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JEANSON,
DANIELSON SHATTER RECORDS AT MOUNT WASHINGTON
North Conway, NH - They call it "The Rockpile",
the windswept massif of Mount Washington is known for
harboring the worst weather on earth and it is also
the home of the Volkswagen Mt. Washington Auto Road
Bicycle Hillclimb. Today the typically daunting weather
on the Beast of the East was nowhere to be found. An
opportunity was presented and RONA'S Genevieve Jeanson
from Canada and American Tom Danielson of Mercury responded
with record shattering performances.
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Geneviève Jeanson
of Lachine had a day to remember in New Hampshire.
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In
the Women's division, the race was over nearly
before it started, as Genevieve Jeanson exploded
out of the start quickly distancing herself from
Lyne Bessette, Canadian National Team member and
her closest competitor. Maintaining her leg-breaking
tempo, Jeanson found herself on the summit in
a scant 54 minutes and 2 seconds, eclipsing the
record set by Jeanne Longo(58:14) in 2000 by an
astonishing 4:12. Bessette finished second(1:04:31)
with a time that would have taken the day in most
years. Rounding out the top five were Susan Duff(West
Chester PA), Marielle Aunave(Winooski VT), and
Heather McKendry(Eaton NH).
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Not
to be outdone in the Men's race, Tom Danielson set a
blistering pace that quickly left him racing up the
mountain alone. Indeed, Danielson's ascent set a new
standard for "the world's toughest hillclimb"
when he arrived at the top in 49:24, lopping an incredible
57 seconds of Tyler Hamilton's 1999 record of 50:21.
Two-time winner('00 '01) Tim Johnson(Saturn) finishing
second(53:56), saw his hopes fade for a third title
early when he was unable to hold Danielson wheel after
the start. Third place went North Conway native Carl
Swenson 54:45(RLX Polo Sport), Greg Sieniewicz 55:55
(Ofoto) took fourth, followed by Philip Wong 56:27.
Jesse Anthony(Saturn Development) took the Junior Men's
Title with a strong 58:25 time.
In
exchange for their record breaking efforts, Tom Danileson
and Genevieve Jeanson were each presented with $5,000
checks from the title sponsor Volkswagen of America.
MEN'S
RESULTS
1. Tom Danielson(USA) Mercury 49:24
2. Tim Johnson(USA) Saturn 4:32
3. Carl Swenson(USA) RLX Polo Sport 5:21
WOMEN'S
RESULTS
1. Genevieve Jeanson (PQ CDN) RONA 54:02
2. Lyne Bessette(PQ CDN) 10:29
3. Susan Duff(USA) 23:58
CANADIAN
SWIMMERS CAP PAN PACS WITH FOUR BRONZE
YOKOHAMA,
Japan(CSN) - Canada had a productive final day at the
Pan Pacific swimming championships Thursday winning
four bronze medals while the first and only world record
of the meet was set by the men's American medley relay.
The
third place finishes were posted by Mike Mintenko of
Vancouver in the men's 100 butterfly, Jennifer Fratesi
of Waterloo, Ont., in the women's 200 backstroke and
both the men's and women's 4x100 medley relays.
The
Canadians end the meet with seven bronze medals and
nine fourth place finishes. In addition, Canadian records
were broken in a whopping nine of 40 events. It was
a much superior performance than at the Commonwealth
Games a month earlier.
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Mark Johnston, Rick Say, Brian Johns and Mike
Mintenko with their bronze medals from the 800
metre free relay.
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"We
were able to focus a lot better on the task at
hand at these championships," said Canadian
national team coach Dave Johnson of Calgary. "It
was a nice way to finish the meet but we still
have a hell of lot of work to do towards the 2004
Olympics. We laid down some foundation here but
we have to translate those bronze and fourth place
finishes into silvers and golds. But none of those
medals come easy. It's a very tough game out there."
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In
the men's 100 butterfly, Ian Crocker of the U.S., took
the gold in 52.45 with Geoff Hugill of Australia second
in 52.48 and Mintenko, the Canadian record holder, third
in 52.69.
In
the women's 200 backstroke, Margaret Hoelzer of the
U.S., won the race in 2:11.00 with Aya Tekarawa of Japan
second in 2:12.28 and Fratesi 17, third in 2:12.71.
Elizabeth Warden of Toronto was fifth.
The
women's 4X100 medley relay broke its Canadian record
for the bronze clocking 4:05.69 with Erin Gammel of
Calgary, Rhiannon Leier of Winnipeg, Jennifer Button
of Toronto and Laura Nicholls of Waterloo, Ont. The
same foursome set the previous mark at 4:07.25 at the
Commonwealth Games last month.
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The
Canadian men's 4X100 medley also broke its national
mark finishing in 3:38.17 for third spot. Relay
team members were Mintenko, Riley Janes of Toronto,
Mike Brown of Perth, Ont., and Brent Hayden of
Vancouver. That eclipsed the 3:38.23 from last
year's world championships.
The
U.S., won that race in a world record 3:33.43
to break the 3:33.73 set at the 2000 Olympics.
A five-gold performance Thursday capped a great
week for the Americans who blew away the competition
with 21 gold 16 silver and 15 bronze overall.
Australia were a surprisingly distant second at
11-14-3 and Japan third at 2-4-8. Canada was fourth
and China fifth with one bronze.
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Keith
Beavers takes home a bronze. |
Canada's
other bronze medallists this week were Keith Beavers
of Waterloo, Ont., in the men's 200 backstroke and the
men's 4X100 and 4X200 freestyle relays.
New
Canadian record holders are Hayden in the 100 freestyle,
Rick Say of Calgary in the 200 freestyle, Beavers in
the 200 backstroke, Mike Brown of Perth, Ont., in the
200 breaststroke, the men's 4X100 freestyle and medley
relays.
For
the women new record holders are Nicholls in the 50
freestyle, Button in the 100 butterfly and the 4X100
medley relay.
Also
of note, Yannick Lupien of Aylmer, Que., tied a 14-year-old
national mark in the men's 50 freestyle.
DOUBLE
GOLD FOR CANADA AT PAN AM SQUASH CHAMPIONSHIPS
QUITO,
Ecuador (CSN) - Canada won the gold medal in both men's
and women's team competition Saturday at the Pan Am
squash championships.
In
the women's final, the Canadians defeated the U.S.,
3-0. For the second straight day, Melanie Jans of Toronto
played the pivotal second match and once again went
the five-game limit for the win. She defeated American
number-one Latasha Khan 9-7, 9-4, 2-9, 3-9, 9-0 to clinch
the title for Canada.
Marnie
Baizley
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Marnie
Baizley of Winnipeg opened the match with a 9-2,
9-7, 9-1 win over Julia Beaver and Lauren Wagner
of Victoria took the third match 9-2, 9-4 over
Shabanah Khan.
"My
match yesterday (Friday) had pretty much killed
me," said Jans, Canada's number-one ranked
player. "With the altitude I'm not use to
feeling the same kind of fatigue. But I've played
Latasha before and I know her game. My plan worked
for awhile but I started shooting a bit too much.
I was able to refocus for the fifth game. It's
nice to win, it gives us confidence."
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Louise
Lefebvre of Montreal is the other team member.
The Canadian women won the Pan Am title in 2000
but did not enter last year in the aftermath of
September 11.
In
the men's final, Sabir Butt of Mississauga, Ont.,
won the third and deciding match to lift Canada
to a 2-1 victory over Argentina. It's the first
ever Pan Am championships title for the Canadian
men. They have won the past two Pan Am Games titles.
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Melanie
Jans |
Butt
defeated Rodrigo Perresta 9-2, 9-7, 9-4. Shawn DeLierre
of Brossard, Que., provided Canada a 1-0 lead but Viktor
Berg of Richmond, B.C., playing despite a hip injury,
lost the second match. Ian Power of Montreal, ill with
the flu, is the fourth team member.
"The
goal for the men was to win the gold," said Canadian
coach Ian Paton of Edmonton. "Unfortunately we
started to run into injury problems. The guys came through
with an incredible effort tonight."
With
the wins, both Canadian squads will be seeded first
for the team tournament at the Pan Am Games next year.
Canada
ends the championships with four medals. Jans and Baizley
were second and third in women's individual play last
week. The next national team assignment is the women's
world championships next month in Denmark.
CANADIANS
CLEAN UP AT 2002 PAN AMERICAN CHAMPIONSHIPS
Canada's
success at the Pan American Road and Track was without
question. Canada won 6 medals, 3 of them by Lori-Ann
Muenzer of Edmonton. The Results speak for themselves:
Keirin:
1) Lori-Ann Muenzer CANADA 2) Yumari Gonzales CUBA 3)
Diana Garcia COLOMBIA
Standing 500M:
1) Yumari Gonzales CUBA - 34.6sec. 2) Lori-Ann Muenzer
CANADA - 35.000sec. 3) Diana Garcia COLOMBIA
Match Sprints 1) Lori-Ann Muenzer CANADA 2) Yumari Gonzales
CUBA 3) Diana Garcia COLOMBIA
Erin
Carter of MB won silver in the women's Individual Pursuit,
Steen Madsen of Edmonton won Bronze in the Men's Keirin
and Marc Ernsting of BC won Bronze in the Individual
Pursuit.
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Lori
Ann Muenzer takes the gold in the Keirin, but
she won't be competing again this year due to
medical problems.
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Unfortunately,
tragedy struck soon after the event. Lori-Ann,
feeling under the weather with a cramp in her
side, underwent surgery on Wednesday of this week,
for appendicitis. Lori-Ann is out for the rest
of the season, undoubtedly a tough bite to swallow,
as she was primed and prepped for the World Championships.
However, she'll be good and ready for 2003.
Also
this week, the Mountain Bike World Championships
took place August 28 in Kaprun, Austria. Canada's
mountain bike Team Relay team defended their title
and took the gold medal for the second year running.
This year's team was composed of Alison Sydor,
Roland Green, Ryder Hesjedal and Max Plaxton (1Sr.woman/
1Sr.man/ 1espoir/ 1junior).
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The
Mountain Bike world championships continue this weekend,
with the Elite Men and Women in both downhill and cross-country
racing. Victoria's Roland Green will be defending his
2001 World Championships title.
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