A 22nd national championship eluded the Fort Lewis College cycling team at the 2015 Collegiate Cyclo-Cross Nationals in Austin.
The Skyhawks finished second in the team omnium standings with 220, 62 points behind national champion Marian. It was Marian’s 28th team title.
A win in the team time trial Friday helped the Knights get out to an early lead.
Marian won in 33 minutes, 33 seconds with FLC second at 34:07.
Emily Shields of Lees-McRae won the women’s cyclo-cross championship Saturday in 41:48. She held off Marian’s Coryn Rivera by seven seconds. Durango’s Emily Schaldach, who races for CU-Boulder, finished third in 42:43. Sofia Gomez-Villafane was FLC’s top finisher – ninth in 45:39. Maddie Chaves finished 20th, Caroline Woods took 30th and McCauley Smith was 35th for the Skyhawks.
On the men’s side, Marian’s Andrew Dillman won the star-spangled jersey in 50:32. Ian McPherson led the Skyhawk charge in sixth at 53:10. He was followed closely by teammates Cody Cupp and Kolby Preble in seventh and eighth at 53:34 and 53:42, respectively.
Spencer Downing finished 10th for FLC in 55:40, Payson McElveen took 11th in 54:24, Skyler Trujillo was 15th in 55:40, Ryan Standish 16th in 55:42 and Jonathan Anderson 33rd in 58:18.
The drive for title No. 22 will continue with BMX nationals in late April and road nationals in May.
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
