Christopher Blevins again proved he’s as comfortable on a mountain bike as he is on the road.
The Whole Athlete/Specialized rider won the men’s junior 17-18 category one cross country mountain biking national championship Thursday at the 2015 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships in Mammoth Lakes, California.
He completed the course in 1 hour, 10 minutes, 35.9 seconds, more than 2½ minutes clear of his closest competitor – Anders Johnson of Huntsville, Utah, who finished in 1:13:18.4.
Durango High School graduate and current University of Colorado rider Sepp Kuss finished second in the U23 cross country race, crossing the finish line in 1 hour, 28 minutes, 29.28 seconds.
Richard Cypress Forry of Brevard, North Carolina, won the championship in 1:27:12.4.
Stephan Davoust, who rides for Fort Lewis College, took the bronze in 1:29:42.3.
His FLC teammate Levi Kurlander finished just off the podium in fourth at 1:30:23.5, and fellow Skyahwk Ryan Standish was sixth in 1:32:19.7.
In the women’s U23 cross country race, Durango High School alum and CU-Boulder rider Emily Schaldach took fifth, and fellow DHS alumna and Stanford athlete Kaylee Blevins was sixth.
Kate Courtney, who also attends Stanford, bested the rest of the field by more than five minutes to win the title.
Katja Freeburn, riding for Durango DEVO, took third in the Junior 15-16 women’s cross country race in 1:11:18.7, and Camryn Sippy was fifth in 1:14.59.8.
Downhill racing also began Thursday with Durangoan Tricia Shadell finishing second in the master category two 35-39 race.
Pro racing will begin at 5:15 p.m. Friday with the short-track cross country men’s race, with Durangoan and FLC graduate Todd Wells entering as the defending silver medalist.
The women’s race is scheduled to take off after the men’s finishes.
Pro championships will also be handed out in the men’s and women’s downhill dual slalom.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
