Vail – Mountain storms wreaked havoc on the Teva Mountain Games at Vail on Saturday, forcing postponements and cancellations on the busiest day of the annual five-day adventure sports competition.
Finals of the men’s and women’s pro kayak rodeo, considered the marquee event, were rescheduled for today at 12:30 p.m., featuring four paddlers in each division led by top qualifiers Eric Jackson of Rock Island, Tenn., and Australian Tanya Faux. The “8” Ball kayak sprint is also scheduled today on Gore Creek in Vail Village at 11:30 a.m.
The GNC Adventure Race Sprint Championships originally scheduled for 9 a.m. today have been moved to a 6 a.m. start time, and bouldering competition will run throughout the day beginning at 8 a.m. The Nature Valley Colorado X-Country NORBA State Championship mountain bike race scheduled for Saturday afternoon was cancelled.
Among the events that did go off between intermittent downpours of rain and snow in Vail Village was the unique speed trials mountain bike race, won by Cameron Zink of Carson City, Nev.
“When I woke up it was snowing pretty hard, so I didn’t think we were going to ride today,” said Zink, 19. “Then the guys told me we were riding, and I wasn’t too happy when I got out here.
“But it wound up being a really good day. It’s really fun to ride, even in the rain.”
The Gore-Tex USA 10K National Trail Running Championship was one of the few events to run as scheduled, with Matt Carpenter, 40, of Manitou Springs slogging his way to victory on the snowy course in 46 minutes, 41 seconds in the men’s division. Tim Parr, 23, of Gunnison was second in 47.31, followed by Boulder’s Clint Wells, 30, in 47.50.
Anna Pichrtoca, 32, of the Czech Republic led the women’s division, finishing in 52.19. Melissa Moon, 35, of New Zealand was second in 52.39 while Laura Haefeli, 37, of Del Norte was the top American in 55.01. Haefeli will be joined by fourth-place finisher Chris Lundy, 34, of Sausalito, Calif., on the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team as the top Americans in the event. Carpenter and Parr were also named to the team.
Representing Colorado’s Western Slope, the kayaking team of Kasey Ankney, Darin Kellum and Peter Benedict claimed top honors in Saturday’s East vs. West amateur kayak rodeo, topping Maya Feuer, Eric Bissel and Reed Koeneke from the Front Range.
Scott Willoughby can be reached at 303-820-1993 or swilloughby@denverpost.com.
