal High School Mountain Biking League after sitting out the first race to rest up from the cyclocross season, in which he represented the United States at worlds in Belgium.

The independent rider who attends Pacific Collegiate School finished the Central Coast Classic boys varsity race in 1 hour, 35 minutes, 5 seconds in what was a race to the finish line in Monterey on Sunday.

Bryan Duke, who won the NorCal opener last month, crossed the finish line in 1:35:02 to secure another victory for Salinas.

Third-place finisher Taylor Smith of Marin Catholic finished in 1:35:06, Tamalpais High’s Skyler Taylor was fourth in 1:35:32, and Santa Cruz Cycling Composite’s Jacob Albrecht rounded out the top five in 1:36:57.

In non-varsity races, a handful of Santa Cruz County riders, including Maddie Ortenblad — Tobin Ortenblad’s younger sister — Chance Tiner and Steffen Andersen also found success.

Tiner [Santa Cruz Cycling Composite] won the Division 2 sophomore boys race in 1:03:33 with a two-second lead over teammate Tom Foxx.

Andersen, of Aptos High, won the Division 2 frosh boys race in 43:59 for a seven-second lead over the next closest competitor.

Maddie Ortenblad, who rides as an independent, won the girls frosh race in 50:28 with a 25-second lead over the next closest competitor.

The next NorCal HSMBL race is the Laguna Seca Grand Prix in Monterey, scheduled for April 1 (no joke).

Results included in this report came from the NorCal HSMBL website. Early results are always preliminary. If you see what you think is a mistake, the league encourages you to contact pgoes-at-speakeasy-dot-net.

Neither team results nor standings were available as of the morning of March 21 but will likely be posted in the NorCal HSMBL results area in the coming days.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets