Dan Hugo finally gets his, Melanie McQuaid stays perfect at XTERRA Northwest Cup in Idaho

Farragut State Park - Athol, ID (June 6, 2009) - Melanie McQuaid stayed perfect in 2009 while Dan Hugo broke through at the XTERRA Northwest Cup at Farragut State Park just north of Coeur d’ Alene, Idaho this afternoon.

Over the last two years on the XTERRA America Tour the 23-year-old from Stellenbosch, South Africa (the same hometown as Conrad Stoltz) finished in the top 4 in seven straight races including three runner-ups, but today the sports youngest and brightest star found the top step for the first time.

"It sure did help that Josiah (Middaugh) and Mike (Vine) weren't here and Conrad got a puncture, but it's a great start and I'm super excited," said the ever-humble Hugo.

Hugo came out of the swim in the incredibly gorgeous Lake Pend Oreille (the 5th deepest lake in the U.S. at 1,158-feet) with the lead pack that included Stoltz, Craig Evans, Seth Wealing, and Christine Jeffrey in just over 22 minutes.

As planned, Hugo stuck on Stoltz’ wheel until about three-quarters of the way through the first of two 11-mile loops on the bike when a nail lodged itself sideways through Stoltz’ tire and Hugo found himself all alone in front, where he stayed the rest of the way.

“It was a great day, I had good legs,” said Hugo, who clocked the quickest bike split in 1:19:36, a full three minutes better than Nico Lebrun’s’ 1:22.  “The bike was super fast, magically fast and furious and the run was spectacular.  Heading along the lake was breathtaking and the technical footing made it perhaps the most interesting run I’ve seen on the circuit.”

By the end of the first loop Hugo had put three minutes on Wealing, Evans, and Branden Rakita and extended that gap to more than five minutes by the bike-to-run transition.  Behind him Rakita moved into second heading into the run, followed by Lebrun, Wealing, Evans, and then Stoltz another minute back.

Lebrun, the 3-time XTERRA European Tour and 2005 XTERRA World Champ, put down the fastest run of the day - a 40:43 10k - to pass Rakita and finish second (his best result this season).  Wealing had the second-best run to finish in third, Rakita held on for a career-best fourth and Stoltz ran past Evans to finish fifth.

In the women’s race “Big Fish” Jeffrey put nearly three minutes on McQuaid during the swim and held the lead through the first lap of the bike where McQuaid was 1:30 back, but by the bike-to-run transition McQuaid – boosted by the best bike of the day (1:33:31) – was more than four minutes in front.

Danelle Kabush made up a minute on Jeffrey to finish in 2nd (her best of the year), and Jeffrey was 3rd to make it an all-Canadian top three.  “Canadians rule, ehh,” said Jeffrey.

The 39-year-young Jenny Tobin had the fastest run of the day to work herself into fourth, and Emma Garrard rounded out the top 5.

The venue at Farragut State Park was unanimously approved as being one of the prettiest, most pristine, and incredibly beautiful places on earth and as outdoor enthusiasts nationwide celebrated the 17th Annual National Trails Day – the XTERRA Tribe did so in style in the Pacific Northwest. 

TOP PRO MEN
 
Pl  Name  Age  Hometown  Time  Pts  Purse
1  Dan Hugo  23  Stellenbosch, South Africa  2:25:32  100  $1,800
2  Nico Lebrun  35  Digne, France  2:29:38  90  $1,250
3  Seth Wealing  30  Boulder, Colorado  2:31:20  82  $800
4  Branden Rakita  28  Manitou Springs, Colorado  2:33:19  75  $500
5  Conrad Stoltz  35  Stellenbosch, South Africa  2:34:03  69  $400
6  Craig Evans  31  Spring Hill, Tennessee  2:36:13  63  $300
7  Ryan Ignatz  30  Boulder, Colorado  2:36:20  58  $200
8  Jasper Blake  35  Victoria, B.C., Canada  2:37:42  53  
9  Cody Waite  30  Lakewood, Colorado  2:38:16  49  
10  Brendan Halpin  25  Missoula, Montana  2:40:29  45  
Also: Will Kelsay (41), Adam Jensen (37), Matt Boobar (34), Jeff Smith (31)  

TOP 10 PRO WOMEN  
 
Pl  Name  Age  Hometown  Time  Pts  Purse
1  Melanie McQuaid  35  Victoria, B.C., Canada  2:51:10  100  $1,800
2  Danelle Kabush  34  Canmore, Alberta, Canada  2:52:50  90  $1,250
3  Christine Jeffrey  36  Guelph, Ontario, Canada  2:55:46  82  $800
4  Jenny Tobin  39  Boise, Idaho  2:57:53  75  $500
5  Emma Garrard  27  Truckee, California  2:59:05  69  $400
6  Rebecca Dussault  28  Crested Butte, Colorado  3:05:22  63 $300
7  Tracy Thelen  29  Colorado Springs, Colorado  3:07:21  58 $200
8  Erin Kummer  24  Boulder, Colorado  3:11:27  53  
9  Alexendra Borrelly  33  Digne, France  3:13:27  49  
10  Jennifer Luebke  23  Missoula, Montana  3:14:54  45  
Also: Jari Kirkland (41)  
 
CUP SERIES STANDINGS

Halfway through the 8-stop XTERRA Cup Series Conrad Stoltz and Melanie McQuaid remain on top.  With the win, Dan Hugo leapfrogged past Josiah Middaugh and Mike Vine into second place while Nico Lebrun moved into the top 5 with his runner-up performance today.  In the women's chase McQuaid stays perfect, and Emma Garrard (who equaled her career best with a 5th place finish today) jumped past Shonny Vanlandingham and Renata Bucher into the No. 2 spot.  Christine Jeffrey moved up two places into 5th.

2009 XTERRA CUP SERIES STANDINGS (After 4)

Pl	Name	1	2	3	4	Total
1	Conrad Stoltz	100	100	100	69	369
2	Dan Hugo	82	75	75	100	332
3	Josiah Middaugh	90	82	90	DNS	262
4	Mike Vine	75	90	82	DNS	247
5	Nico Lebrun	DNF	69	69	90	228
6	Branden Rakita	45	53	53	75	226
7	Craig Evans	49	49	63	63	224
8	Seth Wealing	37	63	DNS	82	182
9	Cody Waite	34	41	58	49	182
10	Will Kelsay	31	31	49	41	152
11	Jasper Blake	69	DNS	DNS	53	122
12	Matt Boobar	DNS	34	45	34	113
13	Brian Smith	53	58	DNS	DNS	111
14	Ryan Ignatz	41	DNS	DNS	58	99
15	Steve Larsen	63	DNS	DNS	DNS	63
16	Jeff Smith	28	DNS	DNS	31	59
17	Justin Thomas	58	DNS	DNS	DNS	58
18	Ryan DeCook	DNP	45	DNS		45
19	Brendan Halpin	DNS	DNS	DNS	45	45
20	Scott Gall	DNS	37	DNS	DNS	37
21	Adam Jensen	DNS	DNS	DNS	37	37

Pl	Name	1	2	3	4	Total
1	Melanie McQuaid	100	100	100	100	400
2	Emma Garrard	63	58	69	69	259
3	Renata Bucher	75	90	82	DNS	247
4	Shonny Vanlandingham	90	75	75	DNS	240
5	Christine Jeffrey	69	82	DNS	82	233
6	Danelle Kabush	49	DNS	58	90	197
7	Jenny Smith	53	69	63	DNS	185
8	Alexandra Borrelly	31	53	45	49	178
9	Lesley Paterson	82	DNS	90	DNS	172
10	Erin Kummer	DNS	49	49	53	151
11	Jari Kirkland	28	63	DNS	41	132
12	Rebecca Dussault	58	DNS	DNS	63	121
13	Jenny Tobin	45	DNS	DNS	75	120
14	Tracy Thelen	34	DNS	DNS	58	92
15	Kristy Lanier	DNS	DNS	53	DNS	53
16	Jennifer Luebke	DNS	DNS	DNS	45	45
17	Ingrid Rolles	41	DNS	DNS	DNS	41
18	Sari Anderson	37	DNS	DNS	DNS	37

1 = Loews XTERRA West Cup - May 2  
2 = XTERRA Midwest Cup - May 17  
3 = XTERRA Southeast Cup - May 23  
4 = XTERRA Northwest Cup - June 6  
 
The XTERRA Northwest Cup was the fourth of eight big XTERRA Cup championship races in the nationwide XTERRA America Tour that boasts 60 races in 32 states, and culminates in Utah at the XTERRA USA Championship on Sept. 26.

AMATEUR RACE:  Canada's "Coach Cal" Zaryski won the amateur overall in two hours, 40 minutes (he also won the XTERRA West Cup amateur title) while Rosemarie Gerspache won the women's amateur crown 3:02:07.  More details on the age group winners and who qualified for the XTERRA World Championship in Maui will be released in the next XTERRA newsletter.

Next up:  XTERRA Atlantic Cup at Brown's Island in downtown Richmond, Virginia on June 14.