Durango’s Ivan Sippy has had a great collegiate cycling career for Colorado Mesa University, and he had an excellent end to his cyclocross career for the Mavericks with a national championship last week in Arkansas.
Sippy, Anna Morozowich and Cooper Wells were the three local talents to win national championships at the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, last week. For Sippy, a senior at Colorado Mesa, it was his second consecutive men’s collegiate cyclocross national title and his fourth national title in his career.
“It felt like it was my first one again because the field every year gets stronger,” Sippy said. “Everyone's getting older, getting faster, and we're all just at that age where everyone's just leveling up each year … It felt really cool. Last year, I won it in a sprint finish. This year, I won it solo … I was able to ride into the finish line and enjoy it a little bit more.”
Sippy won the collegiate men’s varsity race in 51 minutes and 40 seconds, 22 seconds on Thursday ahead of Brody McDonald in second and fellow Colorado Mesa rider Henry Coote in third.
It was a cool feeling for Sippy to win over a loaded Colorado Mesa men’s squad with five riders in the top 10. He’s been racing and training with these guys for years, so they all know their strengths and weaknesses pretty well.
Sippy had a comfortable victory this year compared to a sprint to the line last year in part because of the Fayetteville course. It was easier to race in a group at last year’s course in Louisville, while this season’s course had a lot more corners, accelerating and decelerating.
“The conditions in Fayetteville, even though they were dry, were very slippery,” Sippy said. “So a lot of the little rocks, gravelly corners and high speed stuff that you could just make the smallest mistake and you crash and just lose that group. So I never did an attack or anything really to get away. I just had a couple spots in the course that I was riding really clean … and got a little gap.”
After Sippy got a little gap on McDonald, McDonald slid out and crashed, allowing Sippy’s gap to get even bigger.
Sippy also finished second in the men’s elite category, 36 seconds behind Eric Brunner in first.
Next up for Sippy is his first season in the elite mountain biking category in the spring. He’ll also be graduating from Colorado Mesa in May.
Morozowich’s victory was impressive enough, but even more impressive when considering that at 14, she was one of the youngest riders in the junior women’s 15-16 category. The age requirements are based on how old each rider is when the next world championships happen, which will be at the end of 2026.
She won the junior women’s 15-16 category in 37:24 on Saturday, only a second ahead of Abby Cole in second.
“This season has been truly unforgivable and so amazing,” Morozowich said. “It feels really great to have cyclocross, because I've been doing it ever since I could ride my bike.”
Morozowich’s goal was to get a podium in the new age class, but she had the chance to get to the front immediately with the long start of the five-lap race. She got into the front group of seven, and pack racing ensued for the next few laps. Morozowich saved her energy as the group dropped to five in the third lap.
Morozowich made her move at the start of the fourth lap and pushed the rest of the way on her own as the two riders behind her tried to draft off each other to get to Morozowich. It didn’t work, and Morozowich crossed the line as a national champion.
The win was extra special for Morozowich, who got to race against her sister, Leah, who finished seventh.
Wells, 11, won the junior men’s 11-12 category on Friday in 27:36, 40 seconds ahead of Jack O’Donnell in second and 1:55 ahead of Owen Morozowich in third.
“It was nice, because I had a lot of pressure on me since last year I won,” Wells said. “So, it felt good to cross the line first and be able to put the arms up.”
After winning last year, Wells tried to treat this race like any other, but he knew there was more pressure, so he had to treat it a little differently.
Wells and O’Donnell were out in front by themselves for the first three of the five laps. Then Wells made his move out of the barriers and pulled away for the championship.
It’s been an impressive 2025 for Wells, who also won a national road racing title and finished second at the mountain bike national championships.
“I like cyclocross more, but they both have their pros and cons,” Wells said about cyclocross and mountain biking. “On this course, the mountain biking background played a big role, because there were a lot of rocks and rocky corners … Sometimes in the mountain bike races, there are grass corners and slippery stuff like that. So they go hand in hand.”
The Fort Lewis College cycling team was also in Fayetteville for the national championships. The Skyhawks finished fourth in the omnium and fourth in the collegiate varsity team relay.
Nathaniel Meister was the top Skyhawk, finishing eighth in the collegiate varsity men’s race on Thursday, 2:19 behind Sippy. Oona Nelson was the top FLC rider in the collegiate varsity women’s race on Thursday, finishing 11th, 4:45 behind Lizzy Gunsalus in first.
FLC women’s cycling head coach Brittany Cowan also got in the action, finishing third in the women’s singlespeed category.
“I’m feeling super proud of everyone … it was a strong performance from them with some stiff competition,” Cowan said. “It was exciting to see all the kids work, from the Four Corners Cyclocross series, and we went to Boulder for a race. There was a lot of work that they put in, and it was fun to see, for sure.”
bkelly@durangoherald.com
