Fort Lewis College Wins Team Overall at College Nats

By Singletrack.com

Fort Lewis College and Brevard College successfully defended their 2009 overall team omniums at the Collegiate National Mountain Bike Championships over the weekend.

Fort Lewis, out of Durango, Colorado, won the Division I prize with 663 points compared to the 579 and 535 accumulated by second- and third-ranked University of Colorado and Lees-McRae College. In Division II, Brevard, from Brevard, North Carolina and situated in the Southern Appalachian mountains, took the win with 630 points over Union College with 608 and Warren Wilson College with 498.

Sunday Downhill

The weekend of racing at Northstar-at-Tahoe resort in Truckee, California, closed out with the downhill contests, and due to the looming threat of rain, the morning seeding run was treated as the final. There was just enough drizzle to keep the dust down as riders in both divisions descended the 1.33 mile course with 973 feet of vertical drop.

Clocking a 4:01.9 down the mountain, Joey Schusler (University of Colorado) claimed the Stars-and-Stripes jersey among Division I men. He beat out silver medalist Nathaniel Lewis (California Polytechnic) by three seconds. Erik Nelson (Northern Arizona University) got the bronze while Michael Larsen (University of Colorado) and Taylor Borucki (Fort Lewis College) rounded out the podium in fourth and fifth.

In the Division I women’s contest, Sage Wilderman (Fort Lewis College) continued to impress. As the only woman in her division to break the five-minute barrier, she conquered the mountain with a time of 4:50.52 compared to the 5:05.27 posted by silver medalist Hanna Trimble (Lees-McRae). Deidre York (University of Colorado) descended to the bronze medal, Caroline Westray (Appalachian State) had the fourth fastest time, and Brooke Crum (Lindsey Wilson College) grabbed fifth-place.

Like in Division I, the Division II women’s downhill event saw only one woman that broke the five-minute mark. That was Christen Boyer (Colorado School of Mines), who clocked a 4:59.99 to ride her way into the Stars-and-Stripes jersey. She bested silver medalist Kate Weisenfluh (Brevard College) by nearly 24 seconds. Bridgette LeBer (Montana State), Nicole Kendle (Warren Wilson College), and Elisa Otter (Warren Wilson College) were third, fourth, and fifth.

The Division II men’s competition was a little closer with Justin Graves (Humboldt State) beating out Alex McAndrew (Clarkson University) for the national title by only a second. Blake Carney (California Lutheran University) posted the bronze medal time while Owen Tulip (Western State College of Colorado)and Jared Becker (US Air Force Academy)were the fourth and fifth fastest down the mountain.

Individual Omniums

In addition to the team omniums that were awarded on Sunday, the close of competition also determined individual omnium champions in both divisions.

With wins in the short-track cross-country and the downhill contests, Wilderman (Fort Lewis College) won the top prize among women in Division I. Her win came after going head-to-head pretty much all weekend with Lees-McRae rider Erica Zaveta. Wilderman beat Zaveta in the end, 539 points to 416. Jill Behlen (University of Wyoming) was third in the overall rankings with 400 points while Deidre York (University of Colorado) and Kaila Hart (Fort Lewis College) rounded out the top five in the omnium.

In the Division I men’s omnium, Nicholas Enjalbert (Colorado State University) won the overall prize with his top result of the weekend being second-place in the cross country competition. Enjalbert gained 265 points over the three days to beat out second-ranked Menso De Jong (California Polytechnic) who acquired 251 points. Third in the omnium was Nate Byrom (Fort Lewis College) while Nitish Nag (University of California) and Kerry Werner (Lees-McRae) were fourth and fifth.

Rachel Milsop (Union College), whose top result was a cross-country silver medal, earned the individual omnium among Division II women. With 443 points, she bested second- and third-placed Christen Boyer (Colorado School of Mines) and Caroline Decosimo (Brevard College). Elisa Otter (Warren Wilson College) and Eva Wilson (Warren Wilson College) were fourth and fifth in the omnium.

With a silver medal in the cross country contest and a bronze in the short track, Tristan Cowie (Brevard College) was the top ranked male in Division II at the end of the weekend. He won the omnium over Wesley Lamberson (Union College), Joe Schneider (Colorado School of Mines), Zach Winn (Union College), and Brad Nelson (Union College).