Monthly Archives: May 2016

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

Nathan Brown Finishes in Top 100 for Sixth Straight Stage at Giro d’Italia

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Yesterday Nathan Brown moved into the top 50 overall for the Giro d’Italia and today he was the top American, 68th overall, to make it six straight stages where he has finished in the top 100. The surge over the final half of the race has made him the only American to finish in the top 100 in six straight stages so far. Joey Rosskopf finished 87th and has been in the top 100 for five straight stages now. Brown finished 21:37 back in this medium-mountain stage while Rosskopf was around a couple minutes behind him.

Overall Joe Dombrowski continues to be the top American though he fell four spots to 39th and is 1:21:52 back. Brown slipped to 52nd overall, Chad Haga fell to 89th and Ian Boswell is now 100th.

The final weekend begins Friday with the first of two mountain stages, a 101 mile stage that will lead the rider into France.

Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Giro d’Italia Preview
Stage 1 Update
Stage 2 Update
Stage 3 Update
Stage 4 Update
Stage 5 Update
Stage 6 Update
Stage 7 Update
Stage 8 Update
Stage 9 Update
Stage 10 Update
Stage 11 Update
Stage 12 Update
Stage 13 Update
Stage 14 Update
Stage 15 Update
Stage 16 Update
Stage 17 Update

Diamond League, Track and Field

Eugene Hosts Diamond League in Prefontaine Classic

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The Diamond League comes to Eugene, Oregon this weekend for the Prefontaine Classic. The field is more heavily American than most Diamond League events so the US should have a good chance to win a lot of events. Things will actually get underway Friday with the first three events. Coming off a third place finish in Shanghai Tianna Bartoletta will go for an even stronger finish in the long jump while Whitney Ashley (sixth in Shanghai) looks to do the same in the discus throw. On the men’s side the shot put will feature both Kurt Roberts (winner in Shanghai) and Joe Kovacs (third in Shanghai).

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Rabat Recap

Cycling, Road

USA Cycling to Host Pro Time Trial and Road Race National Championships This Weekend in Winston-Salem

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USA Cycling will be hosting the professional time trial and road race national championships this weekend in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The field includes several of the participants on the men’s and women’s world tours. On the men’s side some of the top contenders are Brent Bookwalter, 35th in the Tour de Romandie, Taylor Phiney, 33rd in the Gent-Wevelgem race earlier this year, and Alexey Vermeulen, 65th in the Tour de Romandie.

The women’s side features most of the top riders from the recently completed Amgen Tour of California. Kristin Armstrong Savola was second, Evelyn Stevens was third, Leah Thomas was fifth, Chloe Dygert was sixth, and Lauren Stephens was tenth. Also competing is Carmen Small who was fifth in the Gent-Wevelgem race.

Friday will be the men’s and women’s time trials while the road races will be on Saturday.

Canoeing, ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup

Two Americans Will Compete at ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Racice

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Lydia Keefe Sampson and Timothy Hornsby will be competing for the US in the second of three ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup events as the action moves to Racice, Czech Republic this weekend. Sampson, who was eighth in Final B of the C1 200m last week will be taking part in the same event this weekend with a heat and semifinal on Friday. Hornsby will compete in the K1 200m which does not begin until Saturday.

 

Previous ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup Coverage:
Duisburg Recap

ISSF World Cup, Shooting

Matthew Emmons Takes Gold in Men’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions at ISSF World Cup in Munich

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The US now has Matthew Emmons to thank for both of their medals at the ISSF World Cup event in Munich. The 2016 Olympian won the men’s 50m rifle 3 positions for the second time this year with a dominating world record performance. Emmons qualified for the final by posting the top score in qualifying with an 1184, including a one-away-from-perfect prone score. Emmons again excelled in the prone shooting in the final as he took a 1.2 point lead to the standing rounds. With other shooters falling off the pace Emmons was in first by 3.3 when the cut to six occurred. Though no one ever got any closer Emmons continued his strong showing and finished strong with a final world record 464.1, breaking the old mark of 463.7 by Zicheng Hui. Emmons seems a good bet to medal in Rio as he has now finished in the top two in all three World Cup events so far this year and won the event twice. Jacob Buchanan finished 67th in qualifying with a 1154.

Finally in the women’s 10m air pistol Lydia Paterson was the top American and had her best finish of the year in 31st but her 380 was still five points off the top eight. Courtney Anthony finished 71st with a 373 and Enkelejda Shehaj Bekurti was 83rd with a 369.

The next ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup event will be in Baku, Azerbaijan from June 20th to the 29th. There is a Shotgun World Cup event starting next Wednesday in San Marino.

Previous ISSF World Cup Munich Coverage:
Preview
Saturday Update
Sunday Update
Monday Update
Tuesday Update

Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials, Shooting

Corey Cogdell Grabs Olympic Spot in Trap at Shotgun Olympic Trials

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2012 Olympian Corey Cogdell will be heading back to the Olympics in Rio after winning the trap spot at the Olympic Trials on Wednesday. Cogdell already had an eight point lead on Ashley Carroll so she really only needed a solid day to lock up the Olympic spot. She had more than a solid day scoring a 49 while Carroll shot a 44 and posting a final score of 474 with Carroll in second at 459.

In the non-Olympic qualifying men’s trap competition Ryne Barfield opened the day with a 46, two better than Christopher Haire, who shot a 44, to take the lead going into the final. Casey Wallace also scored a 46 and trailed Barfield by a point. Myles Walker shot a 47 and within four points had an outside shot at moving to the top. In the final Barfield posted the top score with a 14 and when Wallace missed out on the gold medal final after losing a tiebreaker after shooting a 13 Barfield had clinched the title. Barfield ended with a 470 and Wallace finished in second with a 467. Casey Weitfedt won the final and jumped into third with a 466.

The US team isn’t quite complete for Rio with the final spots to be determined in the air shooting trials in Ft. Benning, Georgia from June 1st-8th. For the shotgun athletes the next big event is the world cup event in San Marino starting on June 1st.

Previous US Shotgun Olympic Trials Coverage:
Event II Preview
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update
Thursday Update
Friday Update
Sunday Update
Monday Update
Tuesday Update

Modern Pentathlon

US Women Eliminated in Qualifying at UIPM World Championship

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There won’t be any finalists for the US at the UIPM World Championship as all four of their competitors were eliminated in the qualifying round. Margaux Isaksen did the best for the US finishing 16th in her qualifying round with a score of 1032. Isaksen was strongest in the fencing where she finished eighth but 14th in swimming and finished 21st in the combined event. She was 13 points behind the final qualifier for the 36-woman final.

Competing in the same qualification group Jessica Davis was 24th with a score of 963. Davis was seventh in the fencing but 25th in swimming and 23rd in the combined event. In the second qualifying group Isabella Isaksen was 20th with a score of 1005 after finished 13th in fencing, 19th in swimming, and 14th in the combined. Samantha Achterberg also scored a 1005 after starting with a 25th place finish in fencing but moving up with a 14th place finish in swimming and a fourth place finish in the combined.

Tomorrow in the men’s qualifying competition Lucas Schrimsher, Justin Torrellas, and Sam Ruddock will compete.

The UIPM World Championships continue through Sunday.

Previous UIPM World Championship Coverage:
Preview
Tuesday Recap

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

Joey Rosskopf and Nathan Brown Finish Among Peloton in Stage 17 at Giro d’Italia

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With the second-to-last flat stage of the Giro d’Italia happening on Wednesday it was no surprise that a large peloton finished the race together. Two Americans, Joey Rosskopf in 69th and Nathan Brown in 76th, finished among the group. Ian Boswell was slightly behind and finished 86th, 35 seconds back.

Joe Dombrowski maintained his 35th overall position despite finishing outside of the top 150, He is now 1:11:54. Brown moved up to 50th overall, Chad Haga in 85th and Boswell in 97th make it four Americans in the top 100.

Thursday is a 152-mile medium-mountain stage, the longest stage of the event.

Previous UCI World Tour Coverage:
Giro d’Italia Preview
Stage 1 Update
Stage 2 Update
Stage 3 Update
Stage 4 Update
Stage 5 Update
Stage 6 Update
Stage 7 Update
Stage 8 Update
Stage 9 Update
Stage 10 Update
Stage 11 Update
Stage 12 Update
Stage 13 Update
Stage 14 Update
Stage 15 Update
Stage 16 Update

Boxing

US Will Win Five Medals at AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships

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The US will match their 2012 haul of five medals, the most ever in US history, at the 2016 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships after five of their six boxers advanced in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. 2012 gold medalist Claressa Shields continued her dominance of the 75kg division with another 3-0 win on Tuesday, this one over Violleta Kanyazeva of Kazakhstan. All of the judges gave all four rounds to Shields. Two other 3-0 winners were Marlen Esparza in the 45-48kg division over Altantsetseg Lutsaikhan of Mongolia and Franchon Crews over Hungary’s Maria Kovacs in the 81kg division. Shadasia Green had a close bout with Russia’s Zenfira Magomedalieva in the +81kg division. Two of the judges scored it a draw with each preferring a different winner. The third judge scored it 39-37 in favor of Green as she clinched a medal. 2015 Golden Gloves champion Christina Cruz in the 54kg division was the final American to clinch a medal as she dispatched Delphine Mancini of France 2-0 with one judge even scoring it 40-36 in her favor. The only American to lose was Naomi Graham in the 69k division who lost 3-0 to Germany’s Nadine Apetz.

All of the weight classes have a day off Wednesday before Thursday’s semifinals. The US will need three wins in the semifinals to match the number of finalists they had in 2012 when they grabbed one gold and two silvers to go along with two bronzes.

Previous 2016 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships Coverage:
Preview
Thursday Update
Friday Update
Saturday Update
Sunday Update
Monday Update