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27| W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,June 7,2018 w aterloochronicle.ca JOIN US FORTHE OFFICIAL OPENING OF PARKVIEW CEMETERY'S NEW EXPANSION Saturday, June 16 from 9 to 11:30 am Parkview Cemetery 335 University Ave. E,Waterloo Free parking available off Bridge St. in the Manulife Financial Soccer & Sports Centre parking lot waterloo.ca/cemetery Enjoy free events, activities and refreshments for the whole family including a free give-away of up to 300 perennial plants and wildflower seed packets to get your garden off to a great start. It's not et every day wy we have a partyty in the cememetery! It's not every day we have a party in the cemetery! Snack wrappers are garbage Space provided through a partnership between industry and Ontario municipalities to support waste diversion programs Learn more at regionofwaterloo.ca/waste Sunday's cool, rain-free day in Hawkesville provid- ed the perfect weather for long-distance cycling road races, resulting in very competitive Ontario cham- pionships. The 32nd edition of the KW Classic cycling race, consisting of the fastest cy- clists in the province ran just outside Waterloo, and co-organizer Malcolm Ste- ven is very pleased with the success of the event. The KW Classic, run by Cycle Waterloo, consisted of 11 races including the Elite level, Master level, and junior categories and was hosted in Hawkesville for a fifth time. "We think it was one of the most suc- cessful KW Classic's we've had, we don't know the ex- act numbers, but it was in the range of 300-400 of cy- clists that came," said Ste- ven. The avid cyclist him- self estimated about 500- 800 people watched the event, from their front lawns as well as at the start and finish line at the Haw- kesville Community Cen- tre. Local cyclist Allison Sauder captured first place in the Elite 3 wom- en's category in a photo finish with 14 other racers. All 15 cyclists had a record- ed time of 1:46.12 (one hour, 46 minutes, 12 seconds). Sauder's average speed was 35 km/h in the 62 km race. "I'm pretty proud of it, and it definitely felt re- ally good to have a lot peo- ple I knew around congrat- ulating me," said the 23- year-old Sauder. "It's kind of the last big road [Onta- rio] Cup of the season, so it's kind of nice to finish that off on a good note." Sauder said she could have came in the middle of the pack as well- that's how close the final sprint was. She also had no problem going uphill on the Haw- kesville hill, but rather she had more issues going downhill."I tend to be pret- ty good at climbing hills, so the hill wasn't really too much of a challenge for me, it was harder for me to on the flats or slight down- hills for me to, I wanted to keep the gaps we formed after the hill going, and try to lose a few people, I don't weigh enough to go down a hill fast enough, that was actually harder for me, go- ing down the hill."In the Elite 1 and Elite 2 men's race, defending champion Ryan Roth finished 16th place while local star Gae- len Merritt, who finished second in 2017, finished ninth this year in the 15 lap, 156 km race. Roth's team- mate from Silber Pro Cy- cling, Travis Samuel, won the race with an average speed of 42.5 km/h and time of 3:40:27, 30 seconds faster than second-place finisher of Mark Brouwer. Annie Foreman-Mack- ey captured first place in the Elite women's 1 and Elite 2 discipline while Kaitlyn Rauwerda won the junior category. Both are 83.2 km races. Hawkes- ville's own Scott Brubach- er had the crowd on his side, and took advantage, capturing second in the Elite 3 men's race. 2017 Kitchener-Water- loo Athlete of the Year and rising star Chris Ernst captured fifth place in the Under-23 category, which is also a 156 km race. Ernst recorded a time of 3:43:13 and had a photo finish with five other cyclists, includ- ing Toronto Hustle's Tre- vor O'Donnell, who won the race. Ernst, Merritt, and Roth all had a recorded time of 3:43:13. Other local standout performances included Chris Wood, who earned in second place in the 104 KM men's Master 1 race while Chad Hartman, also from the area, finished second in the 83.2 km men's Mas- ter 2 race. Master's racers are meant for cyclists above the age of 35. Steven, who along with the help of fellow co-orga- nizer is Blake Ellis, was pleased with the support from the Hawkesville com- munity and the communi- ty centre, and hopes events like this promote cycling in the region. "We're trying to get more youth in the sport, having great events like this helps to do that," he said. "We do believe having cycling races in the region, really does promote cy- cling for the broader com- munity." SPORTS 32nd running of KW Classic is "one of the most successful" in history of event NAMISH MODI nmodi@waterloochronicle.ca