Monthly Archives: May 2016

Cycling, UCI Women's WorldTour

Megan Guarnier Continues to Lead Amgen Tour of California

Leave a comment

Megan Guarnier’s team didn’t win the team time trial but finished just six seconds back as she continues to lead the Amgen Tour of California. Also finishing in second on Guarnier’s team was Evelyn Stevens who is now in third, 22 seconds back. Kristin Armstrong’s team took first place, including Allie Dragoo, Chloe Dygert, Jennifer Tetrick, and Leah Thomas. Armstrong is now in second, twelve seconds behind Guarnier, Thomas is fourth and 44 seconds back, Dygert is eighth and 53 seconds back, Dragoo is 16th and 1:28 back. The third place team was 25 seconds back and included Corny Rivera (now in fifth and 47 seconds back), Katie Hall (in sixth and 49 seconds back), and Lauren Tamayo.

Also still in the top 15 are Lauren Stephens, 1:19 back in 11th, and Mara Abbott, 1:22 back in 15th. Brianna Walle is the only other American in the top 33. Saturday is a 69 mile hilly stage that goes from Santa Rosa to the ocean and back. The race continues until Sunday in various parts of California.

Previous Amgen Tour of California Coverage:
Preview
Thursday Update

Fencing, Fencing World Cup

Seven Americans Advance to Table of 64 at Fencing World Cup Events

Leave a comment

The best results for the US on Friday came in Legnano, Italy where the women’s epee event is occurring. Four of the nine US athletes who competed on Friday advanced to the table of 64. Katharine Holmes advanced directly from pool play after going 6-0 in her group while Kelley Hurley, Katarzyna Trzopek, and Catherine Nixon all advanced from the preliminary knockout rounds by winning a match. Charlene Liu lost 15-13 to Ida Finizio of Italy and Amanda Sirico lost to Francesca Boscarelli of Italy 15-9.

In Paris only two of the 12 Americans advanced to the table of 64. Those two, Jason Pryor and Alexander Tsinis, both had to advance from the preliminary knockout rounds. Pryor even advanced after going just 2-3 in pool play. Being eliminated in round two of the knockout rounds were Gabriel Canaux 15-11 to Matteo Tagliariol of Italy, Benjamin Freiman 15-13 to Maxime Brinck-Croteau of Canada, Alen Hadzic 15-11 to Alexandre Bouzaid of Senegal, and Curtis McDowald 15-12 to Quentin Lucani of France.

Over in Tauberbischofsheim only Jessie Laffey advanced from preliminaries after winning a match against Germany’s Sophia Werner of Germany 15-9. Stefani Deschner and Madison Zeiss both advanced from pool play but lost to German opposition. Deschner 15-12 to Pia Ueltgesforth and Zeiss 14-10 to Kim Kirschen.

Saturday’s table of 64 will feature five Americans in Legnano, two in Paris, and four in Tauberbischofsheim.

Previous Fencing World Cup Coverage:
Preview

ISSF World Cup, Shooting

ISSF World Cup Gets Underway Saturday in Munich

Leave a comment

The third ISSF Rifle/Pistol World Cup stop of 2016 starts Saturday in Munich, Germany. Four events will begin on the opening day with medals awarded in the 10m air rifle for both men and women. The US did not have medalists in either of those events in the first two stops and the only one of the two men and three women competing on Saturday who has taken part in the 2016 World Cup so far is 2016 Olympian Virginia Thrasher. The men will have six series, the women four, with the top eight totals advancing to the quarterfinals.

Also starting on Saturday is the 25m women’s pistol where 2016 Olympian Enkelejda Shehu will be competing and the men’s 50m pistol where two 2016 Olympians, Will Brown and Jay Shi, are competing. Shi finished seventh in the event in Rio in the World Cup earlier this year. The 25m pistol competition features the first of two halves of qualifying scores while the 50m pistol competition will be elimination rounds.

Previous ISSF World Cup Coverage:
Rio de Janeiro Recap

Boxing

Pablo Ramirez and Sardius Simmons Reach 2016 Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions Semifinals

Leave a comment

Lawrence King of Buffalo became the first of the three 2015 finalists competing in the 2016 Golden Gloves Tournament of Champions to get knocked out of the competition on Thursday. Matched with Atif Oberlton of Pennsylvania King was involved in his third straight 5-0 match but this time he was on the wrong end of things and was eliminate from the 178lb division. Things continue to go smoothly however for the other two 2015 finalists as they scored 5-0 wins to reach the final four of their divisions. Sardius Simmons of Michigan defeated Cedric Washington of Texas in the 201lb division while 2015 Golden Boy Pablo Ramirez of Texas was victorious over Saul Gomez of Nevada in the 108lb division.

The competition wraps up with the semifinals on Friday and the finals on Saturday.

Previous 2016 Golden Gloves Coverage:
Preview
Tuesday Update
Wednesday Update

Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials, Shooting

Josh Richmond Grabs Double Trap Olympic Spot at Shotgun Olympic Trials

Leave a comment

2012 Olympian Josh Richmond held the lead after the first Olympic trials event and pulled away in the second day to claim the berth in Rio. Richmond shot a 140, six better than Jeffrey Holguin, and locked up the Olympic berth even before the finals had been contested. In the end Richmond finished with 559 and Holguin in second with 548 points.

In the women’s skeet 2012 Olympian Kimberly Rhode shot a 72 while Amber English shot a 68. The contest appears to be clearly heading the way of Rhode as she holds a double digit lead going into the final day. The men’s side is a bit more interesting but Frank Thompson posted a perfect 75 and increased his lead to five points over Phillip Jungman who shot a 72. Thompson’s closest challenger is actually Hayden Stewart who shot a 74 and fell one point further behind, but still within four. The skeet competition wraps up on Friday.

 

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

Boxing

Mikaela Mayer and Virginia Fuchs Advance on Day One at AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships

Leave a comment

The US is off to a good start in their quest to qualify three Olympians at the AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan as the two boxers they had going on Thursday each advanced in weight classes that will compete in the Olympics. In the 51kg weight class is Virginia Fuchs was a strong winner defeating Brazil’s Grazieli Jesus De Sousa 3-0 with all three judges scoring it 40-36. Things were a lot tighter in the match between Mikaela Mayer and Esra Yildiz of Turkey in the 60kg division. Two of the three judges scored it 38-38 but preferred Mayer as the winner with the third narrowly awarding the match on points to Mayer 39-37. Both Fuchs and Mayer will have Friday off before competing again on Saturday.

Getting underway on Friday will be Stalacia Leggett in the 57kg division, 19-year-old Jajaira Gonzalez in the 64kg division, and 2012 gold medalist Claressa Shields in the 75kg division.

Preliminaries continue Friday 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

Canoeing, ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup

Lydia Keefe Sampson to Compete at ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup in Duisburg

Leave a comment

Only one American will be taking part in the first of three ICF Canoe Sprint World Cup stops as it takes place in Duisburg, Germany this weekend. With most Americans competing for Olympic spots in the Pan American Championships only Lydia Keefe Sampson will be taking part here for the US. Sampson will be competing in the C1 200m event. That event begins with heats on Friday and of the seven athletes in Sampson’s heat only the top will move into the final while the other six move to the semifinals later in the day where three more final spots will be available.

Cycling, UCI Women's WorldTour

Megan Guarnier Leads Amgen Tour of California

Leave a comment

With 43 Americans competing in the Amgen Tour of California it’s no surprise that one of them is leading, especially considering it is Megan Guarnier. Guarnier finished in first with a time of 3:05:09, four seconds ahead of Emma Johansson of Sweden. Guarnier was joined in the top ten by Kristin Armstrong and Evelyn Stevens ten seconds back in third and fourth. Coryn Rivera was seventh, 16 seconds back, while Tayler Wiles (ninth), Katie Hall (tenth), Lauren Stephens (11th), Scotti Lechuga (12th), Mara Abbott (14th), and Kristabel Doebel-Hickok (15th) were all 18 seconds back. Other Americans in the top 25 were Brianna Walle in 18th, Kathryn Donovan in 22nd, Megan Alderete in 23rd, and Emma White in 24th.

Friday is a 12.6 mile team time trial in Folsom. The race continues until Sunday in various parts of California.

Previous Amgen Tour of California Coverage:
Preview

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

All Five Americans Part of 166-Man Peloton in Stage Twelve of Giro d’Italia

Leave a comment

You might be alarmed to hear that Joey Rosskopf in 116th was the only American to place in the top 130 on Thursday. It wasn’t all that bad though as all five Americans were actually part of the 166-man peloton so their actual positions didn’t cost them at all. As you’d expect with a massive peloton overall positions barely changed on the day with Nathan Brown remaining the top American, still in 50th place and 38:56 back. Joe Dombrowski remains 53rd with Chad Haga moving up one spot to 98th.

Friday they will return to a medium-mountain stage 106 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

Fencing, Fencing World Cup

30 Americans to Compete at Fencing World Cup Events in Three Cities This Weekend

Leave a comment

The final three world cup stops on the fencing circuit are this weekend in Europe. The women’s foil event takes place in Tauberbischofsheim, Germany, the women’s epee event is in Legnano, Italy, and the men’s epee event is in Paris, France.

Most of the US athletes, including all 12 in Paris, will need to go through the preliminary round to qualify for the table of 64 however three of the eight in Tauberbischofsheim, Lee Kiefer, Nzingha Prescod, and Nicole Ross, and one of the 10 in Legnano, Courtney Hurley, will be exempt from preliminaries and awarded spots directly in the table of 64.

In all three cities the preliminaries are on Friday, the table of 64 is on Saturday, and the team events are Sunday.

 

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