Haley Smith wins Bonelli Park Short Track XC

Building on a strong Canadian showing on Saturday, Haley Smith and Juliette Larose Gingras both won their Short Track XC races on the second day of racing at Bonelli Park US Cup.

Smith took the win ahead of a small group of riders, including XCO world champion Kate Courtney, who finished second. Since being reintroduced to the World Cup calendar last season, short track cross country has seen a resurgence in popularity. The format delivers close, action packed racing. The top four women crossed the line within just 0.6 seconds on Sunday in California.

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Whether it’s a celly or a last lap attack, make sure you fully commit ?. Happy with a good day of racing, my first US Cup short track win, and the best team to share it with ???‍♀️ ?: @cxhairs

A post shared by Haley Smith (@haleyhuntersmith) on Mar 17, 2019 at 7:35pm PDT

Catharine Pendrel was also in the small group finishing behind Smith, taking sixth place. Sandra Walter was the next Canadian across the line in 12th, with Emilly Johnston and Rebecca Beaumont not far behind in 15th and 16th. Johnston, who is just 17 years old, finished on the lead lap in the elite women’s race the day after finishing second in the junior women’s XCO event.

Juliette Larose Gingras added another win for Canada, taking the top step in the junior women’s short track XC. It was a successful weekend for the first year junior. Larose Gingras was fifth in the junior women’x XCO race on Saturday. Laurence Levesque matched her eighth place finish from Saturday’s XCO in Sunday’s short track race.

On the men’s side, Leandré Bouchard was the fastest Canadian. Racing for his new Pivot Cycles-OTE team, Bouchard finished fourth in the Pro men’s race, under two seconds off the podium. Andrew L’Esperance, who joins Norco Factory Racing this year, joined Bouchard on the podium, finishing fifth. Raphael Auclair finished eighth, giving Canada three athletes in the top 10.

In the Junior men’s race, Hamish Graham led a pack of six Canadians who finished ranked 7th trough 12th in a large group finish.

Bonelli Park Short Track XC – elite women

Bonelli Park Short Track XC – elite men

Bonelli Park Short Track XC – Junior women

Bonelli Park Short Track XC – Junior men