The cross-country competition kicked off the Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships on Friday as nearly 200 collegians raced through the campus of Lees-McRae College for the second year in a row.
The first day of competition set the stage for an old fashioned shootout between host Lees-McRae College and last year’s overall team winner Fort Lewis College in Division I, while riders from nearby Brevard College and Appalachian State earned the Division II men’s and women’s crowns respectively.
With parts of the Lees-McRae cross country course once used for conference downhill competitions, there was a substantial amount of climbing on the just-under-5-mile loop. Even though off-season modifications were made on the Lees-McRae course to make the wooded loop more ridable in wet conditions, the weather made the course a challenge for most competitors.
Division I Cross Country
Despite a strong challenge from Lees-McRae’s Scott Stewart (Banner Elk, NC), Division I favorite and defending champion Ben Sonntag (Durango, CO) of Fort Lewis College was able to overtake Stewart
on the final lap and repeat his victory from a year ago. Lees-McRae’s Brad Perley (Banner Elk, NC) was able to grab third in the Division I men’s race after another favorite, Rotem Ishay (Fort Lewis College) dropped his chain at the gun, leaving him playing catch-up throughout the nearly 25-mile contest. The University of Oregon’s Justin Finn (Corvallis, OR) rounded out the podium as the only non-Lees-McRae or Fort Lewis rider in the top five.
"It was harder than last year," said Fort Lewis’ Sontag. "Lees-McRae controlled the race from the start with a rider right in front and behind me. I would make up some on the inclines, but I’d lose that on the downhill. My broken right index finger really affected my control on the descents. It was a good fight; Stewart ran a great race."
The Division I women’s contest was a battle between multiple-time collegiate national road and track national champion Carla Swart (Banner Elk, NC) of Lees-McRae and the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga’s Jamie Dinkins (Powell, TN).
Dinkins, who finished 19th at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships U23 race in June, showed superb strength but in the end Swart used her home field advantage to take home another crown by more than two minutes.
The University of Colorado-Boulder’s Eszter Horanyi (Boulder, CO) took third while a pair of Fort Lewis riders, Teal Stetson-Lee and downhill specialist Sage Wilderman (Durango, CO) added to their team’s point total.
"The course was pretty muddy, but it was easier and a lot more fun than last year," said Swart of the wet Lees-McRae terrain. "I told myself to stay relaxed because when I get too fired up I can make mistakes."
Division II Cross Country
The Division II men’s race saw Midwest conference champion Zach Winn (Barbourville, KY) from Union College lead a hard charge out of the gate before succumbing to Brevard College’s Tristan Cowie (Dawsonville, GA) in the fourth of the five lap affair. After practicing on the course for
the past several days, Cowie used his technical expertise to take the win over a talented Division II field including podium finishers Logan Wetzel (Western Washington University), Matthew Williams (Warren Wilson College) and Alex Hannah (Appalachian State University).
The Division II women's race was a surprise. After missing the race start, Appalachian State University’s Rebecca Tomascewski (Boone, NC) came roaring back to take a slim victory in the Division II women’s race.
Tomascewski narrowly beat Melissa Marts (Colorado School of Mines) and Katherine Harris (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the rain shortened 15 mile race.
Downhill Seeding Runs Rained Out
Friday’s steady rains made the surface increasingly slick as they day moved forward. As the inclement weather became more and more of a factor, the afternoon’s scheduled downhill seeding runs were cancelled. Saturday’s finals are planned to continue as scheduled.
With four national titles already decided, racing will resume with the short track race on the campus of Lees-McRae College. Action will then move to nearly 5000 feet on top of Grandfather Mountain at Sugar Mountain Resort for the downhill competition. The Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships will conclude with the dual slalom competition.
2008 COLLEGIATE NATIONALS XC RESULTS
DVISION I
1. Benjamin Sonntag (Fort Lewis College)
2. Scott Stewart (Lees-McRae College)
3. Brad Perley (Lees-McRae College)
4. Rotem Ishay (Fort Lewis College)
5. Justin Finn (University of Oregon)
WOMEN
1. Carla Swart (Lees-McRae College)
2. Jamie Dinkins (University of Tennessee-Chattanooga)
3. Eszter Horanyi (University of Colorado-Boulder)
4. Teal Stetson-Lee (Fort Lewis College)
5. Sage Wilderman (Fort Lewis College)
DIVISION II
1. Tristan Cowie (Brevard College)
2. Zach Winn (Union College)
3. Logan Wetzel (Western Washington University)
4. Matthew Williams (Warren Wilson College)
5. Alex Hannah (Appalachian State University)
WOMEN
1. Rebecca Tomascewski (Appalachian State University)
2. Melissa Marts (Colorado School of Mines)
3. Katherine Harris (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
4. Rachel Millshop (Union College)
5. Joanna Tuttle (Brevard College)