CU Cleans up at Nationals!
2012-05-10
Summer's finally here - and that means CU Short Track is back! Every Wednesday as usual at the Research Park. We have some good stuff planned for it this summer, as well as for the upcoming track and mountain season, so be sure to stay tuned. For now, lets revel in our glory at Road Nationals, shall we?!
The CU Team has been getting a lot of press coverage after a great weekend in Ogden, Utah. Collegiate teams from all over the country came to race their hearts out, but the powerhouses as usual, were Marian, Fort Lewis, Stanford and us. It all started with some great foreshadowing on the TTT course on Antelope Island. Several racers tweeted pictures of them practicing with the buffalo out roaming around, USA Cycling even commented on how we brought a ton of mascots with us.
In the TTT, the women were amazing on the rolling 35km course, taking 2nd only to Marian College. The men struggled a bit more but still had a great time to claim 7th place. This was just the beginning. Both men and women's teams worked really well together, chasing moves, claiming some prime points, and setting up a sprint. Heather Fischer took 4th and Christa Ghent 6th in the mass sprint. Claire Bensard was up there with an impressive 14th as well. Mac Cassin led out Josh Yeaton, who laid it all out and won by a few bike lenghts!
The final day was a long road race, mostly around a lake, with a huge hill following a fast descent at the end. Again, some great teamwork by Abby, Christa, Nicolle, Claire and Megan were able to drop Heather off for the final climb. She flew up, and took some risks coming down too, eventually winning with an amazing 2-minute margin! Claire, Abby and Christa continued to fight for points, taking 12th, 15th and 16th.
Teamwork continued to be the theme for the Men's road race, where Mac, Jeff and Will got into an early break. At some point, (no one is quite sure when or how, Josh decided to bridge up, no big deal. The guys then got him to the climb fast, where he worked his magic, and took another win, 30 seconds over 2nd place!. Jeff wasn't too far at 5th, Camillo at 14th, and Mac at 17th.
All scored and totaled, we were everywhere on the omnium standings:
| * Heather Fischer - 2nd | * Josh Yeaton - 1st |
| * Christa Ghent - 6th | * Jeff Perrin - 5th |
| * Claire Bensard - 11th | * Mac Cassin - 12th |
| * Abby Mickey - 20th |
This ammounted to the team taking 2nd place! Marian College took the overall by a mere 30 points, with a score of 570. You can read more about Nationals from CU Club Sports and at the Daily Camera. Everyone around the country knew we'd be competitive, but now they realize, we're a force to be reckoned with.