The Fort Lewis College cycling team finished the season strong at Collegiate Road Nationals last weekend in Madison, Wisconsin, finishing fourth in the varsity overall team omnium.
“We're super excited,” FLC women’s cycling coach Brittany Cowan said. “It was really cool to see the most girls we've ever been able to take to nationals with eight women this year. It was so cool to see the road team go up and grow. We've had so many podiums as well, a second place, which I think is the third year that we've been first or second, which was pretty cool.”
FLC finished fourth in the omnium with 379 points. Colorado Mesa won with 425 points, Marian University was second with 420 and Milligan University was third with 412 points.
The Skyhawks took eight men and eight women to the cycling nationals. The cyclists competed in a team time trial on Friday, a road race on Saturday and a criterium on Sunday.
Senior Henry Nelson finished his FLC cycling career with a strong result, leading the Skyhawks with a second-place finish in the men’s varsity road race. Nelson wanted to finish his collegiate cycling career as a national champion but fell short in a sprint to the line after seven laps on the 13-mile road race course.
Manolo Wrolich from Lees-McRae College first finished first in two hours, 46 minutes and Nelson was second in 2:46:45.
Senior Sabrina Hayes had a top 10 finish in the women’s varsity road race, finishing in eighth in 2:25:46 after five laps on the 13-mile road race course. She was 2:57 behind winner Jette Aelken, who finished in 2:22:49.
“We were at really low elevation, so everyone felt good; they said, ‘We can breathe here,”’ Cowan said. “Their legs felt good. But I think it was still about 1,000 to 1,200 feet of climbing per lap. There were a couple of punchy two-to-three-minute climbs, but nothing like Durango’s big mountain climbs.”
On Friday, the Skyhawks competed in the team time trials. The women’s team of Hayes, junior Ella Grier, senior Zoe Harbertson and sophomore Kylie Small finished third out of six schools in 33:13.50. Colorado Mesa won in 32:37.78
The men’s team of seniors Luca Haines, Ian Williams and juniors Sam Hart and Adrian Magun finished sixth out of 10 schools in 28:44.30. Milligan University finished first in 27:51.87.
Time trial teams had to do two out-and-backs that totaled 15 miles. The four members of each team rode together and worked together, each taking a pull at the front. The time of each team’s third person to cross the line counted.
On Sunday, cyclists competed in the criterium on a rectangular course with two-minute-long laps, according to Cowan. Both varsity criterium races came down to sprint finishes, with Haines finishing in fourth in the men’s race for the Skyhawks and Grier finishing in fifth for FLC in the women’s race.
Cowan said it was sort of surreal for the team to return to FLC after missing finals week and graduation and realizing school is over. She’s excited to see the Skyhawks compete in mountain bike, gravel and road racing events this summer before coming back to FLC for mountain biking in the fall.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
