This quarter final heat had many lead changes.
The same heat, in a shuffled order.
The 5th and final day of the Maryhill Festival of Speed was the only day with a slight breeze. Spectators show up in droves on race day for the tight racing, it’s such a entertaining extravaganza. Luckily for them, it was overcast and it seemed to be less hot than any of the other days. Throughout the race there was delays and racers feared the forecast of rain in the afternoon. Calvin Staub was involved in accident that resulted in necessary medical attention, as was Rachel “Bagels” Bruskoff. Also, the usual consistent Maryhill protests kept things moving at a sedated pace as well. Despite the slower speed, racing was incredible throughout the day.
The open finals included Kevin Reimer, Spencer Smith, Brendan Davidson, Alex Charleson, Patrick Switzer, & Zak Maytum. Kevin Reimer advanced into the lead off the push start. Zak passes Kevin coming out of the “backbreaker” turn. Zak leads from “spaghetti” until the exit of “cowzers” (last right turn). Alex Charleson makes the pass but leaves an opening on the inside into ronin left (last left turn) that Maytum capitalizes on. Out of the left, Alex Charleson has good exit speed thanks to a bump from Kevin Reimer. Zak Maytum turns into Charleson to shut down the pass on the straight and then Charleson tries to go the same but he doesn’t make it in front of Zak.
Zak Maytum leading the group into the final turn.
Kevin Reimer bumps Alex Charleson giving him the speed necessary to tentatively pass Zak Maytum into the final straightaway.
At the line Zak’s behind is on top of Alex Charleson’s shoulder.
Zak Maytum 1st, Alex Charleson 2nd, Kevin Reimer 3rd.
In the Junior 1 division the champ stood out like a sore thumb from the beginning.
Alex Charleson blew away the competition. He always arrived in 1st place, and that, with a huge lead in every single one of his heats. Above you can see Alex Charleson in the Junior final. As he fades the turn, the rest of the group is too far behind, not even entering it yet.
Junior Division: Alex Charleson 1st, Shamar Jackson 2nd, & Tyron Knight 3rd.
Masters Division: Silon Garcia 1st, Fael Fernanda 2nd, Robin McGuirk 3rd.
Womens Division: Emily Pross 1st, Victoria Waddington 2nd, & Marie Bougourd 3rd.
Mikel Echegary Diez dominated his discipline(s). He ruled the competition, the winner of the luge division was known early on before the race even started.
Luge Division: Mikel Echegary Diez 1st, Abdil Mahdzan 2nd, & Christian Conaway 3rd.
Classic Luge Division: Mikel Echegary Diez 1st, Riley Harris 2nd, & Benjamin Zehner 3rd.