Middaugh, Snyder win XTERRA Mexico

Reigning XTERRA Pan America Tour Champions Josiah Middaugh and Suzie Snyder captured the 10th XTERRA Mexico Championship elite titles on a muddy day in Tapalpa, Jalisco with winning times of 2:25:28 and 3:00:07, respectively.

The victory is the fourth of the year for Middaugh and the fifth for Snyder, and the second XTERRA Mexico win for both of them.

“It was wet,” exclaimed Middaugh, the 2015 XTERRA World Champion.  “The mud wasn’t as sticky as it was in Maui last year, but big thunderstorms yesterday and this morning sure did make it pretty ugly.”

Middaugh had a strong swim, coming out of the water just about 30-seconds behind Francisco Serrano and Branden Rakita, and made his way to the front of the race on the first big climb roughly four miles into the bike.

“I just kept the pedal to the metal from there,” he said.  “Paco was riding really strong, and XTERRA Argentina champ Gonzalo Tellechea was climbing really well.  I didn’t drop anybody, that’s for sure, but on the second climb I was able to build a little lead and I came into T2 with about 1:30 on Serrano.”

In the end Middaugh finished nearly three-minutes ahead of his long-time rival and home country hero Serrano, the former Olympian from Mexico while Kiwi Kieran McPherson turned in the fastest run split of the day to finish in third.

“After last year with the appendix fiasco and some of the bad luck I’ve had, I was really happy to just be healthy, have my bike stay operational the whole time, and get through this thing unscathed,” said Middaugh.  “This event was really well run and has a really cool atmosphere.  The triathletes that come from all over Mexico, and especially Guadalajara, clearly don’t mind getting dirty and having fun.  It was a tough day but they all finished with big smiles.”

Tellechea finished fourth and Leonardo Saucedo Mata fifth, with Tour leading Branden Rakita and Brian Smith sixth and seventh.

SNYDER STAYS SMOOTH

Two years ago before the race here in Mexico Suzie Snyder crashed hard, crushed her pelvis, and wasn’t sure what was in store for her racing career.

Two years later the American is as fast as ever and on track to defend her XTERRA Pan America Tour title for the second year in a row having won five of seven races so far, with two runner-ups (to Barbara Riveros at XTERRA Chile and Lesley Paterson at XTERRA Beaver Creek).

“Highlight of the day was staying up right and not crashing,” said Snyder.  “Ever since I broke myself on this course I’ve been cautious.  It was so slippery out there today and the ground is hard underneath that slop so it freaks me out.  Riding it clean was really important for me today and I was able to do that.”

Snyder got out of the water in front of former Olympian Fabiola Corona from Mexico, but ‘stumbled all over herself’ in transition so Corona took the lead out on to the bike.  Just one-mile or so into the bike Snyder pulled away and that was that.  She had the fastest bike of the day by far and finished more than seven-minutes ahead of Corona in second.

“It was a good win, and a hard, hard day,” said Snyder.  “The whole course was so muddy.  You could hear the mud grinding in your chain, splattering in your eyes all the time.  There were super sketchy muddy downhills, that were actually kind of fun.  The second big climb was horrendous and wet and soft.  Off the bike I didn’t know what my lead was, but as I came around the lake I looked back and felt like I had a decent lead but my legs had nothing.  I tried to find a rhythm but it was hard because I felt totally bonked with no energy.”

Corona, a four-time XTERRA Mexico Champ, was solid in second followed by Morgane Riou in third, Kara LaPoint in fourth, and Annie Bergen in fifth.

Elite Results

Pos Name, NAT Time Points 1 Josiah Middaugh, USA 2:25:28 100 2 Francisco Serrano, MEX 2:28:18 90 3 Kieran McPherson, NZL 2:30:12 82 4 Gonzalo Tellechea, ARG 2:31:07 75 5 Saucedo Mata Leonardo, MEX 2:32:51 69 6 Branden Rakita, USA 2:33:59 63 7 Brian Smith, USA 2:38:57 58 8 Cedric Wane, TAH 2:40:22 53 9 Julien Buffe, FRA 2:45:55 49 10 Rosas Sierra Esteban, MEX 2:50:08 45 11 Ramirez Lopez, MEX 2:51:44 41 12 Pereda Charles Joaquin, MEX 2:54:03 37 Pos Name, NAT Time Points 1 Suzie Snyder, USA 3:00:07 100 2 Fabiola Corona, MEX 3:07:43 90 3 Morgane Riou, FRA 3:08:56 82 4 Kara LaPoint, USA 3:11:40 75 5 Annie Bergen, CAN 3:21:09 69 6 Dunia Gomez, MEX 3:22:24 63 7 Laura Mira Dias, BRA 3:23:54 58 8 Caroline Colonna, USA 3:33:31 53 ALL-TIME XTERRA MEXICO CHAMPIONS
2017 (Tapalpa) Josiah Middaugh, Suzie Snyder
2016 (Tapalpa) Rom Akerson, Suzie Snyder
2015 (Tapalpa) Josiah Middaugh, Fabiola Corona
2014 (Tapalpa) Irving Perez, Fabiola Corona
2013 (Tapalpa) Leonardo Chacon, Fabiola Corona
2012 (Tapalpa) Francisco Serrano, Renata Bucher
2011 (Tapalpa) Seth Wealing, Shonny Vanlandingham
2010 (Valle de Bravo) Seth Wealing, Fabiola Corona
2009 (Valle de Bravo) Seth Wealing, Shonny Vanlandingham
2006 (Puerto Vallarta) Francisco Serrano, Jamie Whitmore

RAKITA, SNYDER STILL ATOP PAN AM PRO SERIES

Branden Rakita finished sixth on the day but still retained the top spot on the Tour with two races remaining.  With the win, however, Middaugh jumped into the second position just 35-points behind.

“Anything can happen,” said Middaugh.  “I know what I have to do, and that is to keep focusing on winning races. I can’t control other people.”

Both Rakita and Middaugh carry on to XTERRA Dominican Republic next weekend before the season finale in Utah on September 16.

In the women’s chase Snyder has a commanding lead, but as Middaugh says, anything can happen.

Next up: August 13 – XTERRA Dominican Republic

PAN AM PRO SERIES STANDINGS After 8 (As of 8.5) S S S S G S G G PL NAME, NAT TOT ARG CHI CRC BRA OAK VIC BVR MEX 1 Branden Rakita, USA 410 56 47 56 DNS 69 61 58 63 2 Josiah Middaugh, USA 375 DNS DNS 75 DNS 100 DNS 100 100 3 Jean-Philippe Thibodeau, CAN 282 61 56 61 DNS 37 67 DNS DNS 4 Kieran McPherson, NZL 253 DNS DNS DNS 67 63 DNS 41 82 5 Gonzalo Tellechea, ARG 217 75 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 6 Cedric Wane, TAH 208 DNS DNS DNS DNS 41 51 63 53 7 Brian Smith, USA 208 DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 DNS 75 58 8 Francisco Serrano, MEX 172 DNS DNS DNS DNS 82 DNS DNS 90 9 Karsten Madsen, CAN 165 DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 75 DNS DNS 10 Ryan Ignatz, USA 149 DNS DNS 51 DNS 53 DNS 45 DNS 11 Felipe Moletta, BRA 136 DNS 61 DNS 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS 12 Julien Buffe, FRA 131 43 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 13 Maximiliano Morales, ARG 118 67 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 14 Chris Ganter, USA 114 DNS DNS DNS DNS 58 56 DNS DNS 15 Ian King, USA 108 DNS 27 47 DNS 34 DNS DNP DNS 16 Veit Hoenle, GER 98 DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 DNS 49 DNS 17 León Drajer, ESP 94 51 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 18 Micheal Nunez, USA 92 DNS DNS 30 DNS 31 DNS 31 DNS 19 Mauricio Mendez, MEX 90 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 DNS 20 Sam Long, USA 82 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 82 DNS 21 Felipe Barraza, CHI 75 DNS 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 22 Guiherme Goncalves, BRA 72 DNS DNS 36 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS 23 Ben Hoffman, USA 69 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 69 DNS 24 Leonardo Mata , MEX 69 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 69 25 Kris Coddens, BEL 67 DNS DNS 67 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 26 Alexandre Manzan, BRA 61 DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS 27 Frederico Zacharias, BRA 56 DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS 28 Mario de Elias, ARG 53 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 53 DNS 29 Henrique Lugarini, BRA 51 DNS DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS 30 Andres Darricau, ARG 47 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 31 Diogo Malagon, BRA 47 DNS DNS DNS 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS 32 Cody Waite, USA 45 DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 DNS DNS DNS 33 Esteban Rosas, MEX 45 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 34 Greg Schott, USA 43 DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 35 Rodrigo Moreira, BRA 43 DNS DNS DNS 43 DNS DNS DNS DNS 36 Daniel Ramirez, MEX 41 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 41 37 Federico Venegas, CRC 39 DNS DNS 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 38 Silveira Silva, BRA 39 DNS DNS DNS 39 DNS DNS DNS DNS 39 Thomas Spannring, USA 37 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 DNS 40 Joaquin Pereda, MEX 37 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 41 Diego Moya, CHI 36 DNS 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 42 Guilherme Goncalves, BRA 36 DNS DNS DNS 36 DNS DNS DNS DNS 43 Joshua Merrick, USA 34 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 34 DNS 44 Gaspar Riveros, CHI 33 DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 Billy Gordon, PAN 33 DNS DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 46 Anderson Ferreira, BRA 33 DNS DNS DNS 33 DNS DNS DNS DNS 47 Benjamin Munizaga, CHI 30 DNS 30 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 48 Wellington Conceicao, BRA 30 DNS DNS DNS 30 DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 Ryan DeCook, USA 28 DNS DNS DNS DNS 28 DNS DNS DNS 50 Taylor Charlton, AUS 28 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 28 DNS 51 Andres Zuniga, CRC 27 DNS DNS 27 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 52 Pericles Andrade, BRA 27 DNS DNS DNS 27 DNS DNS DNS DNS 53 Fernando Melo, BRA 25 DNS DNS DNS 25 DNS DNS DNS DNS 54 Leonardo Lisboa, BRA 23 DNS DNS DNS 23 DNS DNS DNS DNS ELITE WOMEN S S S S G S G G PL NAME, NAT TOT ARG CHI CRC BRA OAK VIC BVR MEX 1 Suzie Snyder, USA 582 75 67 75 DNS 100 75 90 100 2 Kara LaPoint, USA 437 61 56 67 DNS 58 51 69 75 3 Morgane Riou, FRA 352 67 61 DNS DNS DNS 67 75 82 4 Laura Mira Dias, BRA 279 51 47 56 67 DNP DNS DNS 58 5 Annie Bergen, CAN 246 DNS DNS 61 DNS 31 27 58 69 6 Sabrina Gobbo, BRA 235 56 51 DNS 75 53 DNS DNS DNS 7 Lesley Paterson, GBR 190 DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 DNS 100 DNS 8 Caroline Colonna, USA 173 DNS DNS 47 DNS 28 DNS 45 53 9 Julie Baker, USA 164 DNS DNS DNS DNS 82 DNS 82 DNS 10 Katie Button, CAN 124 DNS DNS DNS DNS 63 61 DNS DNS 11 Liz Gruber, USA 120 DNS DNS 51 DNS 69 DNS DNS DNS 12 Maia Ignatz, USA 118 DNS DNS DNS DNS 75 43 DNS DNS 13 Emma Garrard, USA 108 DNS DNS DNS DNS 45 DNS 63 DNS 14 Fabiola Corona, MEX 90 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 90 15 Jessie Koltz, USA 88 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 39 49 DNF 16 Heather Zimchek-Dunn, USA 83 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 30 53 DNS 17 Barbara Riveros, CHI 75 DNS 75 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 18 Debby Sullivan, USA 74 DNS DNS DNS DNS 41 33 DNS DNS 19 Kelli Montgomery, USA 70 DNS DNS DNS DNS 34 36 DNS DNS 20 Dunia Gomez, MEX 63 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 63 21 Isabella Ribeiro, BRA 61 DNS DNS DNS 61 DNS DNS DNS DNS 22 Vanessa Cabrini, BRA 56 DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS 23 Zoe Dawson, CAN 56 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 56 DNS DNS 24 Fernanda Prieto, BRA 51 DNS DNS DNS 51 DNS DNS DNS DNS 25 Katharine Carter, CAN 49 DNS DNS DNS DNS 49 DNS DNS DNS 26 Brisa Melcop, BRA 47 DNS DNS DNS 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS 27 Ladina Buss, SUI 47 DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 47 DNS DNS 28 Anne Usher, USA 37 DNS DNS DNS DNS 37 DNS DNS DNS

XTERRA WORLD TOUR

XTERRA Mexico was the eighth of 10 stops on the XTERRA Pan America Tour and the 28th of 40 races where amateur athletes could qualify for XTERRA Worlds. Date Race Elite Winners or Location 25-Feb XTERRA South Africa Richard Murray / Flora Duffy 4-Mar XTERRA Motatapu Dougal Allan / Josie Wilcox 18-Mar XTERRA Saipan + Silver Sam Osborne / Carina Wasle 25-Mar XTERRA Argentina # Silver Gonzalo Tellechea / Suzie Snyder 1-Apr XTERRA Thailand + Silver Kieran McPherson / Renata Bucher 1-Apr XTERRA Chile # Silver Felipe Barraza / Barbara Riveros 2-Apr XTERRA Malta * Silver Roger Serrano / Brigitta Poor 8-Apr XTERRA New Zealand + Silver Sam Osborne / Jacqui Allen 9-Apr XTERRA Costa Rica # Silver Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder 16-Apr XTERRA La Reunion Ruben Ruzafa / Carina Wasle 23-Apr XTERRA Danao + GOLD Bradley Weiss / Carina Wasle 23-Apr XTERRA Cyprus * Silver Yeray Luxem / Brigitta Poor 29-Apr XTERRA Langkawi + GOLD Osborne,Allen,Weiss,McPherson/Wasle 30-Apr XTERRA Greece * Silver Ruben Ruzafa, Helena Erbenova 6-May XTERRA Tahiti + Silver Sam Osborne / Jacqui Allen 13-May XTERRA Brazil # Silver Felipe Moletta / Sabrina Gobbo 14-May XTERRA Spain * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Helena Erbenova 20-May XTERRA Oak Mountain # GOLD Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder 27-May XTERRA Portugal * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Brigitta Poor 10-Jun XTERRA Belgium * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Helena Erbenova 17-Jun XTERRA Mine over Matter ^ Karsten Madsen / Heather Pady 18-Jun XTERRA Finland * Silver Pavel Andreev / Louise Fox 24-Jun XTERRA Switzerland * GOLD Arthur Forissier / Michelle Flipo 2-Jul XTERRA France * GOLD Ruben Ruzafa / Laura Philipp 9-Jul XTERRA Victoria # Silver Karsten Madsen / Suzie Snyder 15-Jul XTERRA Beaver Creek # GOLD Josiah Middaugh / Lesley Paterson 30-Jul XTERRA Abruzzo * Silver Xavier Dafflon / Helena Karaskova 5-Aug XTERRA Mexico # GOLD Josiah Middaugh / Suzie Snyder 5-Aug XTERRA Norway * Silver Ruben Ruzafa / Maud Golssteyn 6-Aug XTERRA Canmore ^ Canmore, Alberta, Canada 12-Aug XTERRA Quebec ^ Quebec City, Canada 12-Aug XTERRA Parry Sound ^ Ontario, Canada 13-Aug XTERRA Dominican Republic # Silver Barahona 13-Aug XTERRA Poland * Silver Krakow 19-Aug XTERRA Germany * GOLD Zittau 26-Aug XTERRA Sleeping Giant ^ Thunder Bay, ON, Canada 2-Sep XTERRA Japan + Silver Hokkaido 3-Sep XTERRA European Championship (DEN) * GOLD Mons Klint 16-Sep XTERRA Pan Am Championship / USA # D-GOLD Ogden, Utah, USA 29-Oct XTERRA World Championship Kapalua, Maui, Hawaii

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