ISSF World Cup, Shooting

Jay Shi Strong in Elimination Round of 50m Pistol at ISSF World Cup in Rio

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None of the US men in the 10m air rifle were able to advance on Monday as qualifying for the finals took place. Dempster Christenson,was the top American after scoring a 623.1 and finishing 26th. Christenson went as high as a 105.7 but couldn’t top 104.4 in the other four series and was 3.6 behind the final qualifier. Garrett Spurgeon was the next American in 40th while Ivan Roe couldn’t follow up on his top-16 finish in Bangkok and was 50th.

The 50m men’s pistol event also got underway but with an elimination round to trim the field to 56 all that was at stake it was no problem for Will Brown, Nickolaus Mowrer, and Jay Shi as all advanced easily. Shi was the most impressive with a 560 that was the seventh highest score of the day. All three will compete in the qualifying round on Tuesday and the finals will be held as well that afternoon.

Also on Tuesday will be the men’s double trap competition. Walton Eller, Derek Haldeman, and Joshua Richmond will compete for the US. Eller, a 2016 Olympian in this event, was in the field in Nicosia and finished 13th.

Marathon, World Marathon Majors

Tatyana McFadden Wins Women’s Wheelchair For Fourth Straight Year at Boston Marathon

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Tatyana McFadden made it four straight at the Boston Marathon on Monday as she joined Louise Sauvage of Australia with four wins. Three others have won it more often so McFadden still has a ways to go to set some real history but she’s off to a great start in the first ever Wheelchair World Marathon Series with 25 points in the first event. Also finishing in the top eight were Susannah Scaroni (fourth), Amanda McGrory (fifth), and Chelsea McClammer (eighth). On the men’s side the top American was James Senbeta who finished fifth while Aaron Pike was eighth.

Among the runners the US did slightly better among the women as Neely Spence Gracey was the top finisher in ninth place with Sarah Crouch just behind her in 11th. Zachary Hine was the top American man in tenth while Ian Burrell was 13th.

The next World Marathon Major is on Sunday in London, a tight turnaround for those who ran on Monday in Boston.

 

Previous Boston Marathon Coverage:
Preview

Archery, Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials

Three Men in Tight Battle for Final Spot at US Olympic Archery Trials in Chula Vista, California

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Day one of the second round of Olympic archery qualifying saw some separation emerge at the top of the men’s and women’s competitions. On the men’s side Brady Ellison had by far the best day scoring 13 points and drawing within a half point of leader Zachary Garrett. On the other side Sean McLaughlin struggled to just 3.5 points and fell to third. The gap between Ellison and McLaughlin is 7.5 points. Jacob Wukie is a quarter point back in fourth and another quarter point back is Jake Kaminski.

On the women’s side Mackenzie Brown expanded her lead to five points as Lanola Pritchard moved into second with Ariel Gibilaro a half point back in third. Khatuna Lorig is still in fourth but now 3.25 points behind third and 8.75 points behind the only guaranteed Olympic spot.

Tuesday will feature eight head-to-head matches with another seven on Wednesday before the field is cut to eight. The winner of each head-to-head match gets a point and the average scores are used to rank the players as well for more points.

Previous Olympic Archery Trials Coverage:
Preview

HSBC Women's Sevens Series, Rugby, Rugby Sevens

Familiar Results for US Lead to Seventh Place Finish at Langford Sevens

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The USA Women’s Sevens team opened Sunday with a cup quarterfinal against England. It did not go well. The Americans fell behind 10-0 quickly and despite a late in the first half try the deficit was 22-7 early in the second half before the US eventually lost 29-7. The loss sent the US into their third meeting with Spain in the last two weeks. Having won last weekend and lost on Saturday the US and Spain played out a rubber match that was back and forth and quite competitive. The US would score a try late on to cut the deficit to 14-12 but the conversion kick from Akalaini Baraviala was no good and the US fell into the seventh place match against Russia.

Having beaten the Russians 19-7 last weekend for fifth place this meeting was a bit more competitive. The US opened with a 5-0 lead before Russia led 10-5 going into the final minutes. The US was able to tie it on a Kristen Thomas try off the bench but Baraviala’s conversion attempt was unable to give the US the win in regulation. Instead the two teams went to sudden death overtime and it didn’t take long for Joanne Fa’avesi to win it for the US.

Another month from now the final Sevens event will be held in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The season standings are such that the US has already clinched their spot in next year’s series and also are not able to win this seasons. It’ll take a strong final weekend though for the US to jump from their current seventh into the fifth spot where they finished last year.

Previous HSBC Women’s Sevens Series Coverage:
Langford Sevens Preview
Day 1 Update

Cycling, UCI Men's World Tour

Alex Howes Top American, Finishes 32nd in Amstel Gold Race

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Alex Howes wasn’t part of the lead group on Sunday at the finish of the Amstel Gold Race in the Netherlands. 31 riders finished within seven seconds of the leader in a large group before a gap opened up back to the second group. That second group was led by Howes who finished 32nd and 34 seconds back. Larry Warbasse was six seconds further back in 44th. They were the only Americans in the top 100.

The next event on the UCI Men’s World Tour is Wednesday, the 121.8 mile La Fleche Wallonne in Belgium. There is also a women’s version of the race that is part of the Women’s World Tour.

Previous UCI Men’s World Tour Coverage:
Amstel Gold Race Preview

Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials, Rowing

Top Teams Impress in Men’s Quadruple Sculls Time Trial at Olympic Rowing Trials

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Three teams competed in a men’s quadruple scull time trial on Sunday at the Olympic Rowing Trials but barring a surprise it seems only two of them are real contenders to advance to international Olympic qualifying competition. The top time belonged to the Craftsbury A team led by Ben Davison and featuring 2012 Olympian Peter Graves at 6:03.09. A little less than three seconds behind them were the California A team led by Ian Silveria. The three teams will race for the chance to advance on Tuesday in the final.

Previous Olympic Rowing Trials Coverage:
Preview

Rowing, World Rowing Cup

Gold for US Men’s Four at Rowing World Cup in Varese, Italy

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The US men’s four team of Charles Cole, Matthew Miller, Henrik Rummel, and Seth Weil had posted the top time on Friday in the heats which advanced them directly to the final. It wouldn’t matter much unless they matched that accomplishment on Sunday. The US did just that winning the final over Italy by 0.28 seconds.

In the lightweight men’s four the US team of Robin Prendes, Anthony Fahden, Edward King, and Tyler Nase didn’t have quite as much success as just like on Saturday they were well behind the Swiss team. The US also got beat to the line by China (by 0.66 seconds) but finished third to grab the bronze medal.

The first stage of the US Rowing Olympic Trials started Sunday in Sarasota, Florida. The next World Rowing Cup event is in Lucerne, Switzerland starting May 27th.

Previous Coverage of Rowing World Cup:
Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update

Diving, FINA Diving World Series

David Boudia Just Misses Out On Bronze in FINA Diving World Series in Windsor

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David Boudia was the last hope for the US to medal in the Diving World Series event in Windsor and he came pretty close to doing that. Boudia scored a 533.05 in the finals but just missed out on the bronze as Thomas Daley nipped him for third with a 536.50. Steele Johnson also competed for the US on Sunday and finished tenth of the 11 divers competing in the semifinals with a 420.10.

Previous FINA Diving World Series Coverage:
Preview
Day 1 Update
Day 2 Update

ISSF World Cup, Shooting

Good Day for Brian Burrows in Trap but No Finals at ISSF World Cup in Rio

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Brian Burrows was in 43rd after three rounds in the men’s trap qualifying and five points back of a tie for the qualifying score. He probably needed a perfect final day to get back into contention and he wasn’t far from it.
A 25 in the first round of Sunday gave him a chance to dream but it turned out even two perfect rounds would have left him a point out and he ended up shooting a 23 and finishing 24th. It was a good day as well for Casey Wallace who shot 23, 24 and wound up 36th and Seth Iman who jumped up seven spots to 57th after a 24, 24. All of the Americans posted their best score on Sunday.

Sunday also featured the women’s 10m air pistol competition. Enkelejda Shehaj Bekurti came the closest to reaching the finals but bookended 93s in the first and last series left her at 378 and five points out of the final spot in 26th. Lydia Paterson was 38th with Courtney Anthony shooting a 97 in series two but 90s to open and close left her in 50th.

Monday brings the start of the 50m men’s pistol event featuring Will Brown, Nickolaus Mowrer, and 2016 Olympian Jay Shi. All three competed in Bangkok with Brown and Shi finishing 12th and 13th. The entire men’s 10m air rifle will be held as well with Dempster Christenson, Ivan Roe, and Garrett Spurgeon competing for the US. Roe competed for the US in Bangkok and finished 16th.

Marathon, World Marathon Majors

Boston Marathon on Monday

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Monday is the 120th running of the Boston Marathon. The race, once dominated by US athletes, has become headlined by the Ethiopian and Kenyan runners who have won 23 of the last 25 on the men’s side and 17 of the last 19 on the women’s side. An American man, Meb Keflezighi, won in 2014 ending a streak of 31 years without an American male champion. It’s perhaps no surprise that Keflezighi was originally from Eritrea, a neighbor of Ethiopia, and moved to the US at age 1. The last US woman to win the Boston Marathon was Lisa Larsen Weidenbach in 1985.  The US hasn’t had success in the men’s wheelchair either, Jim Knaub in 1993 the latest, but they have won fourstraight on the women’s side with Tatyana McFadden winning the last three.

Monday’s Boston Marathon is also the start of Series X of the World Marathon Majors. The contest awards points to the top 5 of the marathons in Tokyo, London, Berlin, Chicago, Boston, and New York City. Series X will end next year at the Boston Marathon (the same city starts the series one year and ends it the next year, getting counted twice).

Only one American man and one American woman registered points in Series IX. Luke Puskedra finished fifth last year in the Chicago Marathon notching a single point and finishing the series in a tie for 23rd. Desiree Linden was fourth in the Boston Marathon last year and ended up 19th with the four points from that finish. On the wheelchair side of things this is the first year a wheelchair series will be held concurrent with the regular series.

Covering America's Athletes