OBRA riders snag podium spots at Star Crossed

While the contingent of Oregon elite riders were in the parking lot readying to kick off the North American Cyclocross Trophy at Star Crossed, an even greater number of OBRA riders was already making its presence felt in the amateur ranks.

Oregon riders took five of the top-10 spots in the Masters Women 35+ race. Heather Gunderson (Veloforma) finished second, with Verloce/Felt's Beth Burns following not far behind in fourth. Sorella Forte had a great showing up north, with Kim Reuter finishing fifth and Rhonda Morin in eighth. Vigninie Calme (Cyclepath) was ninth. Anne Linton (Sorella Forte) and Anne Leitheiser just missed the top 10, finishing 11th and 12th, respectively.

Oregon women dominated the podium in the Cat 3/4 event. Hammer Velo's Anna Vaughn took the top spot, followed Alalaea Berry in second and Lindsay Kandra in third. Bridgetown Velo's Margi Lifsey just missed the top 10, crossing the line 12th.

Veloce Felt's Michael Benno (pictured above) scored a third place spot in the hotly contested Masters Men Cat 1/2 30+ race. Team S&M's Bradway Scott finished close to the podium, finishing sixth. Of the 74 starters in the 30+ race, 14 DNF'd.

In the Singlespeed event won by Jason Williams, Cyclepath's Patrick Wilder finished third. Jacob Furniss (Revolver-Cascadia) was fourth. Ironcald Performance Wear's Bryan Voytilla rounded out the top 10.

Complete Star Crossed results for all categories are HERE.

Complete Rad Racing GP results for all categories are HERE.

Butler, Heule lead NACT after first weekend

When the dust from the first weekend of racing settled, the North American Cyclocross Trophy standings were quite a contrast to the previous year. Swiss champion Christian Heule leads Jonathan Page (Planet Bike) by 10 points with Andy Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) in third. Jeremy Powers’ (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) second place finish ahead of Page at Star Crossed put him in fourth place, six points ahead of teammate Jamey Driscoll. National champion Ryan Trebon (Kona) is in 11th, after pulling out of Sunday’s race, and Tim Johnson (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) is absent from the points all together.

The women’s standings have some semblance to 2008 with Sue Butler (MonaVie/Cannondale.com) leading Britain’s Helen Wyman by 15 points. Wyman’s flat on Sunday resulted in a fourth place finish and cost her some valuable NACT points. Alison Dunlap’s (Luna) first weekend back in the office put her in third place in the overall standings. Kari Studley (Velo Bella) and Wendy Williams (Hudz-Subaru) round out the top five.

The next race in the NACT series is the Grand Prix of Gloucester in Gloucester, Mass., Oct. 3. and 4. Powers, Dunlap, Trebon and Johnsen have all won at Gloucester, setting up a potential shake-up in the overall standings. For more complete standings and information, see http://www.nacyclocross.com. Follow us on Facebook and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NACT

(Submitted by the North American Cyclocross Trophy Series).

Oregon's Elite 'crossers carve up Washington results at Star Crossed and Rad Racing GP

Oregon riders flooded the ranks the of the Elite men's and women's races at the big kick off to the national cyclocross season in Washington last weekend. Results of the women's race Saturday read like a who's who of Oregon cyclocross racing.

The big winner was Portland's Sue Butler, who walked away with the lead in the North American Cyclocorss Trophy series. The MonaVie/Cannondale.com rider kicked off her pro season in style with a second place finish Saturday night at Star Crossed in Redmond. Kona's new rider Helen Wyman, the current British national champion, won that race, but Butler stormed back Sunday to win the Rad Racing GP and take the overall NACT lead when Wyman finished fourth.

Beyond Butler's podium finish on Saturday, Oregon riders Emily Van Meter and Wendy Williams, riding this season for Hudz-Subaru, finished 6th and 7th, respectively. Megan Faris (River City) was 11th, Team S&M's Rhonda Mazza was 13th, Gentle Lovers Erin Playman was 18th, Serena Bishop (Sunnyside Sports) was 21st, and Audrey Brown (Team S&M) was 25th.

Butler climbed to the top podium spot on Sunday's Rad Racing GP course under sunny skies and bone-dry conditions in Lakewood. Riding away with Wyman after getting a gap on the "Knapp Time" run-up, an 80-meter ascent into Hell, Butler benefited from an untimely flat for her British breakaway companion.

"I heard her say 'I believe I've punctured,'" Butler said after the race. The MonaVie/Cannondale.com rider continued to pour on the pace and crossed the line with plenty of room to spare. Luna's Alison Dunlap, who finished third at Star Crossed, was second. Local rider Kari Studley finished third.

Williams, of Hudz-Subaru, finished sixth in a close two-up sprint. Oregon riders Alice Pennington (Veloforma), Mazza and Van Meter rounded out the top 10, taking 8th, 9th, and 10th, respectively. Faris was 12th, Bishop was 18th and Brown crossed the line 20th.

Portland's Molly Cameron (Portland Bicycle Studio) finished 12th Saturday night in the rain-soaked Elite Men's Star Crossed, won by Swiss national champ Christian Heule. Cameron and Bend's Chris Sheppard (Santa Cruz/Shimano/Wtb/Giro) avoided a first-lap crash that took out Bend resident and current national champ Ryan Trebon. Trebon toughed out his road rash and battled back for fourth. His Kona teammate Barry Wicks finished 14th. Team S&M's Sean Babcock, who went down in the same first-lap crash that took down Trebon -- caught fabulously on YouTube -- finished 16th. Shannon Skerritt (Trek-VW-Bikegallery) came in 19th, with the rest of the Oregon riders sprinkled liberally throughout the remaining spots.

Trebon's hard fall in Saturday's race caught up with him Sunday, when he dropped out of the race after finding himself unable to hold the leaders' pace. Jonathan Page and Heule went on to finish first and second in that race.

Sheppard was the top Oregon finisher Sunday, crossing the line 8th. Wicks was 9th. Babcock was 13th. Bend's Cody Peterson (Hutch's) finished 18th. Gentle Lovers' Mark Blackwelder was 33rd. Scotty Carlisle (Therapeutics Associates/Genr8) was 34th. Capitol Subaru Cycling's Brett Luelling was 36th. Vanilla Bicycles' Kevin Hulik crossed the line 38th. Ryan Weaver was 39th. Matt Fox of Sunnyside sports was 44th.

Complete Star Crossed results for all categories are HERE.

Complete Rad Racing GP results for all categories are HERE.