Belize City, April 27, 2008 -Team Santino’s swept the Top 4 places of the annual Santino’s Bike Club Cross Country Classic on Sunday. Juan Gonzalez clocked 3:27:24 on the 75 mile ride along the Western Highway from the La Loma Luz clinic in Santa Elena to the finish line by the Acros agency to win the 1st place trophy.

  Juan Gonzalez receives 1st place trophy

Albert Castillo clocked 3:31:12 to take 8th place, Team M&M Engineering’s Ronald Sutherland took 9th and Team BTL Fusion’s Fred Usher rounded out the top 10.

Team Acros Guinness Smiling’s Ernest “Dangalang” Thurton pulled in 11th, Glen Gladden - 12th, Team Santino’s Will Gillett - 13th, George Robinson - 14th and Fitzgerald “Palas” Joseph - 15th.

Team Sagitun’s Shalini Zabaneh finished 1st place and teammate Jamie Lee Usher was the 2nd in the female category.

Some 60 riders began the race in Santa Elena, and Colonel George Lovell Sr. took the 1st station prize at Running W. Ernest “Dangalang” Thurton won the next at Roaring Creek and Warren Coye took the 3rd station prize at Cheers. Kenneth Butler won the next prize at the Rockville junction, by which time a 3-man breakaway of Team Santino’s Edison Usher, Juan Gonzalez and Glen O’Brien took over the lead and swept the remaining station prizes, Usher taking the one at Hattieville, Gonzalez won the next at Old Belize, and O’Brien won the last prize at Bravo Motors. Each station prize along the course of the race was a pack of Red Bull energy drinks.

 The next event on the cycling calendar is the Labour Day races on May 1st; the next event for Cat 4&5 riders is the Mother’s Day race from Corozal to the Belize-Mexico border and back to Orange Walk finishing at Miami Beach in Corozal. The annual Female Cross Country Classic is set for Sunday, May 25.