The Women’s Top Banana Competition was already tight, but the tough Mud, Sweat and Beers course kept the race tight and the standings even tighter. Many of the top  women of the spring skipped the race, making it a prime weekend for movers and shakers to raid the Top Ten spots heading into the road season. Amy Stauffer, the leader in Banana points, didn’t race, and neither did Samantha Brode. Second place in the series belonged to Julie Whalen, but could she do enough against the onslaught from Traverse City riders Johanna Schmidt, Susan Vigland, Bridgitt Widrig and others?

We’re giving them 20 points for the win, -1 for each placing lower, and throwing in the SS class to make the overall a nice round number. Here it is, with points on the right:

Johanna Schmidt at 20 points
Susan Vigland at 19 points
Julie Whalen at 18 points
Bridgett Widrig at 17 points
Laura Webb at 16 points
Rachel Decker at 15 points
Ali Bridson at 14 points
Lauri Brockmiller at 13 points
Marilyn Kamp at 12 points
Amy Jenema at 11 points
Melissa Ryba at 10 points
Melissa Fritz at 9 points
Bobby Liegle at 8 points
Kristina Dominic at 7 points

Traverse City dominated its home race, putting seven riders in the Top Ten just from Hagerty and Einstein. Schmidt ducked away early and stayed away, preserving a lead of just around a minute over the 2o mile course with a furiously chasing pack of wolf hounds barking at her heels. Yes, that’s a wolf pack reference.

Here’s the All-New, Super Awesome Top Banana Competition Top Ten:

Julie Whalen at 38 points
Amy Stauffer at 20 points
Johanna Schmidt at 20 points
Samantha Brode at 19 points
Susan Vigland at 19 points
Kathy Everts at 18 points
Bridgett Widrig at 17 points
Stephanie Swan at 17 points
Amelia Moore at 16 points
Laura Webb at 16 points
Kim Chapman at 15
Rachel Decker at 15
Wendy Zamzow at 14 points
Ali Bridson at 14 points
Molly Wolf at 12 points
Marilyn Kamp at 12 points
Jill Meredith at 11 points
Bridget Donovan at 11

Julie Whalen storms to the top with a huge margin after a busy and successful spring campaign. She’ll have a nice buffer heading into the three road races, but she’ll have a lot of competition on her hands once the Banana points return to mountain biking this fall.