LUNA CHIX PRO TEAM

Saipan, CNMI March 14, 2010 U.S. mountain bike phenom and LUNA Chick, Shonny Vanlandingham took second today at the ninth annual Saipan XTERRA Championship, an improvement over her inaugural Saipan race in 2009, where she finished third. Still improving her form for the season, Shonny credited Bucher with owning the race. "I saw her in the swim - and that was it", she said. Early morning rain made the course very slippery. "It was hard to run, almost like being in a pin ball machine," she said. "This is XTERRA's most technical course - but if anyone is going to do an XTERRA, it should be this one." Saipan's warm, tropical climate is the lure for all athletes at the ninth annual XTERRA Saipan Championship. The opportunity for early season training leads competitors from all over the XTERRA Planet - Europe, Australia, Japan and the U.S - to Saipan where temperatures in the mid 80's, cool tropical breeze and the crystal clear Pacific ocean beckon. And, it is key to the success of Switzerland's Renata Bucher as she defended her XTERRA Saipan Championship title on a hot and steamy day in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands on Saturday. The race consisted of a 1.5-kilometer ocean swim, a 30k mountain bike that climbed 1,500 feet to the highest point on the island, and an epic 12k trail run that took participants through heavy jungle and into caves used during World War II and along beautiful white sand beaches. The race served as an important XTERRA World Championship qualifier, as the top age group athletes in each division (23 athletes in all) earned their place at the start line in Maui by virtue of their performance today.