BANNER ELK, N.C. --- The Lees-McRae College
cycling team captured its tenth national title in program history
on Sunday, earning the 2010 Collegiate Cyclocross National
Championship by slipping past defending Champion Fort Lewis to earn
the top spot in the team omnium by more than 30 points.
The national crown marks Lees-McRae's fourth Division I
championship in Cyclocross in the last five years, including a
stretch of three-straight titles from 2006-2008. It is also the
10th team national championship in program history, and the sixth
since the school ascended to the Division I level.
Pacing the Bobcats to victory were four riders finishing in the
top five, with Carla Swart (Buford, Ga.) and Erica Zaveta (Erwinna,
Pa.) battling to third and fourth place finishes in the Division I
women's race, and Bradford Perley (Kennebunkport, Maine) and Eric
Thompson (Shoreview, Minn.) grabbing top five marks in the Division
I men's competition, with third and fifth-place finishes
respectively.
The Bobcats also placed two additional riders in the top 10, as
Cinthia Lehner (Greer, S.C.) finished 10th in the women's race, and
Brian Sheedy (Rockford, Mich.) placed eighth in the men's
competition. A total of seven Lees-McRae riders finished among the
top 20 in the two races, including a 19th-place showing by Kerry
Werner (Birdsboro, Pa.) in the men's competition.
Thompson and Perley also performed well in the U23 competition
on Saturday, finishing fourth and eighth, respectively, while
Sheedy placed 10th in the 35-39 year-old grouping of the master's
competition.
-LMC-
DI Team Omnium
1. Lees-McRae College 188
2. Fort Lewis College 156
3. Marian University 129
4. Appalachian State University 113
5. University of Washington-Seattle 107
