Collegiate MTB champs crowned
Fort Lewis College narrowly edged host Lees-McRae College to win the Division I team omnium competition at the 2008 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships. Even fewer points separated Division II champions Appalachian State University and second-place Colorado School of Mines. The top individual scorers in both endurance and gravity events were also awarded individual omnium crowns following Sunday's dual slalom contests.
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Fort Lewis College narrowly edged host Lees-McRae College to win the Division I team omnium competition at the 2008 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships. Even fewer points separated Division II champions Appalachian State University and second-place Colorado School of Mines. The top individual scorers in both endurance and gravity events were also awarded individual omnium crowns following Sunday’s dual slalom contests.
Fort Lewis College used a strong showing by its women in the final contest of the competition, the dual slalom, to leapfrog host Lees-McRae College and take home the DI team overall championship by 20 points, 698 – 678. The University of Colorado-Boulder was within striking distance, but had to settle for third while Lindsey Wilson College and the University of Vermont rounded out the top five.
“We had a lot of great individual performances with some tragedies and some victories we didn’t expect,” said Lees-McRae head coach Brian Sheedy. “I am very proud of the whole team. Not only was our overall performance better than we’ve ever had in the past against perhaps the strongest team Fort Lewis has ever had, but the team rooted, cheered and supported each other throughout the entire three-day event. Although the weather could have been better, it was workable. In fact, especially with the talented and skilled riders competing, the mud added some excitement to the short track races. On Sunday, the Dual Slalom course recovered well, allowing for a fantastic day of competition, capping off a successful three days of championship events.”
The DII team race was even closer with nearby Appalachian State University edging last year’s champion, the Colorado School of Mines, 585 – 575. Evenly dispersed talent was on display in DII with the top five schools finishing within 100 points.
The individual omnium crowns are awarded to the top collegiate mountain bikers who competed in both an endurance and gravity event. Eli Krahenbuhl of the University of Wyoming took home the men’s individual omnium crown in DI with top finishes in all four of the weekend’s races. His 272 points narrowly edged Scott Stewart of Lees-McRae who finished second in the weekend’s most hotly contested division.
Winning a pair of national titles on the weekend and finishing in the top five of three of the four events, Carla Swart (Lees-McRae College) racked up 494 points only to narrowly defeat a talented DI women’s field, which included Eszter Horanyi (University of Colorado-Boulder), Sage Wilderman (Fort Lewis College) and Jamie Dinkins (University of Tennessee-Chattanooga).
In DII Zach Winn of Union College earned a commanding win in the men’s omnium title after several national title near misses. The DII women’s race was the closest of the day with officials forced to exercise five tie-breakers before Johanna Tuttle (Brevard College) was awarded the title over Rebecca Tomaszewski (Appalachian State University).
The final event of the competition crowned four national champions on Lees-McRae’s dual slalom course on Sunday morning. Weston Pope (Lindsey Wilson College), Chole Jackson (Lees-McRae College), Deider Barrick (Colorado School of Mines) and Johanna Tuttle (Brevard College) were all donned in the Stars-and-Stripes after winning their respective division’s head-to-head tournament. The spectator-friendly 0.4-mile course on the school’s campus provided an exciting finish to an intense weekend of racing.
Results
USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships
Banner Elk, N.C.
October 26, 2008
Division I Team Omnium Standings
1. Fort Lewis College 698
2. Lees-McRae College 678
3. University of Colorado-Boulder 572
4. Lindsey Wilson College 371
5. University of Vermont 336
Division II Team Omnium Final Results
1. Appalachian State Uninversity 585
2. Colorado School of Mines 575
3. Warren Wilson College 533
4. Brevard College 532
5. Union College 490
DI Men’s Individual Omnium Final Results
1. Eli Krahenbuhl (University of Wyoming) 272
2. Scott Stewart (Lees-McRae College) 262
3. Aaron Bradford (Lees-McRae College) 216
4. Jean-Nicolas Enjalbert (Colorado State University) 205
5. Bryan Alders (University of Colorado-Boulder) 174
DI Women’s Individual Omnium Final Results
1. Carla Swart (Lees-McRae College) 494
2. Eszter Horanyi (University of Colorado-Boulder) 422
3. Sage Wilderman (Fort Lewis College) 380
4. Jamie Dinkins (University of Tennessee-Chattanooga) 374
5. Sabina Kraushaar (Fort Lewis College) 275
DII Men’s Individual Omnium Final Results
1. Zach Winn (Union College) 392
2. Matthew Williams (Warren Wilson College) 301
3. Greg Gibson (Union College) 292
4. Daniel Ennis (Brevard College) 239
5. Alex Hannah (Appalachian State University) 207
DII Women’s Individual Omnium Final Results
1. Johanna Tuttle (Brevard College) 500
2. Rebecca Tomaszewski (Appalachian State University) 500
3. Melissa Marts (Colorado School of Mines) 389
4. Rachel Millsop (Union College) 347
5. Julia Tellman (Brevard College) 330
Division I Men’s Dual Slalom
1. Weston Pope (Lindsey Wilson College) 32.83
2. Erik Nelson (University of Northern Arizona) 32.24
3. Arthur Daley (Fort Lewis College) 31.21
4. Ben Hulse (Lees-McRae College) 32.83
5. Chris Scannel (University of Vermont) 33.03
Division I Women’s Dual Slalom
1. Chole Jackson (Lees-McRae College) 40.36
2. Emma Millar (Fort Lewis College) 40.42
3. Sage Wilderman (Fort Lewis College) 41.64
4. Neven Steinmetz (University of Colorado-Boulder) 41.89
5. Alisha Gibson (Fort Lewis College) 39.58
Division II Men’s Dual Slalom
1. Deider Barrick (Colorado School of Mines) 33.98
2. Geoff Fryer (East Tennessee State University) 33.34
3. Daniel Ennis (Brevard College) 34.59
4. Andrew Mueller (Appalachian State University) 37.02
5. Michael Thomas (Appalachian State University) 34.27
Division II Women’s Dual Slalom
1. Johanna Tuttle (Brevard College) 38.46
2. Robyn Embrey (Sierra Nevada College) 43.64
3. Jamie Bourgo (Michigan Tech Copper County) 40.11
4. Christen Boyer (Colorado School of Mines) 41.32
5. Rachel Millsop (Union College) 40.45
For complete results click here. To view images visit the USA Cycling Photo Gallery.