Sticky mud slowed the bikers down on Thursday at the collegiate women’s cyclocross national championships, but it couldn’t stop Natalie Quinn of Fort Lewis College from reaching another podium.
Quinn finished third at the USA Cycling CX National Championships to lead FLC in Hartford, Connecticut, and reach a podium in yet another different discipline. Quinn also stood on the podium with top-five finishes at track nationals and at the mountain bike national championships in both short track and cross-country this year.
“It just proves how dedicated to the sport she is,” said FLC coach Chad Cheeney. “She loves it and puts all of her marbles into riding her fastest at the right time of the year.” The coach also said she keeps the sport fun while doing well in school too.
“She’s pretty much all-around rad,” Cheeney said.
Quinn’s teammates also had strong races, and every Skyhawk finished 14th or higher in the women’s varsity race.
Michaela Thompson just missed the podium with a sixth-place finish in 56:54 in the four-lap race. Madelyn Roberson placed 11th in 1:01:14, followed by Ruth Holcomb in 12th (1:02:21) and Sabrina Hayes in 14th out of 46 cyclists (1:02:56).
“It was super-duper muddy, so they probably ran 30% of each lap,” Cheeney said, noting that it rained hard in the days before the championships. He called it a “power/skills kind of course” with two to thrree forced dismount zones while the mud “made anything up or down technical.”
The Skyhawks, however, all had really good starts, Cheeney said. After the race’s leaders pulled away from the field a little, he said the top 10 stayed pretty much the same. Holcomb and Hayes then finished strong. “Ruth and Sabrina picked off a lot of ladies in the race,” Cheeney said. “They were about 20th and worked their way up to 12th and 14th.”
Madigen Munro of Colorado Mesa won the title in 50:53 while her teammates Katie Clouse (second, 53:00) and Chloe Fraser (fifth, 56:23) also reached the podium to give CMU the early team omnium lead.
Only three of the women who placed in the top 14 weren’t from Fort Lewis or Colorado Mesa as the two teams battle for yet another omnium title.
Mesa, however, was able to extend its lead in the varsity collegiate men’s race.
The varsity men took the course in the last race of the day on Thursday, and FLC had another cyclist reach the podium.
Guy Leshem finished fifth in the five-lap race in 51:11, and several of teammates were on his rear wheel. George Piepgras finished just four seconds after Leshem in sixth place. Carson Beard placed eighth in 51:53 for the Skyhawks, followed by Cobe Freeburn (11th, 52:42), Adrian Magun (17th, 54:19) Garrett Payer (22nd, 55:19) and Jacob Olander (27th, 57:07).
Austin Beard of Colorado Mesa, Carson’s brother, won the championship in 49:31 while teammate Daxton Mock (3rd, 50:22) joined him on the podium. Jack Spranger finished seventh in 51:34 to score CMU’s final team points while Durango graduate Ivan Sippy finished ninth for the Mavericks in 52:02.
The team omnium title will be decided in Friday’s team relay, which will feature two men and two women from each team completing one lap.
