Carter, Streb Downhill Champs
Durango, Colo. (Aug. 17, 2003) – In the final event, of the 2003 NORBA National Championship Mountain Bike Series, Steve Peat (GBR; Royal Orange), and Fionn Griffiths (GBR; Foes Azonic) each scored downhill victories today in round five at Durango Mountain Resort as Marla Streb (Los Osos, Calif.; Luna Chix) and Eric Carter (Temecula, Calif.; Mongoose-Hyundai) closed out the domestic season with national titles.
After morning rains changed the condition of the course, the downhillers took to the mountain in search of one of three accolades on the line, today’s individual race win, the overall NORBA NCMBS title, and the U.S. National Championship.
In the women’s event, Streb and her Luna Chix teammate, Kathy Pruitt (Lake Almanor, Calif.), posted the two fastest qualifying times ahead of Griffiths setting up a competitive final. Midway through the event, Tracy Moseley set a time of 4 minutes, 35 seconds that proved to be an elusive benchmark for much of the field until Missy Giove (Foes-Azonic) surpassed it, clocking a 4’31” in the final event of her career. Shortly thereafter, Griffiths rode a 4’27”, setting the new best time. Streb, having the advantage of knowing the time to beat, missed her opportunity with a 4’39” thus giving Griffiths the overall NORBA series title, but safely securing the stars and stripes jersey given to the top American finisher in the series.
The men’s event, dominated by foreign riders this season, proved to be no different as Peat posted a winning time of 3’42”, even after crashing on the last section of the course. Second place finisher, Greg Minnaar (RSA; Haro-Lee Dungarees) secured enough points to take the overall title.
Carter, who descended the mountain in 3’55”, took the U.S. National Downhill title as the top American to compliment yesterday’s mountain cross championship.
“It puts me in good company,” Carter said of his dual national title only equaled by Brian Lopes (Laguna Beach, Calif.) who missed most of the NORBA series with a broken ankle. “I think the level of downhilling has risen dramatically”, he said in reference to his seventh place overall finish. “I’ve achieved all the goals I’ve set for myself so far this year, so I am happy. I’m a little disappointed with seventh, but given the changes I’ve made this season and the broken hand I suffered at Snowshoe, I’m pretty happy overall.”
With the completion of the downhill event, the 2003 NORBA National Championship Mountain Bike Series is now in the books.
Be sure to check out photos of all the action throughout the year at www.usacycling.org/gallery.
The NORBA National Championships Mountain Bike Series is North America’s premier off-road cycling series. The series crowns USA Cycling’s Mountain Bike Champions. USA Cycling is the national governing body for cycle sport. GaleForce Sports Marketing is the series management and promotions company, and is recognized as the USA’s leading cycling and events management group.
About NORBA
NORBA is the mountain bike member association of USA Cycling. Recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 80,000 members and 2,000 annual events. For more information, visit www.usacycling.org, or contact Communications Manager Andy Lee at 719 866 4867.
After morning rains changed the condition of the course, the downhillers took to the mountain in search of one of three accolades on the line, today’s individual race win, the overall NORBA NCMBS title, and the U.S. National Championship.
In the women’s event, Streb and her Luna Chix teammate, Kathy Pruitt (Lake Almanor, Calif.), posted the two fastest qualifying times ahead of Griffiths setting up a competitive final. Midway through the event, Tracy Moseley set a time of 4 minutes, 35 seconds that proved to be an elusive benchmark for much of the field until Missy Giove (Foes-Azonic) surpassed it, clocking a 4’31” in the final event of her career. Shortly thereafter, Griffiths rode a 4’27”, setting the new best time. Streb, having the advantage of knowing the time to beat, missed her opportunity with a 4’39” thus giving Griffiths the overall NORBA series title, but safely securing the stars and stripes jersey given to the top American finisher in the series.
The men’s event, dominated by foreign riders this season, proved to be no different as Peat posted a winning time of 3’42”, even after crashing on the last section of the course. Second place finisher, Greg Minnaar (RSA; Haro-Lee Dungarees) secured enough points to take the overall title.
Carter, who descended the mountain in 3’55”, took the U.S. National Downhill title as the top American to compliment yesterday’s mountain cross championship.
“It puts me in good company,” Carter said of his dual national title only equaled by Brian Lopes (Laguna Beach, Calif.) who missed most of the NORBA series with a broken ankle. “I think the level of downhilling has risen dramatically”, he said in reference to his seventh place overall finish. “I’ve achieved all the goals I’ve set for myself so far this year, so I am happy. I’m a little disappointed with seventh, but given the changes I’ve made this season and the broken hand I suffered at Snowshoe, I’m pretty happy overall.”
With the completion of the downhill event, the 2003 NORBA National Championship Mountain Bike Series is now in the books.
Be sure to check out photos of all the action throughout the year at www.usacycling.org/gallery.
The NORBA National Championships Mountain Bike Series is North America’s premier off-road cycling series. The series crowns USA Cycling’s Mountain Bike Champions. USA Cycling is the national governing body for cycle sport. GaleForce Sports Marketing is the series management and promotions company, and is recognized as the USA’s leading cycling and events management group.
About NORBA
NORBA is the mountain bike member association of USA Cycling. Recognized by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the Union Cycliste Internationale, USA Cycling promotes American cycling through its 80,000 members and 2,000 annual events. For more information, visit www.usacycling.org, or contact Communications Manager Andy Lee at 719 866 4867.
This Article Published August 17, 2003 For more information contact:
