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Amateur Winners From Midwest Cup and Southeast Cup Preview

Blake Vogus and Lindsey Kriete won the overall amateur battles at the XTERRA Midwest Cup on Sunday, and Cary Kinross-Wright captured here second straight 35-39 Cup Series Championship (she was the top overall female at the West Cup).
 
All told, 30 age group athletes qualified for the XTERRA World Championship in Maui (Oct. 25) by virtue of their performance at the Midwest Cup.  Here's a look at the age group champs from that race, and others who qualified to race in Maui...

XTERRA MIDWEST CUP CHAMPIONS (FEMALE AGE GROUP)

Division  Name  Time  Hometown
25 - 29   Melissa Hughes  2:50:35  Battle Creek, MI
30 - 34   Lindsey Kriete  2:44:53  Milwaukee, WI
35 - 39   Cary Kinross-Wright  2:47:41  Golden, CO
40 - 44   Cheryl Stine  2:52:51  Bloomington, IN
45 - 49   Kathy Roche-Wallace  2:52:57  Marshall, MI
50 - 54  Beverly Enslow  2:49:11  Metamora, IL
* TOP AMATEURS  
 
XTERRA MIDWEST CUP CHAMPIONS (MALE AGE GROUP)

Division  Name  Time  Hometown
15 - 19  Sean Hyser  2:29:19  Normal, IL
20 - 24   John Reiker  2:38:08  Saint Charles, IL
25 - 29   Blake Voges  2:20:50  Santa Claus, IN
30 - 34   Teodoro Ramos  2:21:56  Berwyn, IL
35 - 39   Brian Kaminski  2:26:14  Bowling Green, OH
40 - 44   Dean Hewson  2:21:16  Palatine, IL
45 - 49   Jim James  2:23:23  Ann Arbor, MI
50 - 54   David Maclean  2:25:19  Ludington, MI
55 - 59  James Henderson  2:51:28  Kalamazoo, MI
60 - 64  Terry Hutchins  3:05:53  Kalamazoo, MI
65 - 69  John Stover  3:08:28  Jackson, MI
PC  Craig Vogtsberger  2:48:11  Kalamazoo, MI
 
ALSO QUALIFYING FOR MAUI  
 
25-29m  Joey Guajardo  
30-34m  Yaro Middaugh   
30-34m  Jeremy Hansen  
30-34w  Roxanne Kruse  
35-39m  Brandon May  
35-39m  Tim Difalco  
35-39w  Jade Gianakopoulos  
35-39w  Christa Johnson  
40-44m  Peter Hanson   
40-44m  Eric Wallace  
40-44w  Linda Cole  
45-49m  Glen Kellam  
45-49w  Ellen Sauter  
 

XTERRA SOUTHEAST CUP PRO START LIST

‘09 Rank (after 2) - Name - Age, Hometown
1 - Conrad Stoltz - 35, Stellenbosch, South Africa
2 - Josiah Middaugh - 30, Vail, Colorado
3 - Mike Vine - 35, Victoria, B.C., Canada
4 - Dan Hugo - 24, Stellenbosch, South Africa
8 - Craig Evans - 31, Spring Hill, Tennessee
9 - Cody Waite - 30, Lakewood, Colorado
10 - Nicolas Lebrun -35, Digne, France
13 - Will Kelsay - 27, Boulder, Colorado
18 - Matt Boobar - 36, Stratton Mountain, Vermont
NR - Damian Gonzalez - 32, Stockton, California
NR - Jim McConnel - 36, Oxford, United Kingdom

‘09 Rank (after 2) - Name - Age, Hometown
1 - Melanie McQuaid - 35, Victoria, B.C., Canada
2 - Renata Bucher - 31, Lucerne, Switzerland
3 - Shonny Vanlandingham - 39, Durango, Colorado
4 - Christine Jeffrey - 36, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
5 - Jenny Smith - 36, Westport, New Zealand
6 - Emma Garrard - 27, Truckee, California
8 - Alexandra Borrelly - 33, Digne, France
9 - Lesley Paterson - 28, Sterling, Scotland
11- Erin Kummer - 24, Rochester Hills, Michigan
12 - Danelle Kabush - 34, Canmore, Alberta, Canada
NR- Kristy Lanier - 38, Marlinton, West Virginia

STOLTZ, McQUAID NOT THE FAVORITES?

Conrad Stoltz and Melanie McQuaid are three-time XTERRA World Champs, the reigning Pro Series Champs and winners of the first two Cup races of the season…but they cannot, should not, are not favored to win the XTERRA Southeast Cup this Saturday at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham, Alabama.

OK, maybe that’s a stretch, they’re the favorites and everyone knows it.  Heck, Conrad won this race the last two seasons and has been on fire so far this year.  So why the (not) so bold prediction this time around?

Because Dan Hugo should have won this race last year (was 2nd by just 16 seconds) and this course owes him one. Back in his 2007 rookie season he was headed towards the front of the pack but crashed on the bike and broke his hand which kept him out for the rest of the year.  So far this season he was third at the West Cup while still recovering from being run over by a car while riding a bike in his home country of South Africa just weeks early, and fourth at the Midwest Cup despite losing a contact lens halfway through the bike and riding the rest of the way half-blind.  The heat, the hills, the pressure are no match for the young gun who at 24-years-old is more than 10 years younger than most of his competition, and he’s due to win his first championship in the U.S. on Saturday.

Unless, of course, Mike Vine decides it’s time to step up.  Vine should have no problem keeping up with the lead bikers and has proven over the years that he can tackle great hill-climbing run courses like this (of course usually that means another 10,000 feet of elevation which isn’t the case in Bama).

Perhaps Josiah Middaugh (2nd at West Cup, 3rd at Midwest) should be considered the favorite.  He broke his knee-cap in a training ride here back in 2006, and was lucky enough to get fixed up by some brilliant Birmingham doctors that kept his multisport dreams alive.  Since then he’s been the best American the sport has to offer.  Question is, will he be able to chase down or hold off Hugo or Vine or Stoltz on the run?

Then there’s Nico Lebrun.  The Frenchman is in America with one goal - to capture the Cup Series crown.  Having already won three XTERRA European Tour titles and a World Championship, the U.S. Series title is the one big crown that has eluded him and if he’s gonna have a good shot at it, he’ll need to win one in a hurry.

For good measure, throw in Craig Evans.  This is like racing in his backyard, and he’s been the first one out of the water here three years running.  He was ninth as an age group athlete here in 2006, was 5th in 2007, and third last year.  Maybe this is the year he comes out of the swim on top and never gives it up?

Now the Women... This is Renata Bucher’s race.  The big long steep climbs on the run are right up her alley, and if she can track down two-time XTERRA World Champ Julie Dibens (like she did in Saipan in April) then she can track down anyone (like say, 3x Maui Champ Melanie McQuaid?).

Wait, this is Shonny Vanlandingham’s special course.  Last year Shonny (pictured above) broke through here with her first XTERRA Championship victory.  She also won the BUMP and Grind mountain bike race on the same course just a week earlier.  This is a mountain biker’s race, and she has proven to be the best U.S. mountain biker on the planet (more NORBA wins than anyone, ever, and has had the fastest bike split at XTERRA Worlds three of the last four years).

What about Lesley Paterson?  She finished second here last year and is petite like Bucher and can run like the wind.  Or maybe Christine Jeffrey -  the “Big Fish” will have the lead after the swim and her bike has just gotten better and better to the point where she finished third at the Midwest Cup on Sunday.

Then, of course, Danelle Kabush will be there, and you talk about a runner – that’s her thing, and Jenny Smith has been 4th here the last two years, so she could...

Ah, never mind, probably best to stick with Conrad and Melanie…but if first-year pros Matt Boobar and Erin Kummer could come out of nowhere and win it all how cool would that be!

GRIESER, SMITH WIN XTERRA DIRTY

Kyle Grieser, 27, a six-time XTERRA Southcentral Regional Champ from Marble Falls, Texas won the XTERRA Dirty off-road tri in Canyon Lakes, Texas on Sunday in 2:25:30, more than a minute better than Adrian Barron.

Patricia Smith, 35, won the women's race in 2:55:23.  Complete results can be found here.