Scotts Valley’s Felipe Walker wins CCCX junior downhill mountain bike race

Scotts Valley mountain biker Felipe Walker won the Central Coast Downhill Series “Super-D” junior 18-and-under race at Toro Park in Salinas on Sunday.

Walker [Monster Energy/Scotts Valley Cyclesport] sped down the course in 4 minutes, 57.68 seconds for the win. He was followed by Matten Erbentraut of Navato [Matin Bikes] in 4:58.91 and Todd Renwick of Soulsbyville [CCCX] in 5:04.93.

Walk was one of two winning junior riders from Scotts Valley. The other was Ryan Simonovich [Santa Cruz Mountain Cycling], who won the boys 14-16 age division in 5:26.66.

Also from Santa Cruz County, Aptos had two winners. Devin Kjaer [Yeti/Fox/Family Cycling Center] won both the junior boys Cat 3 18-and-under race in 5:04.39 and the junior boys 13-and-under race in 5:13.55, and Bob Barwick [Family Cycling Center] won the single speed division in 5:13.92.

And from the City of Santa Cruz, Elli Freibrun [Spokesman] won the women’s Cat 2 division in 5:57.87, Michael Ryan [Bike Station Aptos] won the men’s Cat 3 45-54 age division in 5:22.13, James Bradley [unattached] won the men’s Cat 2 45-54 age division, and Bjorn Temple [Family Cycling Center] won the man’s Cat 2 19-34 age division in 4:59.46.

The downhill series finale is scheduled for Dec. 9.

Results included in this report are from the CCCX website.

Monterey’s Christopher Calzetta, Carmella Cuva win Nisene Marks Marathon

Monterey residents Christopher Calzetta and Carmella Cuva were the men’s and women’s winners, respectively, of the Forest of Nisene Marks Marathon in Aptos on Saturday.

Calzetta completed the hilly state parks course in 2 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds. Benjamin Walker of Santa Margarita finished runner-up in 3:10:17 and Salinas’ Sean Curry was third in 3:24:38.

The top male finisher from Santa Cruz County was Santa Cruz’s own Joey Cassidy, who crossed the finish line in 3:27:50.

Cuva, who was 14th overall, upset defending women’s champ Judy Shanley of Monterey. Cuva crossed the finish line in 4:02:08, while Shanley followed in 4:04:51. San Jose’s Katharine Flexer placed third [4:21:30].

Danielle Glagola was the only female runner from Santa Cruz County. She finished 47th overall and seventh among women [5:14:15].

Watsonville’s Michael Young won the 5-kilometer race run in conjunction with the marathon. He finished in 17:06, ahead of runner-up Eric Yepez of Watsonville [18:13] and third-place finisher Greg Hales of Santa Cruz [18:38]. Watsonville’s Margaret Fahl was the fastest woman, crossing the finish line in 20:46, and Prunedale’s Kathy Nitayangkul was second [22:19] while Aptos’ Rachel Lewis was third [23:12].

Santa Cruz’s Stefano Profumo won the half marathon in 1:25:27. Christopher Ratliff, also of Santa Cruz, placed second in 1:26:09 and Barry Farrara placed third in 1:27:34. Arroyo Grande’s Jessica Dahlberg was the top finisher among women and seventh overall [1:33:50]. Capitola’s Katharine Garkey was second [1:35:12] and San Luis Obispo’s Carin Serba was third [1:36:09] among women.

Proceeds from the races benefit the Santa Cruz Host Lions, an organization which helps the seeing-impaired in the community.

Earlier results posted on this blog, regretfully, were incorrect and have been removed.

This post includes results posted on the Santa Cruz Track Club’s website.

– Christina Gullickson on Twitter @CGullTweets

With win in finale, Santa Cruz’s Jacob Albrecht becomes NorCal High School Mountain Bike season champ

Area riders Tom Foxx, Steffen Andersen, Maddie Ortenblad also win divisions

After a season of battling for first, it came down to a sprint to the finish line.

Santa Cruz’s Jacob Albrecht went into the NorCal High School Mountain Biking League’s championship fighting to narrow an 18-point gap between himself and season standings leader Bryan Duke of Salinas. Oddly enough, the way the new league champ accomplished that feat involved some teamwork with Duke.

“On the last lap, me and Bryan Duke pulled away on the last climb, and we worked a little together on the flats just to pull away from everyone,” Albrecht, a Santa Cruz Composite rider, said of the boys varsity race that took place Sunday at Stafford Lake County Park in Novato.

Then came the sprint to the finish.  After completing five laps for about total 26.5 miles, Albrecht had recorded a time of 1 hour, 41 minutes, 51 seconds — a win by just two seconds to become the first-ever league champ out of Santa Cruz.

“I wasn’t feeling too great at the start, but I felt better and better throughout the race,” Albrecht said. “And I tried to push it on the climbs.”

Pushing it paid off in a big way. With his win, came a boost of 550 points and that was enough to slide him past defending champion Duke [1:41:53] in the standings, which are based on points from the best four of five races. Both Albrecht and Duke were also awarded 25 bonus points, which are given to riders who participate in all the season’s events.

Marin’s Taylor Smith placed third overall [2,152] and Santa Cruz independent rider Tobin Ortenblad, the defending state champion who won at Mike’s Bike Cat’s Classic on Saturday, placed fifth [2,067]. Neither Smith nor Ortenblad participated in all five competitions, so their points included only those from the four races they did ride in — with no throwaway score.

In non-varsity races, area winners Sunday were Tom Foxx [Santa Cruz Composite] in the sophomore boys Division 2 race [1:08:26], Steffen Andersen [Aptos High] in the frosh boys Division 2 race [47:38]. Both won their division titles, as did Maddie Ortenblad in the frosh girls division.

Foxx and Andersen each lost only one race this season, both finishing with 2,025 points. Maddie Ortenblad won one race and never placed worse than fourth, finishing with 1,966 points.

Santa Cruz Composite placed ninth in the team standings [7,915 points] for Division 2. The Spartans High School Mountain Bike Composite won the division with 10,148 points, and Sir Francis Drake High School won Division 1 [19,224].

As for other Santa Cruz County-based teams, the newly formed Santa Cruz Mountains Composite placed 14th [6,862] and Aptos High School placed 15th [6,194] in Division 2, and Georgiana Bruce Kirby Prep placed 12th in Division 1 [15,011].

Although the NorCal season has come to a close, the state championship is fast approaching. It’s scheduled for Los Olivos on May 20. Riders must qualify to participate. For more information, please see the NorCal league’s website.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Editor’s note: An earlier version of this post did not make clear that both Albrecht and Duke received the 25-point bonus for competing in all NorCal races this season. This version has been updated to reflect that they did. Also, it has now been noted that Smith and Ortenblad had no throwaway scores.

Santa Cruz’s Jacob Albrecht finishes runner-up in Boggs Mountain Classic

Marin Catholic’s Taylor Smith captures the win

Santa Cruz High student and Santa Cruz Composite rider Jacob Albrecht followed up his first NorCal High School Mountain Bike League win of the season with a second-place finish in the Boggs Mountain Classic on Sunday.

Marin Catholic’s Taylor Smith won the 24.8-mile boys varsity race in 1 hour, 46 minutes, 14 seconds, according to results on the NorCal website. Albrecht followed a mere three seconds later. Salinas’ Bryan Duke, the overall standings leader, placed third in 1:46:41.

Duke now has 2,162 points in the standings, Albrecht has 2,144, and independent rider Brandon Dillard is in third with 1,938.

The sole other Santa Cruz County rider at the varsity level, Tobin Ortenblad — the defending state champ — placed eighth after getting held up by a crash near the start and suffering a penalty. He finished in 1:56:58.

In the standings, Ortenblad is ranked 18th with 1,553 points.

The 18.6-mile girls varsity race was won by the Branson Bulls’ Kate Courtney, who crossed the finish line in 1:34:50.

Santa Cruz County did have two winners Sunday, though. They were Aptos High’s Steffen Andersen, who dominated the boys frosh race in 1:04:06, and the SCC’s Tom Foxx, who won the soph boys race in 1:33:02 with almost a full-minute lead over the next closest competitor. The distance in the frosh race was 12.4 miles and the distance in the soph race was 18.6 miles.

The next NorCal High School Mountain Bike League event is the NorCal Championships, which are scheduled for May 6.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter @CGullTweets

Felton’s Kim Midstroke leads standings after fourth Central Coast Cycloross Series XC race

Felton’s Kim Midstroke went into Saturday’s Central Coast Cyclocross Series’ cross country mountain biking race with a three-point lead in the overall standings. He left with another victory and the max of 50 points to add to his total as the series reaches the halfway point of the season.

Midstroke, who competes in the men’s Cat 2 35-44 age division, finished four laps in his fourth CCCX race of the season — which was held at Toro Park in Salinas — in 1 hour, 27 minutes, 45 seconds. The Midstock Construction/Spokesman rider had almost a minute cushion over runner-up Sherwin Tangonan [Food Source] of Salinas, who finished in 1:28:47.

The tightly contested standings may see a small shakeup once the most recent race points are tallied. Tangonan was in third headed into the race with 331 points while Saturday’s ninth-place finisher Chris Coble had been holding on to second with 333 points.

Other Santa Cruz County winners from Saturday were as follows: Ben Lomond’s Gerry Hatcher [Scotts Valley Cycle Sport] in the men’s Cat 2 45-54 age division, going four laps in 1:28:26; Scotts Valley’s Scott Martin [Bicycle Trip] in the men’s Cat 2 55-plus age division, going four laps in 1:37:49; Capitola’s Richard Latorraca [Family Cycling Center] in the men’s Cat 1 55-64 age division, going five laps in 1:59:25; Santa Cruz’s Andrew Parker [unattached] in the Clydesdale division, going four laps in 2:19:26; Santa Cruz’s Barnaby Lee [Santa Cruz County Cycling Club] in the Cat 2 single speed division, going four laps in 1:47:12; Ben Lomond’s Graham Dittman [unattached] in the men’s Cat 3 19-34 age division, going three laps in 1:12:30; Aptos’ Dan Russ [unattached] in the men’s Cat 3 55-plus age division, going three laps in 1:26:42; and Aptos’ Anya Thrash [unattached] in the women’s Cat 3 19-34 age division, going three laps in 1:28:15.

The next cross country race is scheduled for Sunday, May 27, again at Toro Park.

– 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

Top 10 from the Santa Cruz Half Marathon and 10k

All right! My esteemed colleagues over in the sports department of the Santa Cruz Sentinel did a quick write-up of the Santa Cruz Half Marathon and 10k, but I wanted to post the top 10 lists and some other highlights here.

Congrats to everyone who finished. I know this was a first half for a lot of people, so kudos to all the newbies. I hope to be one of you soon

HALF MARATHON – Top 10 men

1. Adam Roach [Pacific Grove], 1:11:33

2. Salvador Garcia [Los Banos], 1:15:43

3. Martin Conrad [Monterey], 1:15:43

4. Matt Allie [San Jose], 1:17:07

5. Karl Malmsheimer [Los Gatos], 1:17:36

6. Kevin Schneider [Mountain View], 1:19:26

7. Dan Napieralski [Folsom], 1:20:30

8. Kevan Chu [Santa Cruz], 1:20:45*

9. Bernardo Tapia [Redwood City], 1:21:15

10. Raymond Rodriguez [Los Banos], 1:21:43

HALF MARATHON – Top 10 women

1. Monica Jo Nicholson [Salinas], 1:24:50

2. Jessica Scola [San Francisco], 1:26:11

3. Rhea George [Seattle], 1:26:12

4. Kari Anne Bertrand [Gilroy], 1:27:11

5. Anna Gunn [Walnut Creek], 1:28:07

6. Lisa Castillo [Salinas], 1:28:11

7. Darci Cassinelli [Santa Clara], 1:28:50

8. Amber Arnaz [Tracy], 1:29:19

9. Ann Thomas [Santa Cruz], 1:29:37*

10. Katherine Rapmund [Walnut Creek], 1:31:23

10-KILOMETER RACE – Top 10 overall

1. Adam Marriott [Scotts Valley], 34:11*

2. Alexander Mahoney [San Jose], 34:57

3. Michael Ingardia [San Jose], 35:27

4. Matthew Meyerhofer [San Francisco], 36:44

5. Albert Pham [Cupertino], 37:00

6. Jim Tiffany [Seaside], 37:33

7. Nikia Brautovich [Aptos], 37:45*

8. Stephanie Kato [San Jose], 38:22

9. Isaac Medrano [Santa Clara], 38:26

10. Nicholas Chee [Salinas], 39:13

*Denotes top Santa Cruz County finishers

I was actually out at the race doing a fun little video for the Sentinel’s website (I was the one walking around in a snow jacket — man, it was cold out there), and I was able to catch up with 10k winner Nikia Brautovich, who said she considers this 10k her first, since she’d only previously done one when she was a kid. Anyway, here’s the quick interview we did on Cowell Beach just past the finish line.

Enjoy!

I also posted a few of my favorite photos to Flickr.

More results can be found on the Buzzworld Productions site over here.

– Christina Gullickson, on Twitter at CGullTweets

Timing glitch briefly shows Aptos’ Chris David as Big Sur Mud Run winner

A runner dives into the first mud pit during the Big Sur Mud Run on Fort Ord in Seaside, Calif. on Saturday March 24, 2012. (AP Photo/ Monterey County Herald, David Royal)

A competitor struggles through of the final mud pit during the Big Sur Mud Run on Fort Ord in Seaside, Calif. on Saturday March 24, 2012. (AP Photo/ Monterey County Herald, David Royal)

A team of runners clothed in business attire emerge from the second mud pit during the Big Sur Mud Run on Fort Ord in Seaside, Calif. on Saturday March 24, 2012. (AP Photo/ Monterey County Herald, David Royal)

Marina’s Palmer is the real winner; Watsonville’s Rodriguez places second overall

While several events were canceled this weekend due to rain, there was one that wasn’t stopped by the weather — and, for a brief moment, it appeared as though Aptos’ Chris David had taken it by storm.

In Big Sur Mud Run results up early Sunday morning, it looked like David crossed the finish line almost twice as fast as runner-up Eric Palmer on Saturday. With a chip time of 17 minutes, 12 seconds, the 44-year-old appeared to have bested Palmer of Marina by 17:12 with a 3:18-per mile pace.

In actuality, though, David is not related to Superman. Palmer won the event, and by mid-morning organizers had discovered the error and reset the results, giving David a DNF.

“It looks as though [David] started his race at 8:00am and then went back to the start line after the race to get his belongings and tripped the mat again,” Buzz Ayola with Buzz Word Productions said in an email. ” The software thinks that he started an hour later.”

This was the seventh running of the Big Sur Mud Run, a 5-mile obstacle race on the CSU-Monterey Bay campus/Fort Ord, in Seaside. The event is a popular one, regularly drawing about 1,500 individual racers in addition to relay teams.

Palmer won in 34:41. Watsonville’s Ivan Rodriguez placed second [37:22] and Salinas’ Raymundo Morales was third [39:47]. Santa Cruz’s Brendon Drobny was the only other Santa Cruz County runner to make the top 10. He finished in 41:02 for seventh place overall.

The women’s winner was Piper Delaney of Marina, who was 10th overall and finished in 41:52. Meanwhile, Harvard alumna Kelli Okuji was the top female runner from Santa Cruz County. The Aptos resident finished in 47:58 for 12th among women and 85th overall.

Santa Cruz County age group winners were as follows: Santa Cruz’s Jose Ogarrio in 43:29 [men's 50-59] and Soquel’s Joe Alvarez as the only entrant in 1:11:09 [men's 70-79]. For more coverage of the event, the Monterey County Herald was there.

– 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

Santa Cruz’s Jeff Kendall-Weed makes it three Ws in a row in CCCX downhill races

Santa Cruz resident Jeff Kendall-Weed was made for speed. He’s proved as much by winning three consecutive Central Coast Series downhill mountain biking competitions, capped with his most recent pro men’s victory Saturday.

Novato’s Ben Cruz was nipping on his heels, so to speak, but Kendall-Weed pulled off the win in 4 minutes, 31.76 seconds to Cruz’s 4:33.36, according to results released early this week. Aromas’ Kiran MacKinnon, a Soquel High grad who represented the United States at the downhill worlds last year, placed third [4:38.18] on the Toro Park course in Salinas.

With Kendall-Weed’s and MacKinnon’s stellar performances this season, the last couple races of the season will carry a lot of weight for the overall title.

There were just three other Santa Cruz County winners. They were as follows: Santa Cruz’s Scott Chapin [Santa Cruz/Fox/Easton] crossed the finish line of the men’s Cat 1 race in 4:41.77, Scotts Valley’s Joel Van Pykeren [unattached] crossed the finish line of the junior boys 18-and-under Cat 3 race in 5:06.83, and Aptos’ Devin Kjaer [Family Cycling Center/FOX] crossed the finish line of the junior boys 13-and-under race in 5:27.90.

The next Central Coast Series X-Fusion Super-D event is scheduled for March 18 at Toro Park. As always, they have tons of photos up from Rick Rasmusen, so be sure to check those out, too.

– Christina Gullickson, CGullTweets on Twitter.