az state road race
16/May/2010 21:28
youtube.................pictures at flickr
The 2010 Arizona State Road Race Championships are in the record book! Congrats to all of our riders who competed on this super tough, hilly course. Special recognition to Jackson Starmer who rode an outstanding race to defeat many riders with far greater experience and Don Henley who has to be one of our most improved riders. Four new Arizona State Champions- Congrats to Madi Cocuzza who now has titles on the track, road and criterium championships. She easily won the Junior Women's 15-16 age category. After the BIG hills, she has confessed that she prefers the track! Aaron Apel rode an outstanding race, put together tactics worthy of a professional rider and convincingly won his first State Championships with a great sprint finish in the 10-12 Jr boys age group. Daniel Eaton rode in the largest field of Jr men 17-18 that we have ever seen in Arizona. True to his previous races, he handled the pressure with confidence and rode away from the pack to win by over six minutes. Another amazing performance! Finally, congrats to Xavi, who tackled alone the enormous climbs to go on to claim her second State Championship victory in the last two weeks. Jay Natoli and I were in the car on the climbs and we agreed we were tired just watching the riders fight up the big climbs! More Medals- We dominated the 10-12 Jr Boys podium as Aaron stood on top and Michael Hemmerlin completed the podium with an outstanding third place finish. To appreciate the magnitude of his effort, you should have seen the size of the hills and how the others in his age group were dropped! Michael still has two more years in this age group. Kudo's to Aaron who showed great team spirit by inviting Michael to share the top place on the podium. Great sportsmanship! In the always tough 15-16 Junior men's race, one rider got away on the hill back toward the finish line and the chase that followed by Nick Thorpe and Don Henley destroyed their opponents. One by one they were dropped. Nick won the silver medal as he won the finishing sprint and Don Henley was just behind in a great fourth place finish. Although he was just outside of the medals at this race, Don still has another year in this age group and will surely show them the way home next year. Fighters to the end- Tired of hearing how hilly it was? You needed to be there to see how tough our riders were to just finish the event! In the Junior Men's 13-14, we were represented by Jackson Starmer in his first race (he sure picked a tough one!) who raced against much more experienced riders but still finished in an amazing 6th place. He made up for his lack of experience with a very smart race and his dedication at training in the short time he has been with us. Congrats to William Templeton who faced that same tough competition to finish in a fine seventh place. Michael LaNue rode like we have never seen him ride and, in spite of a loosening saddle, attacked the hills like a pro. Congrats on your 9th place in the Jr Men's 15-16 race, Michael! We missed you! Our Strada Women who had planned to race today: Mary Jane is still recovering from losing her war with a fence that resulted in 25 stitches, Jerri Manley caught a bug from her trip last weekend and Christine stayed home to help nurse her sick daughter, Randi. We hope all of you are back at the top of your game soon! The injury award goes to Drew Albert who rode in the Pro/Cat 1/2 men and survived the pace until the final hill when his previously injured calf decided that it had had enough. In spite of the problem, Drew finished in the top twenty, in close proximity to some of the best riders in the State. Finally, Jeff Biever decided to compete and suffered in the hills from from cramps. Next year, he moves up to the next age category and looks forward to racing in the 'almost geezer' class!
The 2010 Arizona State Road Race Championships are in the record book! Congrats to all of our riders who competed on this super tough, hilly course. Special recognition to Jackson Starmer who rode an outstanding race to defeat many riders with far greater experience and Don Henley who has to be one of our most improved riders. Four new Arizona State Champions- Congrats to Madi Cocuzza who now has titles on the track, road and criterium championships. She easily won the Junior Women's 15-16 age category. After the BIG hills, she has confessed that she prefers the track! Aaron Apel rode an outstanding race, put together tactics worthy of a professional rider and convincingly won his first State Championships with a great sprint finish in the 10-12 Jr boys age group. Daniel Eaton rode in the largest field of Jr men 17-18 that we have ever seen in Arizona. True to his previous races, he handled the pressure with confidence and rode away from the pack to win by over six minutes. Another amazing performance! Finally, congrats to Xavi, who tackled alone the enormous climbs to go on to claim her second State Championship victory in the last two weeks. Jay Natoli and I were in the car on the climbs and we agreed we were tired just watching the riders fight up the big climbs! More Medals- We dominated the 10-12 Jr Boys podium as Aaron stood on top and Michael Hemmerlin completed the podium with an outstanding third place finish. To appreciate the magnitude of his effort, you should have seen the size of the hills and how the others in his age group were dropped! Michael still has two more years in this age group. Kudo's to Aaron who showed great team spirit by inviting Michael to share the top place on the podium. Great sportsmanship! In the always tough 15-16 Junior men's race, one rider got away on the hill back toward the finish line and the chase that followed by Nick Thorpe and Don Henley destroyed their opponents. One by one they were dropped. Nick won the silver medal as he won the finishing sprint and Don Henley was just behind in a great fourth place finish. Although he was just outside of the medals at this race, Don still has another year in this age group and will surely show them the way home next year. Fighters to the end- Tired of hearing how hilly it was? You needed to be there to see how tough our riders were to just finish the event! In the Junior Men's 13-14, we were represented by Jackson Starmer in his first race (he sure picked a tough one!) who raced against much more experienced riders but still finished in an amazing 6th place. He made up for his lack of experience with a very smart race and his dedication at training in the short time he has been with us. Congrats to William Templeton who faced that same tough competition to finish in a fine seventh place. Michael LaNue rode like we have never seen him ride and, in spite of a loosening saddle, attacked the hills like a pro. Congrats on your 9th place in the Jr Men's 15-16 race, Michael! We missed you! Our Strada Women who had planned to race today: Mary Jane is still recovering from losing her war with a fence that resulted in 25 stitches, Jerri Manley caught a bug from her trip last weekend and Christine stayed home to help nurse her sick daughter, Randi. We hope all of you are back at the top of your game soon! The injury award goes to Drew Albert who rode in the Pro/Cat 1/2 men and survived the pace until the final hill when his previously injured calf decided that it had had enough. In spite of the problem, Drew finished in the top twenty, in close proximity to some of the best riders in the State. Finally, Jeff Biever decided to compete and suffered in the hills from from cramps. Next year, he moves up to the next age category and looks forward to racing in the 'almost geezer' class!