Maytum puts Maryhill title in American hands at Fourth of July Festival of Speed
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
The weather was perfect for fast times on the Maryhill Loops as the International Gravity Sports Association (IGSA) launched their 2010 World Cup series at the site near Goldendale this past weekend. An ideal mix of mild weather and moderate winds helped Canadian Kevin Reimer set a new course record of 3:06.424 on the 2.2 mile run during Saturday’s qualifying run, but it was the number two man, American Zak Maytum who won the race for the host country on the Fourth of July.
Maytum’s win was a bit of an upset, although he was the number two qualifier. Maytum was the 2008 junior champion. Last year the Colorado racer ranked 44th in the IGSA. He wasn’t the only one from Colorado to surprise this year, as Joel Putrah, ranked 238, finished fourth. The Americans did pretty well against tough Canadian competition, including the top three skateboarders from 2009, Mischo Erban, Scott Smith and Patrick Switzer, last year’s Maryhill champion.
The skate boards are the featured event at the ISGA competition, but there were also classic luge, street luge and inline skating events and there are separate divisions for men and women plus divisions for juniors age eight to 13 and 14 to 17.
There are events nearly every weekend, but the World Cup circuit includes just eight races in 2010. There are another eight races that are classified as regional, national or continental events where racers can collect points toward the World Cup championship, although more points are attached to World Cup events. Points from the top four races during the calendar year are used to determine the series championship and ranking. One of the World Cup events is designated as the World Championship; in 2008, that was the Maryhill race. This year it will be July 14-17 in Hungerzell, Germany.
The sport elite travel to most if not all of the World Cup events with the help of sponsors. Smith, who hails from Madeira Park, B.C., is one of those who will hit all World Cup events this year. It will be his third year of making all the stops on the tour which has races in Italy, France, Germany, Czech Republic, Brazil, Australia, South Africa and Maryhill this year. It is made possible for Smith by his sponsors: Landyachtz, makers of boards, Abec 11 Wheels, maker of wheels and Venom, who makes the bushings in these specialized boards. There was a technological improvement in wheels this year, specifically for Maryhill, according to Smith.
“The pavement here is slippery so we have wider wheels to help with grip.” Smith will go through a set of wheels for each race, which would be five sets. He had already gone through two sets just for practice runs. At $60 or more a set, the cost can be significant. Smith races as part of a team with four other racers. He says he will make the entire circuit this year, his third straight year hitting each World Cup event.
Smith’s regular job is what he describes as a “tradesman” doing drywall and painting. He likes racing at Maryhill, the longest course on the circuit. “Each course has it’s own challenges,” says Smith. This course is an endurance course. It burns your legs. I love it because it is technical and it is not too fast and not too slow, so I can stay tucked through the hairpins. Lots of guys have a hard time staying in the tuck.”
That’s where Smith, number two in the world in 2009 and a rare World Cup series champion and World Champion in 2008, makes many of his passes. Smith also spoke of the importance of practice runs which help him learn the tendencies of top competitors and the importance of taking the right line into Cowzer Corner to set up a fast run to the finish line. During Sunday’s race, that knowledge helped Smith take third place from Switzer.
The pair bumped as they fought for the correct entry into Cowzer. Smith found it and zipped through the corner and was clean to the finish. Switzer lost his line and crashed, ultimately finishing sixth.
On the other end of the scale are racers like Glenna Evans, also from the Vancouver, B.C. area. Evans who was ranked 20th in 2009 is enrolled at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, entering her senior year in Art and Design. She is not sponsored and limits her racing to North American events. She skates more as a diversion from her studies and the opportunity to meet other people. She said that she would ask the University for sponsorship if she had a podium finish. Evans raced at Maryhill in 2009, but she believed her times would be slower this year as she gained a dose of caution after her helmet prevented her from serious injury in a wreck, earlier this year. She qualified seventh among 11 women competitors.
The format for the World Cup races is a series of six-person races following two days of qualifying that pare the 184 entrants down to 96. Races are seeded in brackets that put the fastest qualifiers against the slowest qualifiers in the first couple of races, providing an incentive to qualify near the top. The top three finishers of each race advance. After 30 races only six racers are left. The top two qualifiers, Reimer and Maytum worked their way through four races in opposite brackets, finally meeting in the final race. Smith and Switzer were also there along with California’s James Kelly.
Maytum and Reimer continued to be the fastest riders for the weekend. The pair were close coming into the tight hairpin, Cowzer Corner. Reimer nearly lost it as he set-up his entry into the corner and it cost him his last chance to pass the American. Maytum cruised across the finish line about 10 yards ahead of runner-up Reimer.
Andy Lally beat two-time Maryhill winner, Matthias Lang, of Germany, to win the street luge. He made it a double win by taking the classic luge, as well. Lally had a full weekend. He practiced at Maryhill on Thursday morning, then flew to Daytona to compete in the Grand Am Rolex series sports car race on Saturday. Lally and R.J. Valentine teamed to win the GT class of the Brumo Porsche 250, then Lally flew back to Portland and made Sunday’s luge races. Having missed qualifications, Lally was seeded last but worked his way through heats to win the finals in both races, making it a triple winning weekend.
Shockers extend winning season at Goldendale
Andrew Christiansen
Reporter
Looking to extend the fun and success of a great 21-4 season the Goldendale Shockers are continuing the run of the Timberwolf baseball team with incoming freshman added to the roster. The Shockers were 6-2 at press time and preparing for the North Oregon State Championships which will be played July 14-17 in the Portland area.
The team swept Cle Elum on June 30 with a barrage of hitting and great starting pitching. Aaron Trunkey was the star at the plate in the first game going 3-6 with a home run, a triple, a double and four RBI. Tyrell Cronin got the win with four scoreless innings and eight strike outs.
Reed Lindhe struck out six in the second game and was 3-4 at the plate with a double and three RBI. Blake Lesko hit 6-8 with three doubles in the double-header.
The team was scheduled to play in Goldendale on July 6 versus Hood River. Milton-Freewater was scheduled to be in town on Thursday with game time 3 p.m. and Othello plays in Goldendale on July 9 at 1 p.m. Last month, Othello and Goldendale split in Othello. Goldendale won the opener 8-2 on a combined one-hitter by Trevor Fields and Anthony Dobson. Othello finished strong for a 16-9 win in the nightcap. Prosser is scheduled in Goldendale on July 13 at 2 p.m.
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