Write-ups · · Cyclocross Masters 40+
Two Seconds, Five, Seven, Nine
Four of Charm City's eight masters fields were settled inside ten seconds on Saturday, Luke Principe taking the 40+ by the narrowest of them. Baltimore, October 3.
A hundred and sixty-seven names on Saturday’s masters sheets in Baltimore and a hundred and forty-six finishers, across five men’s fields and three women’s. Four of the eight were decided inside ten seconds.
The 40+ was the closest. Luke Principe, 44, of Rochester won it for Minuteman | Empire Automation p/b Full Moon Vista in 43:04, two seconds ahead of Mike Festa, 44, of Devon, Pennsylvania. Steven Shive, 46, of Greenwich, Connecticut was third at nine seconds, Justin Jeffers, 48, of Baltimore fourth at 22 and Mark Steffen, 43, of Brooklyn fifth at 1:33. Eighteen finished and all but one were on the lead lap. Principe is not the only rider of that name who had a good afternoon — Charlie Principe, 15, of Rochester, on the same team, was fifth in the open Cat 3 men.
The 50+ was the deepest. Twenty-nine finished, twenty-six of them on the lead lap, and Jean-Francois Blais, 57, of Knowlton, Quebec won it for Competitive Edge Racing in 43:12. Christopher Beck, 52, of Phoenix, Maryland was second at 18 seconds; Kevan Edwards, 54, of Syracuse third at 21; then Brian Marchionini, 53, of Silver Spring and Edgar Buckley, 51, of Washington crossed together at 26, with Dan Larino, 54, of Neshanic Station, New Jersey sixth at 36. Six riders inside forty seconds after three-quarters of an hour.
The 60+ went to its oldest man on the podium. Harry Hamilton, 67, of White House Station, New Jersey won for PROthirteen in 46:54 from Tom Weaver, 60, of Macedonia, Ohio at nine seconds and Robert Watts, 64, of Washington, New Jersey at twelve. Carl Reglar, 65, of Bethel, Connecticut was fourth at 57 seconds and Martin Mrugal, 63, of West Chester fifth. Twenty-seven finished, but only nine of them completed the full distance, which is the widest spread of any masters field here.
The 70+ lost most of its field before the start. Eleven were listed, four finished, and Ron Kubala, 72, of Sagamore Hills, Ohio won it for Team Lake Effect in 43:33. Craig North, 71, of Ann Arbor was second at 2:48, Michael Maclaga, 73, of Chatham, New Jersey third and Tim Arnade, 71, of Arlington fourth.
The women’s 40+ was decided by seven seconds. Christina Hosenfeld, 45, of Washington won it for sad oatmeal in 38:01 from Evie Edwards, 51, of Asheville, with Kristina Grossmann, 41, of Long Island City third at fourteen seconds. Seven finished, all on the lead lap.
And the 50+ women by five. Ruth Machamer, 54, of West Chester, Pennsylvania won for Kelly Benefits Cycling in 43:12 from Lisa Stefanelli, 53, of Erdenheim, with Marybeth Cochran, 59, of Aberdeen third and Christine Estes, 50, of Washington fourth.
Elizabeth Sheldon had the longest day. The 61-year-old from Washington rode the open Women Cat 2 earlier against a field that was otherwise entirely junior, finishing sixth, then came back and won the women’s 60+ for CXD Trek Bikes in 39:34 from Sharon Squassoni, 64, of Bethesda at 3:49 and Darcy Ramsey Johnson, 65, of Old Greenwich, Connecticut at 6:28.
The Cat 3/4/5 40+ was the biggest masters race of the day — 57 listed, 54 finishers, more than the 40+ and 50+ put together, and 40 of them still on the lead lap at the end. Jordan Thompson, 40, of Arlington won it for DistrictTaco Racing in 45:20, fifteen seconds ahead of Jeffrey Lucas, 43, of Cinnaminson, New Jersey. Ethan Frost, 50, of Elkton and Brandon Hoover, 41, of Mechanicsburg crossed together at 25 seconds, John Beardsley, 42, of Brooklyn was fifth at 1:21 and Sean Fitzhugh, 40, of Bel Air sixth at 1:23.
Sunday runs all of it again, with 119 masters entries down across seven fields — there is no women’s 50+ on the Sunday programme — and the Cat 3/4/5 40+ again the largest at 48.
Full Saturday results, field by field → · Masters cyclocross rankings →