Stoltz, McQuaid Win XTERRA Mountain Championship

On a course that featured more than 3,000-feet of climbing on rocky off-road mountain trails Conrad Stoltz from South Africa and Melanie McQuaid from Canada showcased an astonishing level of fitness and skill to win the XTERRA Mountain Championship.

In the men’s race Stoltz  was playing cat-and-mouse and trading the lead spot with Canadian Mike Vine during the last half of the bike before pulling away on the final downhill and getting into the bike-to-run transition with a one-minute lead.

“Mike and I were battling back and forth on the bike and were even running alongside each other pushing our bikes uphill at one point.  We traded leads all the way to the summit and I know what a great runner he is so I went flat out on the downhill, I was basically free falling down the side of this mountain,” said Stoltz.

Vine was able to make up some time on the run, but not enough as Stoltz, the 3-time XTERRA World Champ (and two-time Olympian), held on for a 31-second margin of victory.

“It was a battle out there and I was glad to catch up to him on the climbs but every time the trail flatted out he took off and was just gone,” said Vine, who won this race in 2006.  “It was a good race for me and pretty exciting to duke it out with Conrad, that doesn’t happen very often.”

The men’s race at the front was the closest XTERRA has seen in a long time as Stoltz’ winning time of 2:21:32 was less than a minute faster than the next four racers with Vine coming in at 2:22:03, Brian Smith in 2:22:12 and last year’s race winner Seth Wealing in 2:22:22.

“It’s nice to be at the top of the mountain,” said Stoltz (pictured here, photo courtesy Don Karle/XTERRA).  “This was a very important race for me as I’m trying to win my sixth Pro Series title and after the DNF in Richmond I needed the points here.  I’ve had quite a few flats this year and flatted at this race the last two years so I made sure to use some extra strong tires, brought two cans of air and a couple spare tires.  I wasn’t taking any chances.”

Indeed Stoltz fortunes have turned around for him at Snowbasin and after his third championship victory this season (he also won the West and Southeast titles) he now sits at the top of the points series with a perfect 300 score, 30 better than fellow South African Dan Hugo heading into the XTERRA USA Championship in Lake Tahoe, Nevada on October 5.

“To me this is the hardest race of the whole season because of the altitude and the climbing, but the ambiance here is really special with all of the community support and great facilities.  I really enjoy this place,” said Stoltz.

Brian Smith, who became the inaugural XTERRA Winter World Championship here at Snowbasin when it was covered in the “The Greatest Snow on Earth” back in March, was nearly five minutes behind Stoltz coming out of the water but posted the fastest bike split of the day (1:25:40) and headed into the bike-to-run transition just two minutes down alongside Seth Wealing.  Smith, the top American in the race, headed out on the run just 10 seconds ahead of Wealing and the two posted identical run splits (30:23).

“I probably would have gone a minute slower on that run if it weren’t for Seth, he was on my heel the whole time,” said Smith, who with his second third place finish this year now sits in fourth place in the Pro Series.

Rounding out the top five was Josiah Middaugh, who had the fastest run split of the day in 30:19.

“Coming into this race I thought there were four other guys that could win, and they all finished in front of me,” smiled Middaugh, who used the 5th place points to move into the 3rd spot in the Pro Series.

Branden Rakita had his best race as an XTERRA pro to finish 6th.

McQUAID WINS THIRD CHAMPIONSHIP RACE OF ‘08

Melanie McQuaid was three minutes off the swim pace set by Christine Jeffrey and Linda Gallo but quickly made up that ground and took the lead at around mile five of the mountain bike portion and never looked back.

Shonny Vanlandingham, current and 7-time member of the U.S. National Mountain Bike team, posted the fastest bike split of the day to pull within striking distance but McQuaid hammered the run and won in 2:40:17, more than a minute-and-a-half in front of Vanlandingham.

“Ogden is the best.  The community is so friendly and it’s so scenic up here, but this course is as physical as they get, I mean you even have to pedal the downhills.  It’s a really difficult challenge and tests your fitness, but at the same time it’s gorgeous and really fun riding,” said McQuaid (pictured here, courtesy Don Karle/XTERRA), who also won this race in 2006.  “I have an overwhelming sense of relief, so many things can go wrong out here and when it all works out like this it’s a great feeling.”

Vanlandingham was roughly four minutes behind McQuaid coming out of the water but worked her way through the crowd and was just a minute-thirty back at T2.

“I could see her up ahead but I just couldn’t catch her,” said Vanlandingham, who moved into second place in the Pro Series standings, 28 behind McQuaid’s perfect 300 score.

Jenny Smith came out of the water at the same time as Shonny V and posted the second-best bike split to move into third, Danelle Kabush put together the best run of the day to finish fourth, and Jenny Tobin placed 5th.

2008 XTERRA Mountain Championship Results ($20,000 Pro Purse)
1-mile swim in Pineview Reservoir, 19-mile mountain bike, 5-mile trail run

TOP 15 PRO MEN
Pl  Name  Age  Hometown  Final Time  Purse  Pts
1.  Conrad Stoltz  34  Stellenbosch, South Africa  2:21:32  $2,500  100
2.  Mike Vine  35  Victoria, B.C., Canada  2:22:03  $2,000  90
3.  Brian Smith  32  Gunnison, Colorado  2:22:12  $1,500  82
4.  Seth Wealing  29  Boulder, Colorado  2:22:22  $1,200  75
5.  Josiah Middaugh  29  Vail, Colorado  2:25:33  $900  69
6.  Branden Rakita  27  Mawitoo Springs, CO  2:25:45  $700  63
7.  Cody Waite  29  Wheat Ridge, CO  2:27:59  $500  58
8.  Ryan Ignatz  29  Boulder, Colorado  2:31:37  $350  53
9.  Craig Evans  30  Spring Hill, Tennessee  2:31:52  $250  49
10.  Rom Akerson  24  Tambor, Costa Rica  2:32:38  $200  45
Also receiving points: Andrew Noble ($150, 41), Will Kelsay ($100, 37), Spenser Powlison (34), Mike Champigny (31), Brandon Jessop (28).
 
TOP 15 PRO WOMEN  
Pl  Name  Age  Hometown  Final Time  Purse  Pts
1.  Melanie McQuaid  35  Victoria, B.C., Canada  2:40:17  $2,500  100
2.  Shonny Vanlandingham  38  Durango, Colorado  2:41:55  $2,000  90
3.  Jenny Smith  34  Westport, New Zealand  2:47:01  $1,500  82
4.  Danelle Kabush  33  Canmore, Alberta, Canada  2:50:49  $1,200  75
5.  Jenny Tobin  39  Boise, Idaho  2:53:17  $900  69
6.  Marion Summerer  26  Freiburg, Germany (Honolulu, HI)  2:54:10  $700  63
7.  Lesley Paterson  28  Stirling, Scotland (San Diego, CA)  2:54:55  $500  58
8.  Britta Martin  30  Nelson, New Zealand  2:57:29  $350  53
9.  Amber Monforte  30  Bend, OR  2:58:01  49
10.  Sara Tarkington  27  Boulder, Colorado  3:02:59  45
Also receiving points: Christine Jeffrey (41), Emma Garrard (37), Sari Anderson (34), Kate Chapman (31), Linda Gallo (28).

TOP SPLITS
Fastest 0.93-mile lake swim:  Seth Wealing (20:30), Linda Gallo (20:22)
Fastest 18.9-mile mountain bike: Brian Smith (1:25:40), Shonny Vanlandingham (1:38:34)
Fastest 5.2-mile trail run: Josiah Middaugh (30:19), Danelle Kabush (33:40)

XTERRA U.S. PRO SERIES:  The 2008 XTERRA National Championship Series for pros consists of five events:

May 18 - XTERRA West Championship (Temecula, CA) 
June 8 - XTERRA Southeast Championship (Pelham, AL)          
June 15 - XTERRA East Championship (Richmond, VA)
Aug. 16 - XTERRA Mountain Championship (Ogden/Snowbasin, UT)      
Oct. 5 - XTERRA USA Championship (Lake Tahoe, NV) 

The top 15 pros at each event are awarded points based on overall pro finish.  Pros can drop one of their scores from the first four events, but must count the points they get (or don’t get) in Nevada.  Thus, the final point total combines athletes best three scores in the first four races, plus the USA Championship race points.  He/she with most points in the end is declared Series Champ.  The U.S. Series will dish out $190,000 in prize money.  $20,000 in Temecula, Pelham, Richmond, and Ogden, $40,000 in Nevada, plus $70,000 will be distributed to the top overall points scorers in the Series.
  Note:  The XTERRA World Championship Oct. 26 in Makena, Maui is a stand-alone event worth a $125,000.