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The 2007 U.S. Mountain Bike National Championships opened on Friday as Mary McConneloug rode to a national title in the elite women's cross-country race. With her victory, McConneloug became the first two-time winner of the event since U.S. Cycling adopted the single day national championship format in 2004. Her last title was in 2005 at Mammoth Lakes, CA.
Entering the event fresh off her silver-medal performance at the XV Pan American Games last weekend, McConneloug opened up an early lead over the remainder of the 43 rider field
before finishing the 15 mile contest with a winning time of 2 hours, 6 minutes and 59 seconds. Defending champion Georgia Gould finished 1:17 off McConneloug's pace to claim the silver, while Willow Koerber placed third, 3:57 back.
"I'm so excited, this was my main focus for the season," McConneloug said. "My primary goal was to get that national championship back."
Faced with three laps of a five mile circuit at Southern Vermont's Mount Snow Resort,
McConneloug immediately pushed the pace and had a 23 second gap over Koerber and a 30 second buffer over Gould after the first loop. One lap later, McConneloug's advantage had
increased to 1:05 over Gould, while Koerber dropped slightly off the pace to third position 1:30 back. Throughout the final lap, McConneloug's lead continued to grow despite the sloppy course conditions after overnight rain showers.
"Basically, from my previous title, I just remembered not to get caught behind anyone and
just find the right cadence and ride my own pace," McConneloug explained of her tactics.
"The conditions were good, the mud was so soft you could just sort of float right through
it."
McConneloug's win at Mount Snow Resort was her second in as many years, winning the cross-country race at Norba's National Mountain Bike Series event in 2006. It was also her
third career national cross-country title, winning the overall points classification back in
2003 when the U.S. Champion was the top American in the Norba Series.
Heather Irmiger finished fourth, 7:41 down, while recently crowned U.S. Marathon National
Champion Shonny Vanlandingham rounded out the top five, 8:15 back.
McConneloug's victory will also earn her an automatic nomination to represent the U.S. at
the Mountain Bike World Championships in Fort William, Scotland in September. She joins
Koerber and Gould who have previously qualified with top five finishes in World Cup
competition this season. The top three finishers in Friday's national championships also
have the U.S. ranked number one in the world in women's mountain biking. Individually,
Gould is currently ranked fourth in the world ahead of McConneloug (7th) and Koerber (9th).
U23 MEN
Following the women's race, U.S. National Development Team member Sam Jurekovic dethroned defending champion Sam Schultz in the Under-23 men's contest. Jurekovic clocked a winning time of 2:34:18 over the four lap, 20 mile race to finish 2:58 ahead of Schultz.
After the first lap, it was clearly a two man race as Schultz and Jurekovic were separated
by only two seconds. After the second lap however, Schultz appeared to have the upper hand, opening up a gap of 25 seconds at the halfway point. By the end of lap three, the leaders' fortunes had suddenly reversed as Jurekovic came through 45 seconds ahead--a lead he managed to maintain over the last five miles to solidify his victory.
"I was right with Sam until the second lap when I went over my handlebars," Jurekovic
explained of the 20 seconds he lost on the second lap. "When I recovered, I rode with U.S.
National teammate Colin (Cares) for a lap, but rode away on the climb. It was a very hard
chase, but when I finally caught back up with Sam at the top of the mountain on the third
lap, I just rode right by him. I just didn't stop and tried not to look back."
Colin Cares also rode a strong race, finishing third, 2:13 off the pace of Schultz.
The 2007 edition of the U23 contest marked the second consecutive year that the same trio
swept the top three podium spots. Last year it was a U.S National Development Team sweep, as teammates Schultz, Jurekovic and Cares finished first, second and third respectively. Out of his splendid performance Schultz secured a spot on the Subaru-Gary Fisher pro team for the 2007 season. On Friday, he entered the event as a marked man in his last season of U23 eligibility.
"I felt awesome today," Schultz said, "I was leading for most of the race, but Sam just
started riding really strong. Once he blew by me, I just tried to salvage my losses. He
opened up a pretty good gap and then I started cramping badly. I just didn't quite have the
legs today."
In the women's U23 event, reigning Division I Collegiate National Champion Chloe Forsman
improved upon her second place finish a year ago to win the national title. Forsman clocked
a winning time of 2:32:19 to beat runner-up Caitlyn Tuel by 4:27. Natasha Cowie placed
third, 6:09 off the pace.
JUNIOR ACTION
In the junior expert categories, two athletes will also earn automatic nominations to the
U.S. National Team for the World Championships after winning their respective events on
Friday: Ethan Gilmour and Stephanie White.
DUAL SLALOM QUALIFYING
Also on Friday, Eric Carter (Mongoose) earned the top seed in the dual slalom ahead of Cole Bangert (Morewood) and Mike Haderer (FoxShox-Yeti) in the qualifying round.
In the pro women's dual slalom qualifier, Melissa Buhl (KHS) was the fastest woman and
earned the top seed ahead of Kathy Pruitt (Jamis) and Lisa Myklak (Leelikesbikes). The
finals of the pro men's and women's dual slalom are scheduled for 7:00 p.m. local time on
Saturday night.
Also on Saturday, the 2007 U.S. Mountain Bike National Championships brought to you by X-Fusion continues with the pro men's cross-country race, observed trials, junior downhill
and open single speed competitions, as well as several amateur cross-country categories.
PRO WOMEN XC RESULTS
1. Mary McConneloug...Kenda-Seven...2:06:59
2. Georgia Gould...Luna Chix...+1:17
3. Willow Koerber...Subaru-Gary Fisher...3:57
4. Heather Irmiger...Subaru-Gary Fisher...7:41
5. Shonny Vanlandingham...Luna Chix...8:15
6. Susan Haywood...Trek-VW...8.56
7. Lea Davison...Trek-VW...8.57
8. Kelli Emmett...Giant...16.02
9. Jamie Whitmore...Cannondale-Michelin...20.15
10. Zephanie Blasi...Kenda/X-Fusion/Titus...21.20
U23 CROSS-COUNTRY RESULTS
1. Sam Jurekovic...U.S. National...2:34:18
2. Sam Schultz...Subaru-Gary Fisher...+2:58
3. Colin Cares...U.S. National...5:11
4. Chance Noble...Cal Giant-Specialized...11:17
5. Mitchell Peterson...Devo...11:43
U23 WOMEN'S XC RESULTS
1. Chloe Forsman...Luna Chix...2:32:19
2. Caitlyn Tuel...Trek-VW...+4:27
3. Natasha Cowie...Velo Bella...6:09
4. Jamie Dinkins...Vantaggio...7:02
5. Sabrina Kraushaar...Healt...25:25
JUNIOR EXPERT 17-18 XC RESULTS
1. Ethan Gilmour...Devo-Okemo...2:06:17
2. Greg Carpenter...Giant-Devo...+1:16
3. Chris Peterson...Devo...1:55
4. Stephen Ettinger...Arlberg Sports...2:39
5. Tristan Cowie...3:17
JUNIOR EXPERT WOMEN XC RESULTS
1. Stephanie White...Velo Bella...1:46:35
2. Essence Barton...Devo-NSO...+1:05
3. Jill Behlen...Tokyo Joe's...5:26
4. Lydia Tanner...Tokyo Joe's...5:29
5. Deidre York...Velobum...10:39