In pursuit of a 24th USA Cycling collegiate national championship in program history, the Fort Lewis College squad sent an emphatic statement Friday in Missoula, Montana.
In the event-opening men’s cross-country mountain bike race, FLC riders took four of the top-five positions and had all five riders finish in the top 12, led by Cole Paton’s national championship victory. Only a few hours later, the FLC women’s cross-country team placed all five riders in the top 15, led by Savilia Blunk’s second-place result.
FLC was the top team in points in both the men’s and women’s races and has an early advantage ahead of Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference rival Colorado Mesa University as well as Marian University and Brevard College. FLC has 188 points, and Colorado Mesa has 166. Marina is third with 137 points.
It all started with Paton’s win in a time of 37 minutes, 00.3 seconds, and he was followed by Cooper Wiens (27:28.3) and Henry Nadell (37:50.9), respectively, to give FLC the top-three finishers. Nash Dory (39:15.5) also finished fifth for FLC, and Thomas Gauthier (43:00.5) won a mass sprint for 12th.
“Winning was really cool, but for me, it was way cooler to see that our team did so well,” Paton said. “I was more excited to look back and see Cooper and Henry finish right behind me and then Nash and Thomas win sprints. That got me excited.
“This is about the only time where you can race for a team in mountain biking, so that meant a lot more to me than my result.”
Paton, a junior from Cashmere, Washington, was fifth at this year’s USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships in July in West Virginia. He was selected to represent the U.S. at the International Cycling Union Mountain Bike World Championships in September in Switzerland. He finished 61st at the world championships.
“It’s been a tough fall with school and taking 18 credits,” Paton said. “I was kind of burnt out on racing after worlds, but collegiate racing is so much different. It’s so much fun and a more laid-back environment, but it’s so competitive when the gun goes off. The top guys were all from our conference, and racing in our conference is really good training and doesn’t put the pressure on you that you have at a World Cup and what not.”
Last year, Paton finished third in the same race on the same course. He took what he learned a year ago and applied it to his championship ride Friday. He had a 10- to 15-second gap on Wiens going to the line.
“We had to be in the front by the final descent,” Paton said. “The descent didn’t offer any place to pass, and we all kind of knew if we wanted to get up there that we had to lead on the downhill. There wasn’t much of a sprinting straight, so we all turned ourselves inside out to get to the top of the climb every lap.”
Wiens, a sophomore from Gunnison, made his collegiate national championship debut Friday. He worked with Paton the entire race to roll in for second place.
“My climbing legs were definitely there,” he said. “Cole pulled me down most of the descent the second time around, and we hit the bottom together. Pedaling back up, I was cramping badly. I had to shift into a super easy gear and just spin until I stopped cramping a third of the way up the climb. Cole pulled me two-thirds of the way up the climb before he started getting a gap, and he went on to the win. I felt really good, but it was the deepest I’ve been into the metaphorical pain cave ever.”
Wiens is an ace in short-track races and will look for another medal in that event Saturday.
“Being my first nationals, I was stressing the last 24 hours about who was going to be here, who is fast and who we haven’t raced yet,” Wiens said. “Now that I know I can get out there and do well at a high level, I’m really looking forward to that next race.”
Nadell, a junior from Carbondale, has battled injuries all season and wasn’t even sure he’d make the national championship roster for FLC a month ago. He was pleased to back up last year’s second-place finish with a third this year.
“I actually had a not-so-good start,” he said. “I was in the 30s, maybe even the 40s, the first few minutes of the race. I got it back together and was passing as many people as I could. I lost track of where I was in the race, and I was all alone on that last downhill. I came into the finishing straight and saw Coop and Cole standing there and was like, ‘Holy cow, I just got third. We got the sweep.’ Then I watched Nash and Thomas throw down their sprints and was pumped.
“Six weeks ago, no way did I think I’d be back up there on the front of a national championship event. I couldn’t imagine it going any better.”
Colorado Mesa sophomore Gwendalyn Gibson won the women’s cross-country title, while Blunk was right in the mix in second only one second back. Durango’s own Ellen Campbell was sixth for FLC, while Kelsay Lundberg was 10th, Stella Sisneros placed 11th and Durango’s Camryn Sippy was 14th to help the women lead the points in the event.
“The guys really got the girls stoked this morning with a full podium sweep,” Campbell said. “After that, all the girls were really hyped to go out and give it our all. I think we did that.”
Blunk, from Inverness, California, and Gibson, from Ramona, California, built a two-minute gap on the field on the very first lap. Blunk, an FLC underclassman, is the reigning under-23 women’s national champion in cross-country, and she was 13th at this year’s world championships. Like Wiens, Blunk dealt with a cramp on the climb on the second lap. Gibson grew a 20- to 30-second gap, but Blunk closed it down on the descent, however, the narrow road to the finish line wouldn’t allow her to pass Gibson.
“Me and her have raced a lot throughout the collegiate season, and I expected some strong girls from the East Coast schools, but I was surprised that right off the bat, we were growing a little gap,” Blunk said. “(Gibson) was really strong on the climb. She got a little gap and was pretty out of sight. That last descent, I stayed pinned and closed it back just barely at the bottom of the descent, but it was a little tricky at the end. It was so narrow that it was hard to sprint there, so I didn’t quite get her at the line.”
Campbell was in the chase group with the fourth through sixth riders, and she said the group was “yo-yoing” to try to close down the gap. She, too, hoped to ride into fifth at the finish line but couldn’t sprint past the competition.
The junior from Durango was thrilled to see her team rise to the competition at nationals and is eager for Saturday’s short-track race.
“It’s so incredible to watch our team perform at this high level and bring a good showing to the table,” Campbell said. “There are at least 46 riders starting each race, and to see all of our riders in the top 15 is incredible. It shows we put in the effort and time to prepare and be mentally ready. We’re so ready for tomorrow and Sunday.”
Along with short-track races Saturday, the dual slalom finals also will be held before Sunday’s downhill and team relay races.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
