A Durango native and a Fort Lewis College star claimed their second consecutive national championships in their respective disciplines Saturday.
Sepp Kuss, a Durango High School alum, won the men’s Division I cross country mountain bike race at the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships in Snowshoe, West Virginia. Kuss competes for the University of Colorado-Boulder.
Fort Lewis College also had a strong day, with Rebecca Gardner winning her second women’s downhill national championship in a row, blowing away the field in 5 minutes, 2.6 seconds. The next closest competitor was Marina University’s Angelina Palermo, who crossed on 5:10.7.
Fort Lewis’ Sofia Gomez-Villafañe claimed third in the women’s downhill, padding her individual omnium overall lead.
Gomez-Villafañe is in pursuit of a second consecutive mountain bike individual omnium championship, and she has a commanding advantage with 328 points. She is in front of Brevard College’s Sarah Hill, who has 216 points. Fort Lewis’ Libbey Endersbe is sixth in the women’s individual omnium with 159 points.
One day after placing 10th in the men’s short-track cross country race, Kuss wouldn’t be denied of a gold medal. He finished the cross country course in 26:48.2 to claim his second consecutive national title in the event.
“We are real excited,” said Kuss’ father, Dolph. “My wife (Sabina) is actually in West Virginia spectating and it sounded exciting.
“We always think these experiences are really great. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.”
Fort Lewis’ Stephan Davoust is in third place in the men’s individual omnium thanks to a third-place finish in the short-track cross country event and an eighth-place result in the cross country race.
Davoust has 228 points toward the individual omnium, with North Carolina’s Luke Vrouwenvelder leading with 323 points.
Payson McElveen was seventh in both short track and cross country, helping the Skyhawks earn enough points to sit in second place overall as a team after two days of competition.
Fort Lewis has 480 team points behind Brevard College’s 510. The FLC cycling program is looking for its 22nd national championship overall and a 10th mountain biking title in the last 11 years.
Ryan Standish has performed well with an 11th place finish in short track and 31st in cross country. Michael Sampson was 23rd in short track and 33rd in cross country, while Tyler Jones was 21st in cross country and 43rd in short track. Lucas Rowton also helped FLC by placing 25th in short track and 43rd in cross country.
Gomez-Villafañe has been on fire all weekend. Added to her downhill result are a sixth-place finish in short-track cross country and fifth in cross country.
The rest of the FLC women have performed nicely. Carley Endersbe finished 10th in cross country and 15th in short track; Jenna MacPherson was 11th in short track and 13th in cross country; Kelsay Lundberg took 12th in cross country and 14th in short track; and Libbey Endersbe was 14th in cross country and 23rd in short track.
Also in the women’s downhill, Leila Carrillo took fifth for Fort Lewis, and Libbey Endersbe claimed 12th.
In the men’s downhill, Zach Graveson of Pagosa Springs led FLC with a fourth-place finish in 4:02.6. Joseph Crosby was 10th; Brian White took 15th; Michael Sampson was 24th; Davoust was 33rd and Bryce Hermanussen was 43rd.
Derrik Blackmore, a Durango native who rides for Colorado Mesa University, took 34th in the men’s downhill in 4:36.4.
Racing will conclude Sunday with the team relay and dual slalom events.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
