Fort Lewis College Rules Div. 1 College Nationals

Fort Lewis College and Brevard College clinched the Divisions I and II team omniums as the 2009 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships after a weekend of racing.

Both teams had commanding leads going into the final day of racing Sunday at Northstar-at-Tahoe resort in Truckee, California. Those leads were strengthened even more with solid efforts in the downhill finales.

Fort Lewis earned a total of 671 points over the weekend to best the 589 earned by its closest rival, the University of Colorado. Playing a significant role in Fort Lewis’ overall win was the domination by Rotem Ishay of the men’s cross country and short track races.

Also, on the gravity side, the school’s Emma Millar won the women’s four cross while Sage Wilderman posted the fastest result in Sunday’s downhill race.

In Division II, Brevard scored 663 points to beat out Union College of Kentucky, which accumulated a total of 533 points. A big factor in Brevard’s victory was rider Johanne Tuttle who won the Division II Women’s four cross and placed second in the downhill contest on Sunday. The school also saw several podium place finishes by Julia Tellman and Tristan Cowie.

Downhill

The downhill competitions were a perfect way to close out a great weekend of national championship racing. With a sick rock garden and variety of lines, the course was a crowd-pleaser.

The Division I men’s contest was by far the fastest of the day with Joey Schusler (University of Colorado) owning the mountain with a solid time of four minutes to best silver medalist Jon Wilson (University of Missouri) by 11 seconds and bronze medalist Bob Stenson (University of Nevada) by 14 seconds.

Two women from Fort Lewis College showed the school’s strength and helped solidify its number one ranking in the team omnium during the Division I women’s contest. Sage Wilderman grabbed the top step of the podium with a time of 4:53 while her teammate Emma Millar rode to silver even after losing time when she crashed out on one of the course’s technical sections. The University of Nevada’s Lizzy English took third-place.

Michael Thomas (Appalachian State) took control of the Division II men’s race, besting his nearest threat, Deider Barrick (Front Range CC-Larimer) by nearly eight seconds. Justin Graves (Humboldt State University) clocked the bronze medal.

In the Division II women’s test, Christen Boyer (Colorado School of Mines) closed out a successful weekend with a time of 5:05 down the mountain. She grabbed the top step of the podium ahead of the division’s new omnium champ, Johanne Tuttle (Brevard College). Boyer’s Colorado School of Mines teammate, Courtney Steen, descended to third place.

In addition to the team omniums, individual omniums were awarded to males and females in each division at the end of the downhill races. In Division I, the top honors went to Mitchell Peterson (University of Utah) and Sage Wilderman (Fort Lewis College). Zach Winn (Union College of Kentucky) and Johanne Tuttle (Brevard College) grabbed the overall prizes in Division II.

USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships
Northstar at Tahoe Resort
October 16-18, 2009

Division I Team Omnium
1. Fort Lewis College – 671 points
2. University of Colorado – 589
3. Lees-McRae College – 555
4. California Polytechnic – 446
5. Lindsey Wilson College – 409

Division II Team Omnium
1. Brevard College – 663 points
2. Union College of Kentucky – 533
3. Warren Wilson college – 501
4. Colorado School of Mines – 401
Montana State U niversity – 284

Division I Men’s Omnium
1. Mitchell Peterson (University of Utah)
2. Brad Perley (Lees-McRae College)
3. Menso De Jong (Cal Poly)
4. Blake Harlan (*University of Colorado)
5. Jean-Nicholas Enjalbert (Colorado State University)

Division II Men’s Omnium
1. Zach Winn (Union College of Kentucky)
2. Greg Gibson (Union College of Kentucky)
3. Tristan Cowie (Brevard College)
4. Joe Schneider (Colorado School of Mines)
5. Linden Blaisus (Warren Wilson College)

Division I Women’s Omnium
1. Sage Wilderman (Fort Lewis College)
2. Lizzy English (University of Nevada-Reno)
3. Carla Swart (Lees-McRae College)
4. Jill Behlen (University of Wyoming)
5. Deidre York (University of Colorado)

Division II Women’s Omnium
1. Johanne Tuttle (Brevard College)
2. Julia Tellman (Brevard College)
3. Rachel Millsop (Union College of Kentucky)
4. Courtney Steen (Colorado School of Mines)
5. Christen Boyer (Colorado School of Mines)

Division I Men’s Downhill
1. Joey Schulser (University of Colorado)
2. Jon Wilson (University of Nevada)
3. Bob Stenson (Northern Arizona University)
4. Michael Larsen (University of Colorado)
5. Samuel Mellen (Northeastern University)

Division I Women’s Downhill
1. Sage Wilderman (Fort Lewis College)
2. Emma Millar (Fort Lewis College)
3. Lizzy English (University of Nevada)
4. Deidre York (University of Colorado)
5. Heather McFadden (California State University)

Division II Men’s Downhill
1. Michael Thomas (Appalachian State University)
2. Deider Barrick (Front Range CC-Larimer)
3. Justin Graves (Humboldt State University)
4. Blake Carney (California Lutheran)
5. Peter Mills (University of North Carolina)

Division II Women’s Downhill
1. Christen Boyer (Colorado School of Mines)
2. Johanne Tuttle (Brevard College)
3. Courtney Steen (Colorado School of Mines)
4. Becca Parish (Warren Wilson College)
5. Rachel Millsop (Union College of Kentucky)