Monthly Archives: May 2016

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

No Americans in Top 100 in Stage Seven of Giro d’Italia as Larry Warbasse Drops Out

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There are only five Americans still going in the Giro d’Italia after Larry Warbasse dropped out. Velonews.com is reporting he dropped out after having numbness in his leg over the last few days.

The five that were left in the race did not have strong finishes on Friday with none making it into the top 100 of stage seven. Three Americans are still in the top 100 overall with Ian Boswell leading the way in 52nd, 13:47 back. Nathan Brown is 57th and Joe Dombrowski 63rd, both over 90 seconds behind Boswell.

On Saturday there is a 116 mile medium-mountain stage. It’s the last long stage before the second rest day of the event.

Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Giro d’Italia Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update
Day 3 Update
Day 4 Update
Day 5 Update
Day 6 Update

Arena Pro Swim Series, Swimming

US Swimmers, Including Ryan Lochte, Win Nine of Ten Events Day of Arena Pro Swim Series

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The second day of the Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series event didn’t see a clean American sweep but it came very very close. Leah Smith opened things with a win in the 200m freestyle by 0.42, her first medal of the season, with Canadian Taylor Ruck in second. Lindsay Vrooman was the second best American in fourth. On the men’s side Connor Dwyer has now won all four of the races he’s entered this season. This one was over a second and a half quicker than Zane Grothe.

In the 100m breaststroke Lilly King got the win with Katie Meili finishing outside of first for the first time this season in second place. Cody Miller scored his first win of the season on the men’s side after he had finished second to open the season in Minneapolis. Sam Tierney surprisingly ended up 16th after three top four finishes to start the year including a win. Mexican Miguel De Lara Ojeda was second. In the 50m backstroke, the first contest of the event this year, Ali Deloof beat Canadian Kylie Masse to the line by 0.08 with Clara Smiddy in fourth. Bryce Bohman won the men’s event by 0.15 seconds over Vietnam’s Paul Le while Bob Glover came in third.

The 100m butterfly race between Kelsi Worrell and Dana Vollmer went to Vollmer. Vollmer’s winning margin was around a second but Worrell got beat to the line by 15-year-old Penny Oleksiak of Canada. The men’s 100m butterfly race was where the US failed to win for the first time. Instead it was Canadian Santo Condorelli who beat Tim Phillips. The second place finish was the best of the season for Phillips topping a third place finish in Austin. Matthew Josa was third for the US as Condorelli won by 0.3 seconds and Josa was 0.6 seconds behind Phillips.

Finally in the 400m individual medley Cammile Adams won for the first time after three top five finishes earlier in the year. China’s Rose Bi was second by over eight seconds with Lindsey Clary finishing third. Ryan Lochte made it two wins in two tries on the men’s side with Ecuador’s Tom Peribonio two seconds back. Michael Weiss finished third almost three seconds behind Peribonio.

Saturday will feature six events. Here are some of the American favorites:
Women’s 200m Butterfly: Cammile Adams – three golds in three tries, Hannah Saiz – silver in Minneapolis
Men’s 200m Butterfly: No previous US medalists from this season
Women’s 50m Freestyle: Madison Kennedy – two golds and a silver this season. Dana Vollmer – silver in Mesa
Men’s 50m Freestyle: Anthony Ervin – silver in Mesa, Jimmy Feigen – bronze in Austin, Cullen Jones – bronze in Mesa
Women’s 100m Backstroke: No previous US medalists from this season
Men’s 100m Backstroke: Ryan Lochte – silver in Mesa
Women’s 200m Breaststroke: Haley Spencer – silver in Minneapolis
Men’s 200m Breaststroke: Cody Miller – two bronzes
Women’s 50m Butterfly: Has not been held this season
Men’s 50m Butterfly: Has not been held this season
Women’s 400m Freestyle: Leah Smith – two silvers this year, Lindsay Vrooman – a silver in Orlando
Men’s 400m Freestyle: Connor Dwyer – two golds and a silver this year, Zane Grothe – a silver in Orlando, and Connor Jaeger – a bronze in Minneapolis.

Previous Charlotte Arena Pro Swim Series Coverage:
Preview
Day 1 Update

Judo, Judo Grand Slam and Grand Prix

Aaron Kunihiro Defeated in Round One in Almaty

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No success on the first day of the judo grand prix event in Almaty, Kazakhstan as the only American competing, Aaron Kunihiro, went the distance but was defeated by Azerbaijan’s Vugar Shirinli by a waza-ari. Nicholas Delpopolo will go for the US on Saturday in the men’s -73kg division. Like Kunihiro he has yet to advance past the round of 32 this year. Leilani Akiyama and Hannah Martin, both in the -63kg division. Akiyama made the round of 16 in two of her four grand prix events so far in 2016. She is the only American to compete at every grand prix and grand slam stop this year.

Previous Judo Grand Prix Coverage:
Almaty Preview

Men's World League, Water Polo

USA Defeats Brazil, Will Be Playing in World League Again This year

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The US men continued their perfect run in qualifying as they defeated Brazil 16-11 in their fourth match in the intercontinental tournament. Falling behind after eight minutes for once the US rallied for a 6-5 lead at the half and pulled away with a four goal advantage in the fourth quarter for the five point win. Alex Bowen, John Mann, and Luca Cupido all had three goals for the US while Merrill Moses made 13 saves.

The US wraps up play in the group with China on Saturday. China is a woeful 0-4 and has been outscored 74-23 with three losses by 13 or more. They are hosting the World League so they will be a part of it but they don’t seem they will be competitive. The US defeated them 19-7 in qualifying last year.

Previous FINA Intercontinental Qualification Tournament Coverage:
Preview
Australia Recap
Japan Recap
Kazakhstan Recap

Archery, Archery World Cup

US Teams Earn Two Shots at Gold, One at Bronze at Archery World Cup in Medellin

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The US is going to exceed their medal count from Shanghai, that much is clear. How many of those will be gold is unclear still but with the US already reaching three gold medal individual finals and two of their teams reaching gold medal finals on Friday the US can come home with no less than five medals, two more than they won in China.

The easiest task was probably that of the US compound women’s team of Crystal Gauvin, Emile Bee, and Dhalia Cook. Being seeded third of just four teams they needed to win only one match to reach the final and did so easily 233-222 over Italy. They will take on #1 Colombia in the final on Saturday. Gauvin will be participating in the individual, women’s team, and mixed team finals with a chance for a three medal day. The men’s compound team of Alex Wifler, Steve Anderson, and Braden Gellenthien had to win twice to reach the final and took care of their opposition 231-229 against Colombia and 232-227 against #4 France. Their opponent in the final will be #6 Italy.

In men’s recurve the #2 seed team of Brady Ellison, Jake Kaminski, and Jacob Wukie had to face competition from some neighbors in the first two rounds. They shutout Cuba 6-0 to open but lost a tiebreaker and the quarterfinal match to Mexico 5-4. Doing surprisingly well on the other hand was the #10 women’s recurve team of Erin Mickelberry, Lauren Clamon, and Anna Miscione. Despite struggling in the individual competition the team pulled two upsets (5-4 on a tiebreaker over #7 India and 6-2 over #2 Chinese Taipei) to reach the semifinals where they lost to #3 China 5-1. The US will face #4 Mexico for the bronze medal Sunday.

Saturday is the finals on the compound side. That means Gauvin going for two golds and three medals as well as the men’s team going for gold and Reo Wilde going for individual gold.

Previous Archery World Cup Coverage:
Medellin Preview
Wednesday Recap
Thursday Recap

ATP Tour, Tennis, WTA Tour

Potential for All-American Finals at Italian Open

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There might be a distinctly American feel to the women’s singles and men’s doubles finals in Rome this weekend depending on how things go on Saturday. In the women’s singles field both Madison Keys and #1 Serena Williams are in the semifinals after wins on Friday. Keys had to go three sets but pulled out a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic while Williams swept #9 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in a dominant performance, 6-2, 6-0. Keys has the tougher route to the final as she will face #3 Garbine Muguruza of Spain. Williams takes on Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania.

In men’s doubles #5 Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan took out #4 Jamie Murray of Great Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil 6-3, 6-4 and now take on Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France in the semifinals. #8 Jack Sock and Vasek Pospisil of Canada also didn’t need more than two sets as they defeated Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay and Marcel Granollers of Spain 6-4, 7-6(4). Sock/Pospisil face #6 Rohan Bopanna of India and Florin Mergea of Romania in the semifinals. Finally, the US won’t have a semifinalist in women’s doubles after Raquel Atawo and Abigail Spears were swept by #1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India 4-6, 2-6.

Previous Italian Open Coverage:
Preview
Sunday Update
Monday Update
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update
Thursday Update

Fencing, Fencing World Cup

Jeff Spear Earns Bye to Table of 64 in Madrid

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Seven of the ten Americans competing in pool play at the World Cup event in Madrid advanced on Friday but headlining the bunch was Jeff Spear who went a perfect 6-0 to grab one of 16 available byes to the table of 64 from pool play. Also finishing with winning records in pool play were Philippe Guy, Evan Prochniak, Will Spear, and Colin Campbell. Going winless on the day and being eliminated were Peter Sounders, Deniz Berkay, and Gabriel Armijo. While Spear, Daryl Homer, and Eli Dershwitz have byes to the table of 64 the other six Americans will have to win two matches to reach the table of 64.

Over in St. Petersburg all four of the Americans competing, Alexander Massialas, Gerek Meinhardt, Race Imboden, and Miles Chamley-Watson, will start play in the table of 64. The complete individual knockout rounds will take place on Saturday in both cities.

Finally in Foshan Monica Aksamit went a perfect 6-0 in pool play to earn a spot in the table of 64. Francesca Russo, Kamali Thompson, and Sage Palmedo all won their preliminary matches to advance to the table of 64 where the US will have six athletes.

Previous Fencing World Cup Coverage:
Madrid, Foshan, and St. Petersburg Preview

ITU World Triathlon Series, Triathlon

Gwen Jorgensen Headlines 13 Americans Taking Part in Yokohama Triathlon

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After being defeated for the first time in two years in the Gold Coast Triathlon and not participating in Cape Town Gwen Jorgensen will try to start a new winning streak as she competes in the Yokohama Triathlon on Saturday. Jorgensen isn’t the only American who is a threat to win, Renee Tomlin and Kirsten Kasper both have top five finishes this year (Tomlin in Abu Dhabi, Kasper in Cape Town), while Katie Zaferes was sixth in Gold Coast and Sarah True was ninth in Cape Town.

On the men’s side Joe Malloy, sixth in Gold Coast, and Gregory Billington, tenth in Gold Coast, give the US contenders as well.

Previous IRU World Triathlon Series Coverage:
Cape Town Recap

Diamond League, Track and Field

Top US Track and Field Athletes Head to Diamond League in Shanghai

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The second diamond league event of 2016 is Saturday in Shanghai, China and the US has a large number of athletes in the field. 29 US athletes are in the field for the events including several of last year’s top finishers. Justin Gatlin and Michael Rodgers finished first and third in last year’s 100m overall standings and both are here competing in Shanghai. The same is true of David Oliver and Jason Richardson who were first and fourth in the 110m hurdles. Sam Kendricks was tied for third in the pole vault last year and opens his 2016 campaign here. Jeff Henderson was the third of three US men in the top six of the long jump last season but is the only one competing Saturday. Joe Kovacs is the defending shot put champion with Ryan Whiting in the field after a sixth place overall finish last year.

Candyce McGrone was fourth last year in the 200m (thanks to a win in Monaco) and is competing this weekend. Also fourth last year and beginning this weekend are Natasha Hastings in the 400m and Jenny Simpson in the 1500m. The defending long jump champion, Tianna Bartoletta, is also in the field.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Doha Recap

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

Joe Dombrowski a Solid 23rd in Stage Six of Giro d’Italia

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Joe Dombrowski made it four different top American finishers in four stages at the Giro d’Italia as he posted a 23rd place finish on Thursday, the second best stage finish by an American so far. Tim Wellens of Belgium ran away with the stage winning by 1:19 and Dombrowski was part of a group just 24 seconds behind second place. Dombrowski jumped into 56th overall. Nathan Brown made it two in the top 50 with a 49th place finish, 4:03 back, and is 53rd overall. Ian Boswell is still the top American overall, 10:53 back in 50th, and was 65th on Thursday. Chad Haga made it four Americans in the top 100 with a 76th place finish.

Friday will be a 131-mile hilly stage as the competition heads into its second weekend.

Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Giro d’Italia Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update
Day 3 Update
Day 4 Update
Day 5 Update