Banner Elk, N.C.-Lees-McRae cyclist junior Carla Swart claimed
another national title Friday, this time in cross country
competition at the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike nationals.
Swart, the reigning DI Women's Road Race Champion, also earned the
DI Women's Track Omnium title this past September. On the men's
side Scott Stewart and Brad Perley rode to second and third place
finishes respectively in the first day of competition.
The 2008 USA Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships got
underway Friday morning as nearly 200 collegiate athletes competed
under gray, drizzly skies for cross country bragging rights.
Lees-McRae College, hosting the championships for the second year
in a row, came ready to challenge defending DI Champions Fort Lewis
College as did the University of Colorado-Boulder. Appalachian
State University and Union College charged ahead of both the
Colorado School of Mines and Warren Wilson in DII competition.
The DI men kicked off the championships with an 8:15 a.m. start
with the DII riders starting minutes behind them. The men set off
on a grueling five laps over a 4.3 mile loop through the backside
of Lees-McRae's campus. Scott Stewart (LMC, Oxford, Mich.) took
control of the race from the start setting the pace for last year's
defending champion Ben Sonntag (Fort Lewis College) and continued
to maintain that lead into the fourth lap. Lees-McRae teammate
Brad Perley (Kennebunk, Maine) kept the pressure on Sonntag as
well, hemming him in from behind. In the fourth lap of the 22 mile
race Sonntag and Stewart each claimed the lead several times before
Sonntag, determined to keep his stars and stripes jersey despite a
broken right index finger, finally claimed the lead for good.
"It was harder than last year," said Fort Lewis' Sontag.
"Lees-McRae controlled the race from the start with a rider in
right in front and behind me. I would make up some on the inclines,
but I'd lose that on the downhill. My broken right index finger
really affected my control on the descents. It was a good fight;
Stewart ran a great race."
"This was the most emotional race I've ever done," said Stewart.
"In the fourth lap Sonntag and I went back and forth. It was a
battle."
The Bobcats claimed the silver and bronze with Stewart's and
Perley's effort but did not stop there. They saw their team points
adding up as Randy Laprairie (Warren, Mich.)claimed ninth, Aaron
Bradford (Auburn, Wash.) 11th and Eric Thompson (Shoreview,
Minn.)12th.
The DII men's race saw Midwest conference champion Zach Winn
(Barbourville, Ky.) from Union College lead a hard charge out of
the gate before succumbing to Brevard College's Tristan Cowie
(Dawsonville, Ga.) in the fourth of the five-lap affair. After
practicing on the course for the past several days, Cowie used his
technical expertise to take the win over a talented DII field
including podium finishers Logan Wetzel (Western Washington
University), Matthew Williams (Warren Wilson College) and Alex
Hannah (Appalachian State University).
The DI women's contest was a battle between multiple-time
collegiate national road and track national champion Carla Swart
(Buford, Ga.) of Lees-McRae and the University of
Tennessee-Chattanooga's Jamie Dinkins (Powell, Tenn.). Dinkins, who
finished 19th at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships U23 race
in June, showed superb strength but in the end Swart used her
homefield advantage to take home another crown by more than two
minutes. The University of Colorado-Boulder's Eszter Horanyi
(Boulder, Colo.) took third while a pair of Fort Lewis riders, Teal
Stetson-Lee and downhill specialist Sage Wilderman (Durango, Colo.)
added to their team's point total.
"The course was pretty muddy, but it was easier and a lot more
fun than last year," said Swart of the once-again wet Lees-McRae
terrain. "I told myself to stay relaxed because when I get too
fired up I can make mistakes."
The Bobcats also had a strong finish here as well with newcomer
Niki Dallaire (Louisville, Ky.)claiming seventh, Jo Markham
(Collierville, Tenn.)ninth and Ally Stacher (Etna, Calif.)tenth.
Kristi Henne (Plainview, Ark.)rounded out the Bobcats' efforts with
a 16th place finish.
After missing the race start, Appalachian State University's
Rebecca Tomascewski (Boone, N.C.) came roaring back to take a slim
victory in the DII women's race. Tomascewski narrowly out rode
Melissa Marts (Colorado School of Mines) and Katherine Harris
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the rain shortened
15-mile race.
In the team omnium standings, Lees-McRae with 188 points found
themselves with a slim lead over Fort Lewis (166) and University of
Colorado-Boulder (146). In DII action it was Appalachian State
University who emerged at the front after amassing 166 points.
Union College garnered 143 points and both Warren Wilson College
and Colorado School of Mines finished with 137.
With four national titles already decided, racing will resume
tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. with the short-track race on the campus of
Lees-McRae College. Action will then move to nearly 5,000 feet on
top of Sugar Mountain at Sugar Mountain Resort for the downhill
competition slated for 2:00 p.m. The USA Cycling Collegiate
Mountain Bike National Championships will wrap-up on Sunday morning
with the dual slalom competition with awards immediately
following.
Race
results from Friday, October, 24th
USA Cycling
Site
Division I Men's Cross Country
1. Benjamin Sonntag (Fort Lewis College)
2. Scott Stewart (Lees-McRae College)
3. Brad Perley (Lees-McRae College)
4. Rotem Ishay (Fort Lewis College)
5. Justin Finn (University of Oregon)
Division II Men's Cross Country
1. Tristan Cowie (Brevard College)
2. Zach Winn (Union College)
3. Logan Wetzel (Western Washington University)
4. Matthew Williams (Warren Wilson College)
5. Alex Hannah (Appalachian State University)
Division I Women's Cross Country
1. Carla Swart (Lees-McRae College)
2. Jamie Dinkins (University of Tennessee-Chattanooga)
3. Eszter Horanyi (University of Colorado-Boulder)
4. Teal Stetson-Lee (Fort Lewis College)
5. Sage Wilderman (Fort Lewis College)
Division II Women's Cross Country
1. Rebecca Tomascewski (Appalachian State University)
2. Melissa Marts (Colorado School of Mines)
3. Katherine Harris (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
4. Rachel Millshop (Union College)
5. Joanna Tuttle (Brevard College)
