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Local triathletes impressive in Oliver

Sports Briefs: Several Sea to Sky athletes in top 50 of Half Iron race
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strong season The Whistler Secondary School Storm girls' soccer team placed eighth at its provincial championship tournament last weekend. photo submitted

Several Sea to Sky triathletes finished with impressive times at the Oliver Half Iron, which saw particpants complete a two-kilometre swim, 93-km bike course and 21-km run on Sunday, June 1.

Leading the way was Martin Caron of Garibaldi Highlands, who wrapped up his race in four hours, 44 minutes, one second, to place 14th overall out of nearly 400 entrants, and fourth in his 35 to 39 age group.

Not far behind was Bill Geddes, who won his 55 to 59 age division while finishing 21st overall at 4:49:41.

Squamish's Zoe Dawson, who finished 30th among all athletes, was the runner-up in her 25 to 29 group after finishing at 4:53:30. Whistler's Adam Ward (33rd, 4:55:18) and Squamish's Jonn Axsen (36th, 4:55:42) also broke the five-hour mark while placing in the top 50.

Three other Squamish competitors — Colin Green (5:03:56), Jeff Desroches (5:10:09) and Barbara Brigidear (5:17:12) — also finished in the top 100 overall, with Brigidear finishing second in her 30 to 34 age division.

Other local finishers included Squamish residents Rob Harris (5:42:29) and Sheena Harris (5:46:47), and Whistler athletes Cheryl Smyth (5:49:46), Wayne Katz (7:11:16) and Maridee Fitch (7:11:38).

MELAMED 21st in SCOTLAND

Whistler's Jesse Melamed recorded another solid finish on the Enduro World Series last weekend, placing just outside the top 20 at the Santa Cruz Tweedlove World Enduro in Scotland, held May 31 and June 1.

The Rocky Mountain rider posted strong times on a couple of the early stages en route to a 21st-place finish among a field of more than 200 racers. Melamed ranked 13th on the opening stage and seventh on Stage 2, helping him to an overall finish time of 45 minutes, 15.77 seconds and the top result by a Canadian. France's Nico Lau won the race at 43:11.04.

Multiple other Whistler riders who made the trip to Scotland finished in the top half of the field. Dylan Wolsky (47:20.16) and Nick Geddes placed 56th and 57th, respectively, separated by just two seconds. Wolsky's best finish over the eight stages came when he placed 44th on Stage 6, while Geddes notched his best section on Stage 5, ranking 43rd.

Meanwhile, Andrew Shandro finished in 98th spot, collecting his best individual stage result on the seventh leg, placing 66th.

The third of seven races on the series is scheduled for Valloire, France, on June 21 and 22.

geddes, iles on top at race the ranch

Whistler riders Zander Geddes and Finn Iles both topped the podium in their respective divisions last weekend when competing at Race the Ranch in Kamloops, the second stop on the B.C. Cup downhill mountain bike circuit this season.

Geddes, who rides for the Norco Factory Team, claimed victory in the elite men's race, finishing his run more than four seconds faster than the rest of the field. Squamish's Matt Hardwick finished 11th for the next-best finish by a Sea to Sky racer.

Iles took down the victory in U17 expert men's competition, edging fellow Whistler rider Alex Auger by nearly three seconds for the win.

In other notable Sea to Sky results, Squamish's Harry Head finished first in the junior sport men's race (17- and 18-year-olds). In the same class, Whistler's Brad Jansen placed seventh.

The B.C. Cup downhill series continues next month at Sun Peaks.

MCSKIMMING WINS FIRST PHAT RACE

James McSkimming posted the top time overall as the Phat Wednesday series, presented by Kokanee, kicked off May 28 in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park.

McSkimming topped the open men's race down B-Line and Heart of Darkness in a time of five minutes, 29.16 seconds.

That was quick enough to hold off Jack Iles by seven seconds for the category win, though Iles recorded the best time of the 44 riders who went chainless, at 5:36.23.

Sean Faulds placed third, while Zander Geddes and Remy Metailler — the second- and third-fastest chainless riders — rounded out the top five.

Claire Buchar and Sarah Leishman were both the fastest females overall, and the top two women riding chainless. Buchar beat the field by clocking in at 5:56.05, while Leishman crossed in 6:02.48. Lula Darquier rode into third spot, and Simmone Lyons finished third in the chainless rankings.

The margins of victory were very narrow in both the master and junior men's races. Greg West (5:47.21) had just a half-second gap over Andrew Gunn in the master class, while Mathieu Hebert claimed third position.

Finn Iles (5:39.41) edged Bracken Camilleri by a hair — .03 seconds — for the junior title. Brad Jansen earned a third-place finish. In junior women's competition, Bailey Goldstone took the win ahead of Stephanie Denroche.

The Phat Wednesday series resumed June 4 after press time.

MORLAND, LEISHMAN THE PHASTEST RIDERS

Racing action in the bike park continued with the first-ever PhaSt Friday Enduro on May 30, with about 50 riders coming out to try the three-stage sprint event.

PhaSt Fridays, which are taking place over three consecutive Fridays until extended play opens in the park, take place after the park closes to the public for the evening, letting race organizers have their free run of trails to ride up or down.

Tyler Morland set the fastest time on all three stages while claiming the open men's victory in a combined time of nine minutes, 30.135 seconds. Matt Ryan (9:42.431) hung on for second place by less than a second over Shane Gayton in the category.

The master men's win belonged to Chris Dewar, as he also swept the trio of stages while posting a total time of 9:51.415. Sol Stuckey, 50 seconds back, was the runner-up, while Chris Addario placed third.

Sarah Leishman won the final two stages of the night in the open women's race, but came up just short of catching Katrina Strand. Strand, who clocked the winning time of 10:41.116, held just a 0.097-second lead over Leishman at the end of the night. Simmone Lyons rode to third place.

Kolt Hoyle was the top junior, finishing at 12:26.486.

STUDENT-ATHLETES COMPETE AT PROVINCIALS

Athletes from Whistler Secondary School were busy representing the resort at provincial championship events last weekend, including members of the Storm girls' soccer team that put together a strong season-ending tournament.

The Storm finished the B.C. 'A' High School Girls Championships with an eighth-place finish at a 16-team tournament held May 29 to 31 in Vancouver. The Whistler team went 2-1 in round-robin play to finish second in its pool.

In the playoff round, the Storm fell 2-1 on penalty kicks to Kimberley's Selkirk Secondary School. With a lineup depleted by injuries, Whistler then suffered a 3-1 loss to Langley Christian in the tournament's seventh-place game.

Meanwhile, 10 students competed for Whistler at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships in Langley over the same dates.

Senior boys' (Grade 11 and 12) competitor Yannick Gerland captured a bronze medal in the 2,000-metre steeplechase. Grade 12 athlete Cassidy Deane earned top-20 finishes in both high jump and triple jump.

At the junior level (Grade 9 and 10), Kelsey Thompson scored a solid fourth-place finish in girls' high jump. Fabienne Chafe and Kobe Burton placed among the top 20 in their respective hammer throw events, while Arnica Wright landed in the top 25 for both the 100- and 200-metre sprints.

Rounding out the team's performances, Lucas Unruh led the Grade 8 contingent with a sixth-place result in javelin. Jacqueline Perolli and Zach Welton each placed 13th in the girls' and boys' 100 m, respectively, while Hannah Peatfield was 16th in the girls' 200 m.