Wausau, WI
usacycling.org
Nine national champions were crowned at the U.S. 24 Hour Mountain Bike National Championships after the nation’s best ultra-endurance mountain bikers wrapped up 24 grueling hours on the trails of Wisconsin’s Nine Mile County Forest.
Riders set out on Saturday for as many laps as they could complete on the 14 mile course in a 24 hour period. When time ran out this morning, Chris Eatough (Baldwin, MD) and Monique Sawicki (Mililani, HI) both defended their titles in the men’s and women’s solo divisions.
It was the fifth year in a row for Eatough to take the win in the men’s open division, but he first had to overcome strong opposition from runner-up Josh Tostado (Breckenridge, CO) who hoped to dethrone the four-time defending champ. Early on, Eatough and Tostado clearly defined themselves as the strongest riders in the 36 man field. The ensuing battle saw the pair swap the lead several times and complete 20 laps before the clock stopped. In the end, Eatough secured his spot atop the podium by finishing the 20 laps in 23 hours and 22 minutes compared to Tostado’s 23 hours and 37 minutes. Nat Ross (Golden, CO) completed 19 laps for the bronze medal.
Monique Sawicki successfully defended her title from a year ago with 18 laps which she completed in 24 hours and 3 minutes. Taking a huge lead right from the start, she put 13 minutes on her nearest threats in just the first lap and continued to distance herself from the rest of the field over the 24 hours. When time ran out, she had completed two more laps than silver and bronze medalists Danielle Musto (Grand Rapids, MI) and Sarah Kauffman (Big Bear Lake, CA), who each completed 16 laps of the
demanding course.
In the men’s duo division, Dax Massey (Boulder, CO) and Dean Miller (Littleton, CO) of Team Shake & Bake narrowly took the win over Jerry Long (Moscow, ID) and Ryan Krayer (North Freedom, WI) of Two Steps Beyond Chaos. Both duos completed 22 laps--Massey and Miller in 24 hours and 35 minutes, Long and Krayer in 24 hours and 36 minutes.
On the women’s side, Chipotle-Titus pair Heidi Godsil (Nederland, CO) and Kay Levesque (Boulder, CO) combined their efforts over 18 laps for the women’s duo national title.
After leading the mixed duo field for the entire 24 hours, Dejay Birtch (Tuscon, AZ) and Rebecca Tomaszewski (Bone, NC) of Team Sho-Air/Niner/Wake Racing bested Sho-Air/Sonance/RockNRoad riders Mario Correa (Chino Hills, CA) and Heidi Volpe (Topanga, CA) for the gold medal after both pairs completed 21 laps.
Velo Rochester riders Sam Oftedahl (Shoreview, MN), Brendan Moore (Shakopee, MN), Chris Fisher (Inver Grove Heights, IN), and Ben Moore (Rochester, MN) teamed up for a total of 24 laps to fulfill their stars-and-stripes dreams in the men’s 4-person team division. Team Ketchum If you Can led the women’s 4-person field from start to finish with riders Claudia Hattrup (Ketchum, ID), Rebecca Rusch (Ketchum, ID), Karoline Droege (Ketchum, ID), and Muffy Ritz (Ketchum, ID) completing
21 laps to earn top honors.
In the junior category, Baraboo B.A.M.F. riders Zack Geyer (Green Bay, WI), Mitch Gantz (Green Bay, WI), Erik Meier (Baraboo, WI), and Sam Stone (North Freedom, WI) beat out EXPO Racing for the national title after both squads completed 21 laps on the demanding course.
Michigan masters foursome of John Meyers (Kalamazoo, MI), Neil Scharphorn (Grand Rapids, MI), Dan Jansen (Grand Rapids, MI), and Nate Versluis (Grand Rapids, MI) completed 23 laps in 24 hours and 38 minutes and bested the 22 laps of runner-up Team Weak Sauce.
In its third consecutive year hosting the national championship event, America’s Dairyland 24-Hours of Nine Mile drew nearly 1000 participants who in addition to the nine national championship races also competed in twenty non-national championship team and solo events in the 12-hour and 24-hour categories.
2008 U.S. 24 HOUR MOUNTAIN BIKE NATIONALS CHAMP'S
1. Chris Eatough...Trek-VW...20 laps...23:21:51
2. Josh Tostado...Back Building...20...23:37:24
3. Nat Ross...Subaru-Gary Fisher...19...23:34:01
4. Ernesto Marenchin...19...23:56:42
5. Scott Cole...19...24:12:15
6. Mark Hendershot...Santa Cruz Synd...18...23:37:35
7. Brad Majors...World Bicycle Relief...18...24: 45:01
8. Todd Carpenter...Siren Bicycles...18...24:56:38
9. Dave Norton...Johnny Sprokets...17...24:02:54
10. Timothy Ingram...17...24:36:41
WOMEN
1. Monique Sawicki...Ellsworth...18 laps...24:02:40
2. Danielle Musto...Kenda-Titus-Hayes...16...23:22:58
3. Sarah Kaufmann...Titus-Roaring Mouse...16...24:05:04
4. Terri Wahlberg...15...24:13:20
5. Stacey La Presta...14...23:41:18
6. Sally Marchand Collins...14...24:32:19
7. Liz Baumgardt...13...23:18:35
8. Namrita O'Dea...Vassago Cycles...11...21:02:36
9. Janis Sandlin...Tough Girl-Contessa...9...24:46:41
10. Carol Clemens...Dirt Rag-Lupine-Hoss...6...10:04:08
OTHER NATIONAL CHAMP'S CLASS WINNERS
*4 PERSON: Velo Rochester Team (Sam Oftedahl, Brendon Moore, Chris Fisher, Ben Moore)...24 laps...25:06
*WOMEN 4 PERSON: Ketchum If you Can Team (Claudia Hattrup, Rebecca Rusch, Karoline Droege, Muffy Ritz)...21...24:59:00
*DUO: Team Shake & Bake (Dax Massey, Dean Miller)...22...24:34:45
*WOMEN DUO: Chipotle-Titus (Heide Godsil, Kay Levesque)...18...25:06:30
*MIXED DUO: Sho-Air/Niner/Wake Racing (Dejay Birtch, Rebecca Tomaszewski)...20...23:40:35
*MIXED JUNIOR 4 PERSON: Baraboo B.A.M.F. (Zack Geyer, Mitch Gantz, Erik Meier, Sam Stone)...21...24:02:25
*MIXED MASTERS 4 PERSON: Michigan Masters: (John Meyers, Neil Scharphorn, Dan Jansen, Nate Versluis)...23...24:38:19
NON-CHAMPIONSHIP CLASS WINNERS
*SOLO FREAK MAN: Ben Koenig...16...23:08:44
*SOLO FREAK WOMEN: April Dombrowski...11...19:43:26
*SOLO SINGLE SPEED: Sean Reeder...Johnny Sprockets...16...22:52:30
*5 RIDER OPEN: Spare Parts (Ryan Lee, Karl Erbach, Jeremy Burkart, Dusty Bennett, Drew Axt)...20...24:15:00
*DUO OPEN: Uphill Against the Wind Both Ways (Neil Zacharek, Erich Ponath)...18...24:03:55
*COED OPEN: Thunderhead (Carrie Sansome, Barry Schmitt, Josh Peterson, Lynn Peterson)...19...24:26:03
*SPORT: Zinks Hos (Brian Zink, Brad Stegall, Brian Wick, Chris Barton)...21...23:59:45
*WOMEN SPORT: Proctor Punks (Laura Swickard, Brandi Schleich, Rachel Furman, Beverly Enslow)...18...24:42:43
*COED SPORT: Beefarino (Mike Staub, Ray Nees, Betsy Silzer, Dana Iten)...18...24:39:53
*OLDER THAN THE HILLS: Stiff Kitty (Mark Thouit, Mike Chadderon, Paul Kaczmarowski, Pete Norrbom)...20...24:31:57
*OLDER THAN DIRT: Wors Racing (John Shull, Jan Rybar, Matt Praxmarer, Don Edberg)...21...24:07:20
*CLYDESDALE: Wild Cards (Mark Schindel, Robert Livingston, Matthew Laner, Matthew Hockers)...18...24:38:08
*SINGLE SPEED: Hold My Beer, Watch This (Chris Zagozen, Brett Stepanik, Joe Nolan, Cris Magyar)...21...24:32:22
12 HOUR CLASS WINNERS
*SOLO: J Ross Fraboni...The Ski Hut...10 laps...13:07:06
*SOLO WOMEN: Deb Joseph...7...12:27:48
*4 RIDER OPEN: Kermits Hermits (David Jablonowski, Dean Gore, Todd Bischoff, Mike Browne)...7...11...12:44:57
*4 WOMEN: Sisterhood of the Ski (Pam Schwarzbach, Renee Callaway, Samantha Kaplan)...8...12:05:58
*4 CLYDESDALE: Moosen (Greg Blackmore, Richie Blackmore, Ian Gillan, Roger Glover)...1...2:32:54
*4 JUNIOR: Team Awesumosaurus (Mitch Sletner, David Flaten, Josh Linn, Cole Bender)...8...12:51:08
*DUO OPEN: Overdrive Cycling-Bikeman (Matt Block, Mark Lewis)...11...12:26:09