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Dam Cross - Hansen Dam Park - Lake View Terrace, California, December 10, 2006
On Sunday, December 10th, the best cyclo-cross racers in Southern California and Nevada gathered in force at Hansen Dam Park in the San Fernando Valley for what was hands down, one of the most dramatic and exciting backgrounds for a championship event. The day crowned 18 champions ranging from juniors to masters to beginners to elite men and women. Adding to the heat of the competition, this event was also the eigthth of nine races in the SoCalCross Prestige Series, where close battles for podium spots are on the line.
The bowl-like park created a perfect amphitheatre for lots of dramatic racing action! And not to disappoint, course designer Jonathan Livesay pulled out some of his design magic to create a true championship course consisting of 60% grass, 30% pavement, and 10% dirt. The Dam Cross course demanded the most of its racers. They started on a long paved straight which took them uphill on grass to the top of the bowl, dropping riders down and up the sprint hill. Adding to the madness, calypso steel drums greeted the racers by musician extraordinaire, Ray McNamara at the top. The course then swept racers into an off-camber turn which looped back to the expo area and into Jeff Herring's patented Clif Bar barriers leading racers to the other side of the bowl and more tough uphill before a bit of respite on the road. The tight turns created excitement as a final tricky uphill climb or run up toward the end of the lap tested the racers skills and was the deciding factor for some of the day's champions.
Sportsbase Online drove in from Utah to host the finish line, awards and announcing systems. And fresh off announcing the Colorado cyclocross championships, Dave Towle flew in to add his Dave-isms creating a new level of excitement and prestige to the championship event which series director, Dorothy Wong and the Prestige Series promoters have been working hard to achieve in 2006-7.
The finale of the day included a kids' race and musical performances by Erick Macek's soulful acoustic sounds.
The day did not disappoint… starting with the crowing of four new Junior champions earning their very own state championship jersey… including: Junior Men 10-14 champ, Miles Ludi (Nytro), Junior Women 10-14 Alexis Ryan (Scaryfast Racing), Jr. Men 15-18 Morgan Ryan (Scaryfast), Jr. Women 15-18, Coryn Rivera (Major Motion).
Other champions included: CX Men 4 - Mark Campaigne (Celo Pacific), the Women 3/4, Beatriz Rodriguez (Figueroa Farms-Redline… TeamRedFig.com), Women 35+, Tina Galindo (TeamRedFig.com) and Women 45+, Amy Hutner (Kahala/La Grange) took titles, most in commanding fashion. Many of the Prestige Series leaders took State titles in commanding fashion including John Bailey (Celo Pacific) in the Men CX 3/4 race while Fritz Bottger (PAA/Merrill Lynch/Sixtufit) dominated the Singlespeed race. The Masters Men awarded six new champions… Bob Llamas (PAA/Merrill Lynch) took the 60+, Jon Miller 55-59, Jonathan Livesay (PAA/Merrill Lynch) 50-54, Chuck Morris (Celo Pacific) 45-49, Mike McMahon (Team Velocity) 40-44, Bruce Weyman (CRCA/Sakonnet Technology) took the 35-39 title after a close battle with Jeff Herring (Celo Pacific-Redline) and Matias Mendigochea (Kahala-La Grange) who fought back from an early race mishap to overtake Herring on the last lap for the silver medal.
Elite races
The elite races began with what most called the most exciting race of the day. The elite women's field, although small, packed quite a punch as the battle between the Figueroa Farms-Redline's RedFigs, and as Dave Towle named her… "the cocktail napkin with an outboard motor," Coryn Rivera (Major Motion), the ladies of cross set out in the quest for the women's title. Rivera took control in the first lap with only Carolyn Popovic (TeamRedFig.com) able to follow. Rivera gapped Popovic and it looked like the junior was off to her second victory of the day. But Popovic, full of her own potential, powered her way back to overtake Rivera with two laps to go. Rivera was able to latch on the wheel of Popovic… was she trying to hang on or figuring out how to take the win? On the last uphill stretch, Rivera took the lead only to lose her gap slipping off her bike on the tricky uphill leading up to the final downhill turn and sprint finish. Popovic took the downhill section first, but the savvy track/sprint skills of Rivera brought her the elite women's title with a lunge forward at the line to take the title from Popovic by inches.
In the elite men's race, So Cal's best made their way out onto the course. One hour on this grueling course took its toll on the field and the race came down, the Prestige Series leading trio of the Nobles x two… Mark (Cal Raisins) and Chance (Cal Giant-Specialized) and Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific-Salsa). Chanced show some of his cross skills hopping the barriers with ease but eventually was gapped off the lead trio leaving Mark and Brent riding together and into one of their dynamic duels to the finish. Who was going to win? With Prenzlow in the lead on the final lap, it came down to another sprint finish for the championship as Mark Noble took command on the last his holding off Prenzlow to win the Elite Men's title.
The ninth and final round of SoCalCross Prestige Series continues Sunday, December 23rd with the Santa Cross, where the Prestige series champions will be crowned. More information can be found at: www.SoCalCross.org
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mitchell Clinton/www.clintonphoto.com
- Brent Prenzlow leads Mark Noble early in the race
- Coryn Rivera and Carolyn Popovic over the barriers one last time. Coryn beat Carolyn in a close sprint for the Elite Women's title.
- Mark Noble doing the "shimmy shimmy coco bop" all the way to the line to win the Elite Men's race
- Brent Prenzlow leads Mark Noble early in the race
Results
Junior Men 10-14 1 Miles Ludi (Nytro) 38.02 2 Ben Bertiger (Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling) 5.03 DNF Jake Snyder Junior Women 10-14 1 Alexis Ryan (Scary Fast Racing) 39.23 Junior Men 15-18 1 Morgan Ryan (Scary Fast Racing) 36.29 2 Sam Simmons (Scary Fast Racing) 4.01 One lap down 3 Peter Morris (Celo Pacific) Junior Women 15-18 1 Coryn Rivera (Major Motion Cycling Club) 39.14 2 Kendall Ryan (Scary Fast Racing) 4.19 Women 1/2/3 1 Coryn Rivera (Major Motion Cycling Club) 45.13 2 Carolyn Popovic (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 3 Dorothy Wong (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 1.41 4 Mandy Eakins (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 1.55 5 Celestina Galindo (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 6.06 6 Heidi Kanayan (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 6.16 7 Vannessa Humil 9.25 Women 3/4 1 Beatriz Rodriguez (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 42.32 2 Lisa Crowe (Team Possabilities) 0.05 3 Heidi Kanvayan (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 1.18 4 Shannon Castle (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 2.34 5 Jennifer Easter (Ventura) 6.57 One lap down 6 Ivana Galegos Women 35+ 1 Celestina Galindo (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 40.39 2 Amy Hutner (Kahala LaGrange) 3.26 3 Susan Kallal (Team Stoller) 4.10 4 Keli Roberts (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 7.32 One lap down 5 Susie Avchen (Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling) Men 1/2/3 1 Mark Noble (Cal Raisins) 1.00.27 2 Brent Prenzlow (Celo Pacific/Salsa) 0.01 3 Chance Noble (California Giant Cycling) 3.01 4 John Behrens (Celo Pacific) 3.09 5 Jason First (Crank Brothers) 6 Michael Easter (Non-Stop Cyclismo) 7 Leonardo Sandoval (Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling) 1.05.39 8 Jason Lowetz (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 1.05.46 9 Lyle Warner (Helen's Subaru) 1.05.47 10 Frederick Bottger (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 1.06.24 11 Michael Lee (TREK/VOLKSWAGEN) One lap down 12 Garnet Vertican (Giant) 13 Lawrence Leonard (Non-Stop Cyclismo) 14 Morgan Ryan (Scary Fast Racing) 15 Patrick Bos (Team DARE) 16 Derek Hermon (Bear Valley Bikes) 17 Roger Rilling (Team Stoller) DNF Paul Hernandez (Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling) Men 3/4 1 John Bailey (Celo Pacific) 42.33 2 Didier Jourdain (Celo Pacific) 0.59 3 Jason Siegle (JAX) 1.31 4 Chris Ellefson 1.49 5 Rich Holtzman (Team Stoller) 1.54 6 Tomas Petricko 2.19 7 Bobby Langin 2.43 8 Scott Burd 4.16 9 Alex Hall (South Bay Wheelmen) 4.40 10 Ryan Ferro (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 4.30 11 Cameron Dickinson (Encore Cycling) 5.04 12 Matthew Conner (Team Velosport) 5.05 13 Brandon Lee 5.21 14 Chase Schoen 5.51 15 Josh Caffrey (Team Stoller) 6.30 16 Peter Nesmith 6.31 17 Mike Carlson (Team Stoller) 6.56 18 Bret Suding 8.24 19 Robert Minn (South Bay Wheelmen) 8.49 20 Sam Simmons (Scary Fast Racing) 8.50 21 Todd Munson (Team Stoller) 9.06 22 Tomas Ybarrola 9.16 23 Michael Brown (Team Stoller) 10.54 One lap down 24 Michael Miller 25 Brandon Heflin 26 Joel Bertet 27 Jake Snyder 28 Scott Sampson 29 Miles Ludi 30 Austin Kirkland (Major Motion Cycling Club) Men 4 1 Mark Campaigne (Celo Pacific) 37.05 2 Adam Austin (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 0.22 3 Miguel Sutter (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 0.52 4 Stephan Smith 5 Matt Sheremeta (Celo Pacific) 6 David Sheek 7 David Bales (Celo Pacific) 38.01 8 Richard Baylor 38.07 9 Jeffrey Goble (Canyon Velo) 38.47 10 Chad Rivetti (Amgen Cycling Club) 39.37 11 Nicholas Navarro 41.28 12 Johnny Chan 41.56 13 Richard Murphy (Celo Pacific) 14 Paul Avila (High Desert Cycling Club) 15 Steven Totleben (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 43.12 16 David McClean 43.22 17 David Pimblett (South Bay Wheelmen) 43.31 18 Steven Ladeby (Swami's Cycling Club) 45.11 19 Jim Barker 46.23 20 Jesus Ortega 49.02 One lap down 21 Jay Cryderman 22 Matthew Phillips 23 Steve Marshall 24 Doug Miller (Celo Pacific) 25 Justin Koo 26 Daniel Lowelz Masters 35+ 1 Robert Weyman (Sakonnet Technology) 40.41 2 Carlos (Matias) Mendigochea (Kahala LaGrange) 0.01 3 Jeff Herring (Celo Pacific) 0.03 4 Mark Fluss (California Raisins/Central Coast Masters Cycling Team) 5 Mike McMahon (Team Velocity) 0.31 6 Gary Hanson (Amgen Cycling Club) 1.14 7 Ian S. Allen 2.16 8 Garnet Vertican 2.22 9 Donny Carroll (Big Ring Racing) 2.55 10 Paul Welsh (Celo Pacific) 3.13 11 Bernard Georges (Hup United) 3.48 12 Neil Browne (Specialized/Long Beach Elite) 4.33 13 Michael Hotten (South Bay Wheelmen) 5.16 14 Mark Campaigne 5.59 15 Paul Bracken (Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling) 16 Miguel Sutter (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 6.04 17 Matt Sheremeta (Celo Pacific) 6.21 18 Michael Gamstetter 8.25 19 Stephan Smith 9.22 20 Richard Murphy (Celo Pacific) 21 Todd Whitehouse (ADT Event Center) 22 Derek Hermon (Bear Valley Bikes) 23 Christopher Gallup (Celo Pacific) 24 Samuel Ames (Simply Fit/Action Sports) 25 Jeffrey Goble (Canyon Velo) Masters 45+ 1 Charles Morris (Celo Pacific) 42.10 2 Dirk Cowley (Velosport Racing) 0.59 3 Gregory Page (Lightning Velo) 1.22 4 Bobby Langin 1.30 5 Bradley Galindo (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 2.00 6 Erik Flockoi (Team Simple Green) 2.10 7 Jonathan Livesay (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 2.46 8 Robert Meeker (Tangelo Velo) 3.12 9 Larry Vanzant (Camarillo Bike Company) 3.38 10 Mark Luke (Echelon Santa Barbara) 3.58 11 Roberto Jourdain (Celo Pacific) 4.08 12 Rick Swanson (Team DARE) 13 Paul Suding 5.35 14 David Bales (Celo Pacific) 5.37 15 Jeff Steinhart (PAA) 6.03 16 Kevin Ryan (Amgen Cycling Club) 6.13 17 Jeff Newman (Team Simple Green) 7.25 18 Arnie Fernandez 7.26 19 Jeff Lemley (Team Velocity) 7.37 20 Wayne Cottrell (Ogden One Cycling Club) 10.13 21 Kenneth Avchen (Encino Velo Cycling Club) Masters 55+ 1 Jon Miller (Amgen Cycling Club) 44.13 One lap down 2 Doug Miller (Celo Pacific) 3 Robert Llamas (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 4 Butch Stinton (Acme Racing) 5 R Lee Willmore (Celo Pacific) Singlespeed 1 Frederick Bottger (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 43.37 2 Paul Hernandez (Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling) 0.56 3 Coley King 4 Sam Berg 1.36 5 Andrew Lightle 3.06 6 David Sheek 3.59 7 Carl Cashen (Bishops Peak/Arts Cyclery) 8 Daniel Breyer (Celo Pacific) 9 Sascha Mac 48.07 10 Sameer Kawash 49.15 One lap down 11 Matthew Gunnell (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 12 Nicholas Navarro 13 Todd Whitehouse 14 Steven Ladeby (Swami's Cycling Club) 15 R Lee Willmore (Celo Pacific) 16 Dorothy Twitchell (Transcend) District Championships Results Women 3/4 1 Beatriz Rodriguez (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 42.32 2 Lisa Crowe (Team Possabilities) 0.05 3 Heidi Kanvayan (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 1.18 4 Shannon Castle (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 2.34 5 Jennifer Easter 6.57 One lap down 6 Ivana Galegos Women 35-44 1 Celestina Galindo (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 40.39 2 Susan Kallal (Team Stoller) 4.10 Women 45+ 1 Amy Hutner (Kahala LaGrange) 44.05 2 Keli Roberts (Figueroa Farms-Redline (TeamRedFig.com)) 4.06 One lap down 3 Susie Avchen (Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling) Men 35-39 1 Robert Weyman (Sakonnet Technology) 40.41 2 Carlos (Matias) Mendigochea (Kahala LaGrange) 0.01 3 Jeff Herring (Celo Pacific) 0.03 4 Mark Fluss (California Raisins/Central Coast Masters Cycling Team) 5 Ian S. Allen 2.16 6 Garnet Vertican 2.22 7 Donny Carroll (Big Ring Racing) 2.55 8 Paul Welsh (Celo Pacific) 3.13 9 Neil Browne (Specialized/Long Beach Elite) 4.33 10 Mark Campaigne 5.59 11 Miguel Sutter (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 6.04 12 Todd Whitehouse (ADT Event Center) Men 40-44 1 Mike McMahon (Team Velocity) 41.12 2 Gary Hanson (Amgen Cycling Club) 0.43 3 Bernard Georges (Hup United) 3.17 4 Michael Hotten (South Bay Wheelmen) 4.45 5 Paul Bracken (Bicycle Johns Serious Cycling) 5.28 6 Matt Sheremeta (Celo Pacific) 5.50 7 Michael Gamstetter 7.54 8 Stephan Smith 8.51 9 Richard Murphy (Celo Pacific) Men 45-49 1 Charles Morris (Celo Pacific) 42.10 2 Gregory Page (Lightning Velo) 1.22 3 Bobby Langin 1.30 4 Bradley Galindo (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 2.00 5 Erik Flockoi (Team Simple Green) 2.10 6 Larry Vanzant (Camarillo Bike Company) 3.38 7 Mark Luke (Echelon Santa Barbara) 3.58 8 Roberto Jourdain (Celo Pacific) 4.08 9 David Bales (Celo Pacific) 5.37 10 Jeff Steinhart (PAA) 6.03 11 Jeff Newman (Team Simple Green) 7.25 12 Arnie Fernandez 7.26 13 Jeff Lemley (Team Velocity) 7.37 14 Wayne Cottrell (Ogden One Cycling Club) 10.13 Men 50-54 1 Jonathan Livesay (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 44.56 2 Robert Meeker (Tangelo Velo) 0.26 3 Rick Swanson (Team DARE) 1.22 4 Paul Suding 2.49 5 Kevin Ryan (Amgen Cycling Club) 3.27 Men 55-59 1 Jon Miller (Amgen Cycling Club) 44.13 One lap down 2 Doug Miller (Celo Pacific) 3 Butch Stinton (Acme Racing) Men 60+ 1 Robert Llamas (Pasadena Athletic Assoc (PAA)) 2 R Lee Willmore (Celo Pacific)
