BMX, Cycling, UCI BMX Supercross World Cup

Alise Post Tops in Time Trial as Three US Women, Five US Men Make BMX Supercross Final in Manchester, England

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The top performing American on Saturday in qualifying at the BMX Supercross event was Alise Post. The 25-year old posted the top time in the women’s time trial at 31.844. Post and Brooke Crain, who also was in the time trial, are joined by Danielle George in the 32-woman field for the knockout rounds tomorrow. George managed to win all three rounds to earn her spot on Sunday.

On the men’s side of things Corben Sharrah was second in the time trial with Nicholas Long 13th and Jeffrey Upshaw not finishing. All three will be joined in the final by David Herman and Thomas Zula. Herman qualified fairly easily with two firsts and a second in his three rounds while Zula two thirds and a fourth were just enough to grab one of the final 13 slots.

The action in Manchester beings at 10:15 AM ET and will feature multiple knockout rounds as the field is narrowed to a final eight on each side with the finals beginning at 1:10 PM ET. BMXLive.TV is supposed to have a free live stream of some of the event.

Cycling, Mountain Bike, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

Four US Men Reach Final in Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Event in Lourdes

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At the first stage of the 2016 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is this weekend in Lourdes, France the qualifying round was the end of the road for three Americans while four more advanced to Sunday’s final. On the positive side of things defending champion Aaron Gwin advanced to the final, though he did finish 10th in qualifying and 12 seconds off the top time. The other Americans to reach the final were Neko Mulally (22nd), Luca Shaw (42nd), and Luca Cometti (74th). Shane Leslie, Dakota Norton, and Elliot Jackson did not advance.

The final is on Sunday starting at 8 AM ET.

HSBC Sevens World Series, Rugby, Rugby Sevens

US Teeters Early But Dominates Late to Sweep Pool Play at Hong Kong Sevens

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While the US had handled Portugal fairly easily on Friday they certainly had not showed the level of play they would need to go far in this tournament. That was the feeling still near the end of the first half of the USA-Argentina match to start things off on Saturday as the US found themselves down 14-0. Perry Baker was able to score for the US to start to pull them back into it and a Madison Hughes conversion meant the US had momentum going to the break even if they trailed on the scoreboard. The second half reflected that as Maka Unufe, Baker, and Hughes would all score second half tries as the US scored the final 26 points of the match to clinch a spot in the cup quarterfinals for the ninth straight tournament.

The final match of the pool against Australia would be to determine seeds in the cup quarterfinal and was somewhat reminiscent of the Argentina match earlier in the day. Australia would score first but this time the US rallied for tries from Garrett Bender and Madison Hughes. Hughes converted his own try to give the US a 12-7 lead at the break. Baker and Ben Pinkleman would add tries to push the US to a final 22-7 margin and first place in the pool.

Of course the reward for the US winning their group is the team who is unfortunately 2nd place on the tour by one point… South Africa. They ended up second in their group to England. The matchup is tough and the US probably won’t be favored to advance in the cup competition at all but we will at least get another match between the US and one of the big rugby powers with a lot on the line.

The US will take on South Africa at 11:20 PM ET on Saturday in the States. Live stream is available on the World Rugby Website. The US will face the corresponding winner/loser from the New Zealand/Wales match and if they make a final will take one on of Austrlaia, England, Fiji, and Kenya.

Gymnastics

Gold for USA Men’s Gymnastics at Pacific Rim Championships

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The USA team of John Orozco, Sam Mikulak, Jake Dalton, Donnell Whittenburg, Alex Naddour and Eddie Penev cruised to the gold on Friday night at the Pacific Rim Championships. Taking the top score on five of the six apparatus the US finished with 355.95 to finish ahead of second place China who was over eight points back. Canada finished third in the event.

The gold did not continue to the all-around where Whittenburg was the top man for the US but was narrowly defeated by Weifeng Cai of China who won with 87.450 to Whittenburg’s 87.200. Mikulak was third with 87.150 while Orozco (86.850) and Naddour (86.650) made it four of the top five for the US.

This event also served to set the lineup for Sunday’s individual event finals where the US qualified two for each event. The floor event will feature Penev and Dalton while Naddour and Mikulak will take part on the pommel horse. Top all-around American Whittenburg will be joined by Orozco on the rings, parallel bars, and the horizontal bar and be joined by Penev on the vault.

In the team trampoline competition it was gold for the US women’s team of Jessica Stevens, Alyssa Oh, Shaylee Dunavin and Charlotte Drury. Certainly a narrow victory for the US with a margin of just over 1.25 points over Japan. On the men’s side the team of Tristan Ackerson, Steven Gluckstein, and Jeffrey Gluckstein finished in third behind Russia and Japan. Margins were thin as well here with the US just 0.51 points behind Japan.

In rhythmic gymnastics the US team of Lili Mizuno, Heather Chan, Brigita Budginas, Nicole Kaloyanov, Aliya Protto, and Camilla Feeley was far and away the best side through the first two events that took place on day one. They lead Canada 131.215 to 112.479 with the remaining four events to be contested on Saturday. Not surprisingly the all-around standings are dominated by the US athletes. Protto leads the way at 34.266 and has a one point lead over Feeley. Budginas at 31.583, Kaloyanov at 31.366, and Chan at 30.683 wrap up the all-American top five.

Saturday will see the women’s artistic team of Brenna Dowell, Ragan Smith, Laurie Hernandez, Aly Raisman, and Simone Biles begin their competition at 10 PM ET with the team and all-around competitions. The same time is when the trampoline finals will begin with all four American seniors involved (Dunavin, Drury, and the two Glucksteins). The rhythmic competition continues with their final day of team and all-around competition starting at 5 PM ET.

Live streaming of the event is available at the Pacific Rim Championships site.

HSBC Women's Sevens Series, Rugby, Rugby Sevens

USA Women Off to a Great Start With Sweep of Pool Play at Atlanta Sevens

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The USA Women’s Sevens team has not finished a tournament this year with a winning record. They still need to win one more on Saturday to change that fact but it would certainly be shocking if they failed to do that now after a sweep of pool play on Friday in Atlanta. The US started things off with dominant wins 24-0 over Spain and 33-12 over Japan setting up a showdown with New Zealand for the top spot in the pool. A fantastic match saw the US go in front 5-0 after a Leyla Kelter try three minutes in but New Zealand was able to answer and even things up before the half.

Eventually the US broke through with Jessica Javelet coming off the bench and scoring the game winning try for the US giving them a 12-5 win and top spot in Pool C. If you thought winning the pool would result in an easy match for the US, think again. Australia finished second in their pool to England so the US ends up playing the Aussies in a tough Cup Quarterfinal on Saturday at 1:14 PM ET. The other two teams on the US side of the bracket are Canada and Fiji while the other side of the bracket features England, Russia, New Zealand, and France.

Olympic Trials, Rio 2016 Olympic Trials, Shooting

Enkelejda Shehaj Holds Off Furious Sandra Uptagrafft Rally For Olympic Spot at US Shooting Trials

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No doubt that the best competition of the entire US Olympic Shooting Trials in Ft. Benning, Georgia over the last week was the one for the women’s sport pistol that wrapped up today. Going into the final day of the trials Enkelejda Shehaj held a six point lead over Brenda Silva with Sandra Uptagrafft having rallied on day two to pull within seven. It would be Uptagrafft rolling strong in the qualification round again on Friday shooting a competition high 583 to take the lead going into the final. Shehaj was one point back with Silva within three of Uptagrafft and all three having a shot at the Olympic spot depending how the final went.

According to the USA Shooting website what ensued was a dramatic final that eventually came down to the final shot of the title match. Shehaj bested her opponent to win the final and give herself the extra point she needed to retake the lead from Uptagrafft and claim the Olympic spot. Shehaj, who was an Olympian for Albania in 1992 and 1996, will be hoping to capture magic in Rio 20 years after her last Olympic games. Silva finished four points behind Uptagrafft in third.

The men’s rapid fire pistol event was much less dramatic as 2012 Olympian Emil Milev went in leading by 17 and added to it winning the competition by a whopping 27 points over Brad Balsley. Third place went to Alexander Chichkov who finished just a point behind Balsley.

Finally in the contest for the 50m three position rifle event, where the US may or may not have a spot for the winner. Dempster Christenson once again struggled to hold near the top and finished twelve points behind his day two co-leader George Norton in the qualification round. That meant the competition was effectively over before the final and despite Christenson winning the final he finished in second, ten points behind Norton. Ryan Anderson surged to third as he posted the top qualification round of the day at 1175 but finished 26 points behind the winner.

This isn’t the end of the US Olympic Shooting Trials, just this event. The next shooting trials are in Tillar, Arkansas from May 16th to May 25th when the four spots in the shotgun events will be determined.

HSBC Sevens World Series, Rugby, Rugby Sevens

Sloppy US Side Easily Defeats Portugal but Unable to Run Up Margin

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In any pool where there is strong potential for a three-way tie at 2-1 you want to do everything you can to run up the margin against the minnow. The US certainly did not do that as a sloppy performance limited them to just a 16 point margin over an outmatched Portugal side on Friday. The contest was never in doubt as the US dominated possession from the start. Give credit to the Portugal defense which was respectable all match long and kept the US from scoring with ease. Too many sloppy passes and dropped passes from the US will have to be improved on moving into matches against Argentina and Australia on Saturday.

The US got their opening try from Martin Iosefo and a second in the first half on a spectacular Perry Baker try (is their any other kind?) before giving up their only points of the match to lead 14-5 at the break. Being held in check most of the second half the US eventually got seven more, all thanks to Madison Hughes, to finish with a 21-5 lead. New England Patriots safety Nate Ebner did not make his debut in this match.

In the other pool C match Australia with 14 first half points on the way to a 28-0 win. The US should be able to lock up a cup quarterfinal spot by beating Argentina in their first match on Saturday at 12:48 AM ET but a loss could see them in trouble heading into the final match of the day against Australia at 5:10 AM ET. Live stream is available on the World Rugby Website.

BMX, Cycling, UCI BMX Supercross World Cup

13 From US Compete in BMX Supercross Event in Manchester, England Saturday and Sunday

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The people of Manchester, England will be treated to the always exciting BMX Supercross this weekend as the second of five events on this year’s world cup takes place. The first event two weeks ago in Argentina saw Americans Corben Sharrah and Connor Fields go 1-2 on the men’s side. Sharrah is in the start list for this week’s event while Fields is not after breaking a bone in his hand in preparations for this event. The injury will be a big challenge for Fields as he fights to get healthy and in form to compete for a gold medal in Rio. Nicholas Long, who was in the final in Argentina, is another one of the US competitors.

On the women’s side two of the four competitors were finalists in Argentina, though neither Brooke Crain or Alise Post were able to medal. Most competitors go through three rounds of qualifying on Saturday to try and reach the top 48 for men and the top 24 for the women to advance to Sunday’s elimination rounds. The top 16 men and the top 8 women are exempted from this qualification process and will run a time trial on Saturday night to get their seeding for Sunday’s elimination rounds. Qualification begins at 12 PM ET with the time trials at 3:10 PM ET.

Judo

Kayla Harrison Headlines USA Judo Senior Nationals This Weekend in Irving, Texas

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If you were hoping to win the women’s -78kg division at the USA Judo Senior National Championships this weekend your road got a lot harder this week. Defending Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison announced she would compete at the USA National Championships this week and hopes to win her ninth national championship in advance of a bid for a second gold medal in Rio.  The USA Senior Nationals don’t have a lot of information online in advance of the beginning of the event tomorrow so I don’t know anything about who else will be competing in Irving.

Saturday features -57kg, -63kg, -70kg, -78kg, +78kg competitions for the women and -73kg, -81kg, -90kg, -100kg, and +100kg competitions for the men.

Cycling, Mountain Bike, UCI Mountain Bike World Cup

Seven US Men to Compete in Mountain Bike World Cup Downhill Event in Lourdes

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The first stage of the 2016 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is this weekend in Lourdes, France. Seven American men are in the field for this downhill competition. Qualification will take place on Saturday with the final on Sunday. The clear favorite among the Americans and probably the entire field is defending champion Aaron Gwin. Gwin won four events on the tour last season and added a second place finish en route to winning the entire series. Gwin won the Lourdes event last year by almost four seconds.

Things begin at 8 AM ET on Saturday with the start of qualifying for the men.

Covering America's Athletes