Capitola’s Steffen Andersen, Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad take silver at MTB cross country nationals

Two junior racers from Santa Cruz County earned silver, and a handful of other mountain bikers secured top-10 finishes, at the 2012 USA Cycling MTB Cross Country Nationals in Sun Valley, Idaho, on June 5-8.

On the opening day of racing Thursday, Capitola’s Steffen Andersen finished runner-up in the junior men’s Cat 3 15-18 age division, crossing the finish line of the cross country race in 1:51:03. Daniel Riley of Park City, Utah, won in 1:46:16.

And on the closing day Sunday, Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad [Ritte Elite U23 Development Team] finished runner-up to another Park City product, Keegan Swenson, in short track cross country action. Ortenblad crossed the finish line of the junior men’s Cat 1 15-18 age division race in 31:42.7, and Swenson clocked in at 31:19.4.

Ortenblad also earned a sixth-place finish in Sunday’s junior men’s 18-and-under Super-D for what was his second top-10 finish at nationals following a DNF on Friday. He had a time of 23:06.6. Swenson also won that race, crossing the finish line in 21:57.1.

Ortenblad wasn’t the only Santa Cruz County product to secure two top-10 finishes. Soquel’s Jacob Albrecht [Whole Athlete] also managed the feat with two sixth-place finishes. One was in the junior men’s Cat 1 15-18 age division race, and the other was in the junior men’s Cat 1 17-18 age division race Friday, where he finished in 1:20:56. Swenson [Cannondale Factory Racing] again won, taking that race in 1:17:08.

Several other county racer earned top-10 finishes. They were as follows:

• Santa Cruz’s Loren Gregg placed seventh in the women’s under-23 cross country race[1:44:05]. Fairfax’s Lauren Catlin [Durango Devo] won in 1:32:48.
• Capitola’s Richard Latorraca [unattached] placed 10th in the master men’s 60-64 cross country race, which was won by Montana Velo’s Randy Beckner of Helena, Mont., in 1:52:50.
• Aptos’ Ron Riley [Bike Station Aptos] placed seventh in the master men’s 77-and-over cross country race [3:12:40]. Sun Valley’s Hans Muehlegger [Durance-Colnago] won in 2:10:39.

Results included in this report are from USACycling.com.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad takes second in Galena Grinder Whit Henry Memorial

Santa Cruz resident Tobin Ortenblad took second in the men’s junior 15-18 age division of the Galena Grinder Whit Henry Memorial mountain bike race in Ketchum, Idaho, on Saturday.

Ortenblad [Ritte Elite U23 Development Team] was runner-up behind Marcus Segedin of Greenbrae.

Team director Stu Bone, also from Santa Cruz, placed sixth in the men’s Cat 2 Master 30-39 age division race, which was won by Ketchum’s Colin Rodgers.

Results in this report are from USACycling.com.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Watsonville cyclist Matt Schaupp takes bronze in criterium at road nationals

Santa Cruzans Devon Gorry, Tobin Ortenblad each have top 25 finishes

Watsonville resident Matt Schaupp secured the bronze in the junior men’s 17-18 criterium at the USA Cycling Juniors U23 Elite Road Nationals in Augusta, Georgia, on Friday.

Schaupp, who rides with the Ritte Elite U23 Development Team, finished the race in the same time as winner Brendan Rhim of Norwich, Vt. They crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 6 minutes, 21 seconds as did runner-up Alexandre Darnville of Santa Barbara. Rhim rides for Woodstock Bicycle Club/Killing and Darnville rides for Hammer Nutrition-CMG Racing Team.

The first 14 riders came across the finish line with the same time.

Schaupp also raced in the road race Sunday, when he placed 75th [2:26:48]. Ritte teammate Tobin Ortenblad took 23rd [2:25:22] in that race after suffering two DNFs in earlier races. Miami’s Miguel Bryon won in 2:25:22. The first 39 cyclists across the finish line recorded the same time.

Santa Cruzan Devon Gorry [NOW and Novartis for MS/Now Cycling] placed 14th in the time trial, crossing the finish line in 41:59.355. Specialized-Lululemon’s Amber Neben of Lake Forest won in 39:27.375.

Gorry also took 23rd in the criterium, finishing in 1:10:04. Theresa Cliff-Ryan [Exergy TWENTY12], of Cedar Springs, Mich., won in 1:09:27.

Results in this report are from USACycling.com.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad finishes 26th in Mount Hood Cycling Classic criterium

Just a week after winning the junior division of the Steve Dunlap Time Trial, Santa Cruz’s Tobin Ortenblad finished 26th in the pro division of the criterium at the Mount Hood Cycling Classic, which ran from Friday to Sunday in Hood River, Ore.

Ortenblad finished in 1 hour, 2 minutes, 4 seconds — a time which matched that of winner Jeff Perrin of Lakewood, Colo — according to results on USACycling.com. Ortenblad’s other finishes in the stage race were 65th or farther back.

Ortenblad, who rides for the Ritte Elite U23 Development Team, was also recently selected to represent the USA at the UCI Cross Country World Cups this summer, according to the team’s Twitter feed.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

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

Scotts Valley High student Gabe Multer makes podium twice in one day

Gabe Multer, at right, celebrates his podium performance with other top finishers. (Charlotte Multer/Contributed)

Scotts Valley High student and Santa Cruz resident Gabe Multer won the 17-18 juniors cycling race at the Central Coast Circuit Races in Monterey on Sunday. Multer, who rides for Ritte Elite U23 Development Team, edged out Mill Valley’s Dillon Charlton for the victory and his second podium finish of the day, according to results released early this week.

Multer also placed fourth in the men’s Cat 4 race behind winner Chris Riekert of San Jose.

Aptos’s David Borba was another Santa Cruz County rider in good form, winning the master men’s Cat 5 45-99 age division race, and the Heatons again dominated. Steve Heaton [HC3 Coaching] won the master men’s Cat 1/2/3 35-99 age division and Michele Heaton [Sycomp Racing] won the women’s Cat 1/2/3/4 35-99 age division.

The next circuit race is scheduled for March 11. For details, go here.

– Christina Gullickson, CGullTweets on Twitter