The Fort Lewis College cycling team began Friday in a tie with Brevard College for second-place at the 2021 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships in the varsity college competition.
Colorado Mesa was in the lead heading into the team relay, the final event that would count toward the team omnium standings, but the Skyhawks and Tornados were chasing them while battling each other for podium position.
Guy Leshem, Ruth Holcomb, Cobe Freeburn and Natalie Quinn rode in the team relay for Fort Lewis, each riding one lap. They didn’t catch CMU’s Mavericks, but they beat Brevard and everyone else to take second in the relay to secure a second-place team finish.
“They did a stupendous job to secure that second place,” said FLC Cycling director Dave Hagen. “They had a little pressure on them, and they stood up well to it.”
“I’m so excited how the team finished as we are a young team and have a balanced male/female squad; studs all around,” said FLC head cyclocross coach Chad Cheney. “Watch out for CX hawks in the years to come.”
Hagen said cyclocross is a game where a mistake here and mistake there can put you 20 seconds back, but the Skyhawks all rode clean in the relay.
“Everyone rode their best. There were no real bobbles or mistakes,” Hagen said.
Colorado Mesa won the team relay in 32 minutes, 44 seconds to lock down the team title, followed by FLC (34:23), SCAD Atlanta (34:40), Marian University (35:03) and Brevard (35:21) in fifth.
“CMU has a stellar team this year; their girls are on another level,” Hagen said, noting that Katie Clouse, the two-time women’s varsity champion, was in Europe scoring a top-10 finish at the last world cup cyclocross race, Nov. 28 in France.
Most of the Skyhawks, however, have two or three more years to compete at the collegiate level. Out of the 10 FLC cyclists who rode at nationals this week, Sam Brown and Kobi Gyetvan are the only two seniors, and Leshem is the only junior. Freeburn, Geoge Piepgras and Madelyn Roberson are sophomores, and Quinn, Holcomb, Sabrina Hayes and Alex Green are all freshmen.
“They’re kind of unknown names, but they stepped up and rode well,” Hagen said.
The team omnium results also included the men’s and women’s varsity races from Thursday.
Holcomb finished fifth to lead the team with a podium finish. “That was great for her,” Hagen said. “That was like her fourth real cyclocross race ever.”
Quinn finished seventh, but a mechanical issue slowed her down.
“She broke a bunch of spokes,” Hagen said. “She rode it out, got her pit bike and rode her B-bike the rest of the way.”
Brown was also in the mix for a podium spot in men’s race but had a slight bobble. “The guys rode well,” Hagen said. “The collegiate field is stacked with the top U23 talent in the country.”
While the collegiate portion of the national championships has concluded, most of the FLC riders will race in the U23 championships, and a few others will race in the singlespeed championships. Leshem, who is from Israel, is the only FLC rider who is done this year.
So far, the weather has cooperated.
“They were great courses,” Hagen said. “There’s lots of off-camber turns, and it rained enough that when it unfroze, the course became slick.”
