Tour de Maryhill qualifying day went down without a hitch! Racers took 3 practice runs and 3 qualifier runs in beautiful, sunny, 90 degrees weather. The first run was a bit slower for everyone, but by run three times WELL surpassing previous track records and standards for the Maryhill race track! The top time for Open Skate was 3,01.03 set by Danger Dane Hanna, CA. The top time for Streetluge was 2,57.53 set by Ryan Farmer, US.
This is Dane's second time racing the track, and he's been skating minimally to preserve his sprained ankle. He laid down a HOT lap of 3,04 right off the bat and sat out for the second qualifying run. When he saw that times were getting faster in the second round, he geared up, took the last qualifying run, and put down the top time of the day for Open Skate. When asked what he was doing to earn his time, he said that he just went for it - MAXIMUM EFFORT.
A rumor flew around that the track has been shortened since Maryhill Windwalk 2017, but (on further investigation) that is not the case. The track has been the same since the 2016 Showdown at the Loops. The weather conditions weren’t out of the ordinary, either; We think racers have just gotten faster on Maryhill.
Furthermore, two of the top-four Open Skate qualifiers skated Maryhill for the first time yesterday. Maybe it’s the little board and trucks? Maybe it’s following Zak Maytum’s lines? Maybe it’s finding lines of their own? And what does this mean for race day? Will veteran experience or young-gun gumption prevail?
Although less drastic of a change, Streetlugers are also faster now then they have been in the past. Mikel Echegaray beat his own track record with a time of 2,57.81, BUT Ryan Farmer one-upped him! There is going to be A LOT of tight racing and upsets tomorrow at Tour De Maryhill!
*Cool features: DANIEL MINSKY IS TODAY’S 2ND QUALIFIER; It seems this racer has been putting in the work and is on the come up! DAINA BEAT HAZ... but BARELY. What does that mean for race day? Daina needs to WIN to take the 2019 Champion title from Haz, and no one will make it easy for him. Daina is the third qualifier of the day, and Haz is the fourth. It is both Minsky and Haz's first time skating Maryhill. EMILY PROSS earned a 3,03.82 time that put her in the 9th Open qualifying spot. Emily ALWAYS places better than she qualifies, so expect to see her making moves on the other Open racers tomorrow! ORIGINAL GANGSTERS, LEE DANSIE and JOHN ROGERS put down HOT LAPS today; Age means nothing when speed runs through your soul! In fact, a handful of Sunday's racers actually DISCOVERED Maryhill back in 2000 - talk about history!
Stay tuned to IDF racing for updates. You can see all the qualifying times here.
