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2002
NCCA MTB National Champs!
Its with great pleasure I can announce CU Cycling
as the 2002 MTB National Collegiate Champs.
To follow up on Amirault's
Friday report, here's the lowdown on the rest of the
weekend. Warning, its long, so put the feet up, grab a brew
and relax.
We were fortunate to have all eight men
and women of CU's DH/DS team qualify for the Dual. After
qualifiers at 11am and before the 3pm finals, the DH team
took a few DH practice runs. Of course with so many events
for the weekend, there are bound to be a few hiccups and
CU had their fair share.
On her final DH practice run, Myklak put
her chain behind the rear cassette and into the spokes.
This hasn't been the first time it happened, but this time
8 spokes were cut, thus thoroughly trashing her wheel. Team
Capt. Chris Jung, made the sacrifice and drove to Taos to
buy more spokes while the DH team competed in the Dual finals.
Also in DH practice, Jared Saul suffered
a tumble, or should I say multiple tumbles as he went down
on the fastest part of the course. Unfortunately, he suffered
a lower arm injury and was far from 100%. Although Jared
qualified for the Dual, he would not earn points unless
he was in the start gate for his first finals race. Saul
made the call and suited up for his event and rolled the
course one handed and scored some much need points for the
team. As a friendly and familiar face with the Dual crowd,
he received a very supportive applause from the crowd as
he rolled the course.
In the Dual finals, both Matt Fisher and
Steve Wentz progressed smoothly, until the semiround where
they had to run against each other. The two battled tremendously
and Steve moved on as Matt finished 5th. Hoops qualified,
scored points, but was eliminated before the finals. Other
notable includes up and comer Craig C? who qualified for
the Bs Dual.
Recovering from a recent broken wrist,
Jessica Vogt also sailed through the finals finishing 4th
as she is still in the healing process. Mary and Jen also
scored points, but were eliminated early.
CU won both the men's and women's Dual
events, a great start to the weekend. Later that evening,
Jung returned with new spokes and Lisa's wheel was rebuilt.
We also did some late night bike thing for the women XC'ers,
thanks to Hooper and van Laanan.
Saturday was an early wakeup call because
of the 8am start of the Men's XC. A last minute decision
by the promoters the night before increased the number of
laps to 3 for the men, creating a much more difficult race.
From the gun the field of 95 riders shattered. After the
start climb, less than 3 mins into the race, it was Jung
in 2nd, Josh Bezerker 9th, and Ryan Atele in 16th and Ryan
Lynch following in 22nd. The boys had a great start, but
FLC was fairing better.
After the first lap, FLC's Danielson and
Cody held 1,2 as Jung was in 3rd and Josh was moving up
in 8th. Artele was now top fifteen with Lynch following
closely. Around for the final lap, Jung's fast start was
taking its toll as he showed signs of weakness and now relegated
to 5th with Josh hot on his wheel. Artele was holding strong,
but Lynch was feeling the flu symptoms from days before
and looked close to death - a sign of things to come.
During the last lap and into the finish,
Josh turned up the volume capturing 4th place and a podium
spot as Jung rolled in at 8th. The air was filled with tension
as there were no signs of the Ryan's. Lynch finished the
last lap and after tossing the cookies a few times and Artele
suffered two flats on the final descent then had a third
bad tube. Both finished 42nd, 43rd respectively. FLC dominated
the race with all four men in the top 10 and Mesa state
also stepped up besting CU. CU finished 4th in the Men's
XC event.
With over 45 schools in town for the weekend
but with very few women racing the XC, the XC start for
the women was just over 40 girls. Again from the start,
CUs team made great advances. Molly Hummel, Jen Gersbach
and Erin Huck were all in the top ten with Mary Rudy within
reach. After the first of 2 laps, Jen held 3rd, Molly 5th,
Erin in 6th and Mary in 7th. Could it get any better ? But
Erin was having problems, her seatpost was slipping.
At the line, Jen, Molly and Mary finished
3rd, 5th and 6th, respectively but Erin's luck got worse.
She stopped to fix the seatpost and things were good again,
but on the final descent she flatted. In a remarkable sign
of grace under pressure, she fixed the flat and still finished
in the top 10 (8th?). CUs women once again dominated and
won the XC event.
At the end of the day, the team overall
was tight. CU held 280 points with Mesa closely behind by
15 pts and FLc only 25pts back.
A banquet was held on Saturday night which
included awards for the events transpired so far. Steve
picked up his first Stars and Stripes Nats jersey for the
Dual win. Elke Burksardt(sp), Pro downhiller was in attendance
and gave her collegiate experiences to the unruly crowd.
Fortunately, there were abundant law enforcement in town,
so the coach's job was much easier in regulating any unauthorized
activities, although Jung did receive the beat down he deserved.
Sunday had the last event of the weekend,
the downhill. Seating was based on a random drawing compiled
with a list of the coach's start order. The women were first
down the mountain. My recollection of results are vague
as I was at the top of the mountain supporting the DH'ers
before their start - at the top of the cold,lonely mountain
for hours - the sacrifices I make...
Gersbach had her first runs on a DH bike
the day before race, but felt confident on the course. Her
run placed her 12th (?) despite a sucked chain which didn't
allow her to peddle. Mary was also in the top 15, probably
top 10. Jessica still held strong with here wrist injury
and was top 10.
Then there was Myklak. This is Lisa's
last year with the team and she has done great things during
her tenure, most notably is the recent DH camp she setup
last weekend for the DH team. Obviously, it paid off. Lisa's
run was the fifth from last, so when she posted the fastest
women's time of the day by 20 seconds, we knew she won the
race and a National title - what a great conclusion to her
CU Cycling career. We'll miss her. The women's DH team won
the event.
On the men's side, Jared's arm injury
definitely threw a wrench in the works. The promoters gave
us a choice. We could replace Jared, but with only a registered
rider. Was it to be a Men's Xc rider, Jung perhaps or one
of the B riders who attended the weekend ? After our camp
from last week, Chris Van Laanan was the pick. He raced
the course the week before and posted a decent time - "your
racing as an A tomorrow, welcome to the Nats team."
Again the seating order was predetermined
and again the results are fuzzy, but Patrick and Van Laanan
both scored points and a flat was suffered early on in a
run. Steve's seating order was in the middle of the pack
and during his run a big hit to his rock ring left him unable
to peddle the bottom half of the course, but his time put
him in the lead. Matt was our last rider to race and despite
a slight loss of concentration and a crash he still finished
in the top 10. In the end, Steve's time held tight to earn
him his second national title and jersey for the weekend.
In the end, the men's team won the event.
With two wins, Steve also won the individual
Omniun giving him 3 individual titles for the weekend. For
the women, CU's Jenifer Gersbach won with her strong finishes
in all three events. Mary finished 2nd in the omnium.
The final tally included 5 individual
titles and the overall team title to CU. That makes 5 MTB
Team Championships in the last 6 years. I think we are doing
something right.
All in all, it was a great team effort
with support from Cathy Cantway, Miquel Arias, Walt Wehner
and Chris Miller who had made the trip down to lend a helping
hand. Chris also raced the Men's B XC. Thank you all very
much.
Team Captain Chris Jung was instrumental
in organizing registration which went very smoothly as well
as finding the very deluxe accommodations - thank you.
For the most part the team acted very
professionally on and off the bike - as much as you can
expect from a group of people from 17-24yrs in age. I think
this shows testament to what a great organization we have
here at CU Cycling and thank everyone for their involvement.
Finally, our officers, the unsung heroes
that make the club go round - Josh, Lindsey and Louise deserve
a wealth of thanks for making the club exist day to day.
We all appreciate your help even though its not communicated
too much. -Brian
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