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VALENCIA SHINES IN USA CYCLING NATIONALS

Matthew Valencia is now a USA cycling national champion.

By Patrick Lujan

Matthew Valencia gets some last-minute advise from former USA Olympian and fellow Guamanian Ken Carpenter in Carson, CA during the USA Jr. Nationals Track Championships. (courtesy photo)

Matthew Valencia gets some last-minute advise from former USA Olympian and fellow Guamanian Ken Carpenter in Carson, CA during the USA Jr. Nationals Track Championships. (courtesy photo)

Matthew Valencia continues to make waves in the USA Cycling circuit.

Valencia was part of the gold medal team that won the Team Pursuit event on the USA Track Cycling National Championships in Carson, CA over the weekend.

The recent high school graduate from Los Altos, CA finished strong after two crashes in earlier events at the VELO Sports Center, a world-class indoor velodrome.

He’s a really tough kid,” said fellow Guamanian Ken Carpenter, who is one of Valencia’s coaches and mentors at Team Specialized. “Not the results he wanted but I’m impressed with him. He crashed twice in one event, picked himself up and got back in the race both times.”

In the team pursuit event, two teams of four start at the opposite sides of the track and cover the distance of 16 laps. The objective is to cover the distance in the fastest time or to catch and overtake the other team in a final.

With the national championship under his belt, Valencia and his team will head to Seoul, South Korea in August for the Junior World Championships.

Matthew, who also finished in sixth place in the omnium event, will now attend college at the University of Hawaii-Manoa.

Matthew Valencia (middle) is a national champion and will head to the world championships with his team to Korea in August. (courtesy photo)

Matthew Valencia (middle) is a national champion and will head to the world championships with his team to Korea in August. (courtesy photo)

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COMING SOON …

  • Brawl 3: Oct 13
  • Guam’s Strongest Man and Woman Competition October 29

 

QUICK HITS

The Figo Islanders 40s women’s softball team took gold in the Senior Softball World Championship in Las Vegas. Figo came out of the loser’s bracket and beat the Arizona Belles 17-3 in the AA division championship game Sunday afternoon.
Other Guam teams that played in the 40s tournament were: Team SOTTA (women’s) and Bud Light Guam, Friars 671 and Sindalun Guahan (men’s).
Sindalu finished a respectable 4th out of 24 AAA division teams.
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In Guam’s first time competing in the FIBA Asia Cup, we draw China, Japan, and Mongolia in Group C. Competition begins in 2024. Guam also moves up the FIBA world rankings to #76.

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