This month sees huge changes in our worldwide OCR rankings for both males and females, whilst there are no surprises in who makes up the top 3 women, you may be surprised to see Lindsay Webster (CAN, 3) knocked from the top spot by both Mericle (USA,1) & Hammond (USA, 2). Nicole Mericle has had an incredible month of racing, with exceptional performances at different events from Spartan, to Savage Race.
Following this trio is Ida Mathilde-Steensgaard (DEN, 4) who last year took 2nd place at the 15km course at OCRWC ’18 and has proven this isn’t a one off, with further strong performances, most notably her first place podium at Strong Viking this month, part of the OCR European series.
In the men’s results, USA & Canada are also topping the leaderboard, particularly the quartet of Ryans, but relative newcomer Veejay Jones (USA, 4) is shaking things up by dominating with every race appearance. His victories this month have led to an impressive 14 position gain.
Athletes to Watch:
Not going unnoticed by our committee is Nedene Cahill (SA, 13) who has stormed onto the scene overtaking local favourite Patricia Eksteen with her impressive victories, we hope to see more salient performances and a steady climb in the rankings.
Breaking into the top ten on write in entries alone is Dutch athlete Corien Jansen (NL, 7) who has been making steady gains since 2018, and after her second place in round 3 the European OCR Series, she took victory at round 4 in Nijmegen within the last 500m.
A special mention to Rose Wetzel (USA, 6) who has gained one position from last month, making an inspiring comeback after the birth of her first child in 2017.
On the topic of comebacks, Conor Hancock (UK, 13) who has been known to give Jon Albon (UK, 9) a run for his money, made an amazing appearance at OCRWC qualifier race Winter Nuts, comfortably winning 4 laps in under 4 hours, after taking an injury enforced break, whilst he didn’t gain enough votes to make the top ten, he wasn’t far out.
Jumping into the top ten as a voter favourite is the aforementioned Veejay Jones (USA, 4). Making an appearance last month in the lower rankings on write-ins alone, his performances this month – most notably winning Spartan Series race Alabama Super with almost a minutes lead, has secured him a top spot. We can only see him on the up.
