Monthly Archives: May 2016

Cycling, UCI Women's WorldTour

31-Woman Peloton in Stage Three as Megan Guarnier Continues to Lead Amgen Tour of California

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Megan Guarnier may have an insurmountable lead as the Amgen Tour of California heads to the final stage after finishing fourth in the peloton and growing her lead over Kristin Armstrong to 15 seconds after she finished 20th. Also finishing in the peloton were Coryn Rivera (2nd), Brianna Walle (5th), Heather Fischer (7th), Chloe Dygert (8th), Lauren Stephens (9th), Emma White (12th), Tayler Wiles (14th), Nina Laughlin (15th), Scotti Lechuga (16th), Evelyn Stevens (17th), Leah Thomas (18th), Katie Hall (19th), Amber Neben (26th), Kathryn Donovan (28th), Mara Abbott (30th), and Ruth Winder (31st). Stevens in third, 25 seconds back, Rivera is fifth, 44 seconds back, Thomas is sixth, 47 seconds back, Hall is seventh, 52 seconds back, and Dygert is eighth, 56 seconds back. Two other Americans, Stephens in 11th, 1:22 back, and Walle in 14th, 1:35 back, round out the American contingent in the top 15. Abbott in 16th, Wiles in 21st, Lechuga in 22nd, Donovan in 23rd, and Neben in 25th make it 14 Americans in the top 25.

Things wrap up Sunday with a 41-mile flat stage in Sacramento.

Previous Amgen Tour of California Coverage:
Preview
Thursday Update
Friday Update

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

In Difficult Mountain Stage Joe Dombrowski Finishes 25th in 14th Stage of Giro d’Italia

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Joe Dombrowski’s good week continued with a 25th place finish at the Giro d’Italia making up some major time on competitors after finishing within 9:44 of the winner. The US had all four of their other competitors finish in the top 100 after they all passed as part of a group 31:20 back. Chad Haga was the highest American in that group in 74th with Joey Rosskopf right behind him in 75th. Nathan Brown was 90th with Ian Boswell 93rd near the back of that group. Dombrowski’s good finish pushed him into the top 40, now 53:53 back in 35th. Brown in 54th and Haga in 83rd continue to hang in the top 100.

Sunday will be an interesting seven mile mountain time trial before the final rest day on Monday.

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

ISSF World Cup, Shooting

Virginia Thrasher Finishes Seventh in 10m Air Rifle at ISSF World Cup in Munich

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2016 Olympian Virginia Thrasher opened the ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup stop in Munich with a strong showing in the 10m air rifle. Thrasher was strong in three of her four series in the qualifying round to post an overall 419.3, good enough for fourth place despite her 102.2 in the second series being the worst series by anyone in the top 19. The other two Americans competing were Hanna Carr, who finished 47th with a 413.8, and Rachel Garner, who finished 86th with a 410.1. Thrasher was in fourth after the first stage of the final but faltered on the second shot of the second stage with a 9.7 that left her in a precarious position and she ended up being the second of the eight finalists to be eliminated. In the men’s event William Shaner finished 86th and Jacob Buchanan finished 103rd, both well behind the eight finalists.

In the 25m women’s pistol 2016 Olympian Enkelejda Shehu shot a 284 in the precision portion of qualifying and is in 51st going into tomorrow’s rapid fire portion. Shehu would need to get into the top eight (she currently trails eighth by eight points) to qualify for the final that is also contested tomorrow. In the men’s 50m pistol 2016 Olympians Will Brown and Jay Shi both were among the best in the elimination relays as Shi was fifth in his half with a 561 while Brown was fourth in his with a 566. Nickolaus Mowrer finished 20th in his half with a 551. All three will compete in the qualification round on Sunday that will narrow the field to eight for the final later in the day.

Beginning on Sunday is the men’s 50m rifle prone and the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol. The US has a star studded lineup in the rifle event with 2016 Olympians David Higgins and Michael McPhail (fourth in Bangkok) along side Matthew Emmons (top seven in both Bangkok and Rio). The only thing hapening in the rifle event on Sunday will be an elimination round. In the pistol event 2016 Olympian Emil Milev is one of two Americans in the field as they will have the first half of their qualification round.

Previous ISSF World Cup Munich Coverage:
Preview

Diamond League, Track and Field

LaShawn Merritt and Erik Kynard Lead Field of Nine Americans to Diamond League in Rabat

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A smaller field of just nine Americans will be competing in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday in a Diamond League event. Two of those going, LaShawn Merritt in the 400m and Erik Kynard in the high jump, have already won once this year. Other Americans in the field include David Oliver in the 110m hurdles (fourth in Doha), Cassandra Tate in the 400m hurdles (fifth in Doha).

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Shanghai Recap

Cycling, Mountain Bike, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

13 Americans Will Compete in World Cup Cross-Country Event in Albstadt, Germany

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The second UCI Mountain Bike World Cup cross-country event of the year will take place in Albstadt, Germany on Sunday. 13 Americans are in the field including three women who have top 20 finishes this year. Chloe Woodruff was 13th in the first event in Cairns, Australia with Georgia Gould 18th and Lea Davison in 19th. On the men’s side Stephen Ettinger was the only American to finish in the top 50 when he placed 20th.

Previous Mountain Bike World Cup Cross-Country Coverage:
Cairns Recap

Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials, Shooting

Kimberly Rhode and Frank Thompson Grab Skeet Olympic Spots at Shotgun Olympic Trials

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The 2016 Olympic team will certainly have plenty of experience. Two more 2012 Olympians booked their spots in the team on Friday and both were contestants in London. In women’s skeet Kimberly Rhode shot a 49 which locked up her spot in Rio. Rhode finished the competition with 496 points and a 16 point win over Amber English. On the men’s side Frank Thompson scored a 49 but Phillip Jungman shot a 50 to pull within four. Hayden Stewart shot a 49 and was also four back going into the final meaning Thompson needed to just avoid finishing outside the top four in the final to claim the Olympic spot. He shot a 14 in the first round to secure that top four finish and clinch the berth in Rio. He’d finish with 493 points and a three point margin over Jungman. Stewart finished five points behind Thompson.

Women’s trap begins their four day competition on Sunday, as does men’s trap. Women’s trap is for an Olympic spot but men’s trap is not.

 

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

Boxing

Pablo Ramirez and Sardius Simmons Reach Final of Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions for Second Straight Year

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The two men remaining in the 2016 Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions who were hoping to reach the final for the second straight year have certainly done so in style. Both Sardius Simmons of Michigan and 2015 Golden Boy Pablo Ramirez reached the final without losing a single point so far. Simmons defeated Cyrus Williams of Florida to reach the 201lb final where he will face Marquise Williams of New York. Ramirez dispatched Cederick Thomas of Iowa and will now face Joseph Ortiz of Florida as he goes for back-to-back 108lb titles in Saturday night’s final.

Previous 2016 Golden Gloves Coverage:
Preview
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update
Thursday Update
Friday Update

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

Jon Dombrowski 16th in Stage 13 of Giro d’Italia

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Joe Dombrowski has had a good week at the Giro d’Italia. After a 40th place finish in the first stage of the week on Tuesday and finishing in the peloton on Thursday Dombrowski had his best day of the competition when he finished 16th on Friday in stage 13. Dombrowski was the last of 14 riders to finish 1:17 behind the winner and has now moved up to be the top American overall in 41st place, 44:46 back. Nathan Brown was 55th and Chad Haga was 60th to give the US three in the top 60 for first time since stage four. Brown stayed in 50th overall despite being passed by Dombrowski and is now 55:51 back. Haga moved up to 87th.

Saturday will be the first mountain stage, 130 miles in length.

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

Boxing

Claressa Shields, Stalacia Leggett, and Jajaira Gonzalez Keep USA Undefeated at AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships

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The US continued their good start to the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan with three more victories on Friday. 2012 gold medalist Claressa Shields in the 75kg division competed in the evening and cruised to victory getting a TKO of her opponent Sarah Scheurich of Germany at the 2nd minute of the 4th round, already ahead big on the judges scorecards. Earlier in the day Stalacia Leggett in the 57kg division had a really interesting bout with Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang. One judge scored the fight a clean four round sweep for Huang while another had it tied. The third just scored it 39-37, but for Leggett. The judge that had it tied would determine the winner and had Leggett as the preferred winner, giving her the victory. Not real common you win a bout in which one judge had it a sweep for your opponent. 19-year-old Jajaira Gonzalez didn’t need any judges at all as she scored a TKO at 1:43 of the 3rd round.

Saturday will be the second bouts for Virginia Fuchs in the 51kg division and Mikaela Mayer in the 60kg division. The other five US boxers, Marlen Esparza in the 45-48kg division, 2015 Golden Gloves champion Christina Cruz in the 54kg division,  Naomi Graham in the 69k division, Franchon Crews in the 81kg division, and Shadasia Green in the +81kg division, are still waiting for their first bouts as they are competing in divisions that have smaller numbers of boxers and didn’t need as many preliminary bouts.

Preliminaries continue Saturday and run through Monday to narrow the field in each weight class to eight for Tuesday’s quarterfinals.

Previous 2016 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships Coverage:
Preview
Thursday Update

Canoeing, ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup

Lydia Keefe Sampson Knocked into Final B at ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Duisburg

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Lydia Keefe Sampson only defeated two competitors in her two C1 200m races on Friday at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Duisburg, Germany. That meant Sampson was slotted into the Final B that will take place on Saturday. Sampson opened in the heat round by finishing sixth of seven competitors in a time of 52.188. Sampson was 4.426 behind the winner who had pulled away from the field. Sampson finished her semifinal in a time of 53.357 which left her out of the automatic qualifying positions for the Final B but she was able to grab the last spot in the final on best time of those not qualified. Even if she had finished in her heat time she still would have been well short of qualifying for the Final A.

Previous ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup Coverage:
Duisburg Preview