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Whistler athletes in the mix at Sea Otter Classic

The 23rd annual Sea Otter Classic bike races took place this past weekend in Monterey, California, regarded as the birthplace of mountain biking.
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The 23rd annual Sea Otter Classic bike races took place this past weekend in Monterey, California, regarded as the birthplace of mountain biking. Almost 10,000 cyclists take part in this event each year, racing road, cyclocross, cross-country, downhill and every other discipline you can mention, and as usual there were a few Whistler and Sea to Sky riders in the mix.

Some of the top local results were in the downhill competition. In pro men, Nanaimo's Steve Smith — a Whistler regular — was sixth overall on a tight, short course where just 0.6 seconds separated first place from Smith.

In the women's pro race, Whistler's Sarah Leishman placed seventh, while Miranda Miller of Squamish was eighth, North Vancouver's Micayla Gatto 10th and Jaime Hill of Pemberton 11th.

Rhys Verner of Squamish was third in Category 1, 15 to 16 Men, while Luke Di Marzo was 17th in that category.

In Category 1, 17 to 18 Men, Jackson Lee of Squamish was sixth overall, while Whistler's Jack Iles was eighth and Alexander Geddes 10th out of 45 starters. Whistler's Bowen Irvine placed 35th.

Christina Chappetta placed first in Category 1, 19 to 29 Women, while Lisa Mason was second in Category 1, 30 to 39 Women.

Whistler's Eric Lawson placed second in Category 2 Open Women, behind Keara Clark of North Vancouver.

John Rempel of Whistler took part in the downhill race, competing in the Category 2, 25 to 29 age group, placing 14th overall out of 61 riders.

Jackson Goldstone of Squamish placed first in the Junior 10 and Under Boys race, almost 11 seconds ahead of the next racer in his category.

Holden Jones of Squamish was 16th out of 54 racers in Junior 13 to 14 Boys.

Squamish's Harry Head was seventh out of 36 riders in Category 3, Under 16.

In the dual slalom, Whistler's Alexander Geddes placed third in 18 and Under Men, competing against much older riders. Micayla Gatto was fifth in the women's race, while Revelstoke's Casey Brown was sixth.

In cross country, Goeff Kabush placed second in the pro men's category, while Max Plaxton was fifth. In the women's race, Kamloops' Catharine Pendrel placed third and Emily Batty was eighth.

From Whistler, Theresa Frendo placed sixth in Category 3, 19 to 29 women. Holden Jones also raced, and placed 18th in Junior 13 to 14 Boys, while Harry Head was 21st.

In the freeride events, Canadians also did well. In the Speed and Style race, where athletes earn points for time and on-course tricks, Sam Dueck placed eighth.

Did we miss anyone? There are hundreds of pages of results from the Sea Otter Classic. If you know of anyone we missed, please email sports@piquenewsmagazine.com.

For the Record

In our story last week on the Whistler Sailing Club we misspelled the name of club Francois Hebert, head coach at the Whistler Sailing Club. We regret the error.

The club is hosting a Ski and Sail Regatta this weekend, April 27 and 28. Visit www.whistlersailing.com for details.