In her prior three tries at the Nimby Fifty, Sonya Looney had come close but never quite topped the podium.
In her final try on May 25, the Kelowna-based Looney pulled off the elite women's win, besting a pair of Squamish residents, Zoe Dawson by 17 seconds and Elissa Lok by two minutes and 45 seconds (2:45).
Looney, the World Solo 24-Hour Mountain Bike Championships winner in 2015, looked back on her previous results and made some changes to try to win.
"Last year, I was second. I've been third- and fourth-place at this race. I changed my strategy a little bit," she said. "I knew that there was a lot of climbing in this race and normally, I ride my 120-millimetre bike.
"I used a 100-mm bike with lighter-weight tires and a lighter-weight set-up to optimize for the climb."
There was a trade-off, Looney said, as she gave up speed on the descents.
"I hoped my fitness and my climbing would be enough," she said. "Normally, descending is a strength of mine and it was humbling to see how much of a difference equipment makes on the descent of that race."
The day's weather threw a wrench into Looney's plans, as she was prepared for the forecasted hot, dry conditions, and not for the rain that showed up just late enough that she didn't have time to make adjustments.
"I haven't done much riding in wet conditions on the coast at all this year. It takes time to re-adjust to getting your confidence back, knowing which things you're going to be fine riding and which things are going to be slippery," she said. "The Nimby Fifty descents are so steep and there are lots of steep rock faces where you have to commit 100 per cent whenever you start down them."
Looney added that the win was bittersweet—she was glad to win the last one, but sorry to see the Nimby Fifty go, especially given its status in the cross-country community.
"I've raced all over the world and it's the most technical cross-country race there is," she said.
In the men's elite division, Chilliwack's Ricky Federau won for the second time, edging Abbotsford's Michael van den Ham by seven seconds and Bellingham's Spencer Paxson by 10 seconds.
In the age-group events, the men's winners were: Cam McCallum (under-19); Joel De Schiffart (19-to-29); Brian O'Rourke (30-to-34); Barry Wicks (35-to-39); Chris Clark (40-to-44); Andreas Hestler (45-to-49); Scott Simpson (50-to-54); Ted Russo (55-to-59); and Lawrence Hindle (60-and-over). As for the women, winners were: Geza Rodgers (under-19); Sarah Moore (19-to-29); Jenny Lehmann (30-to-34); Carrie Meltzer (35-to-39); Catherine Fleming (40-to-44); Tobi Henderson (45-to-49); Lisa Le Poole (50-to-54); and Cathy Zeglinski (55-to-59).
Full results are online at www.webscorer.com.
Sea Wolves hold home meet
The Whistler Sea Wolves had 42 athletes take part in their home meet at Meadow Park Sports Centre on the weekend, taking home some excellent results.
Individual winners included: Maggy Smith (first in girls' 10-and-under 50-metre freestyle among six total medals); Zachary Currie (first in boys' 13-14 200-metre butterfly, among seven total medals); Robyn Minton (first in 13-14 girls' 50-metre butterfly, 200-metre individual medley, 100-metre freestyle, 50-metre freestyle, and 50-metre breaststroke with one other medal); Macy Kercher (first in 15-and-over girls' 50-metre butterfly, 200-metre individual medley, 100-metre freestyle, 50-metre freestyle, and 100-metre butterfly with one other medal); Kieran Higgins (first in boys' 13-14 200-metre freestyle, among six total medals); and Archie Baldwin (first in boys' 10-and-under 50-metre backstroke, among five total medals).
Other individual medallists included: James Tait (one medal); Nicole Bolleman (three medals); Kierstin Higgins (two medals); Mason Foose (three medals); Billie Horn (two medals); Kye McKiernan (one medal); Connor Haig (one medal); Emma Horn (one medal); Daniel Ford (four medals); Annabel Gilman (one medal); Olivia Persson (two medals); Eli Grier (one medal); Mio Grier (one medal); Anna Grier (one medal); Lucy Smith (one medal); and Isla Inglis (one medal).
Axemen help Vancouver Rugby Union to title
Four members of the Axemen Rugby Club continued their winning ways.
Weeks after winning the BC Rugby Union's Division 3 title, Blake Mahovic, Lewis Stockton, Neil Irwin and Oli Watts joined up with the Vancouver Rugby Union (VRU) side in the McKechnie Cup tournament.
VRU beat North Island 48-23 on May 18 and South Island 46-18 to claim the crown. Mahovic served as captain.
