Rain Doesn’t Slow the Pace of Time Trial

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (July 4, 2003) – The 2003 Junior/Espoir Time Trial Championship was held today under a shifting sky, giving the early morning riders familiar muggy conditions and then quickly dishing out a steady flow of rain showers for riders beginning just before noon. The threatening skies cleared shortly after drying the course for the remaining junior and espoir riders.

The Fourth of July out and back time trial course kept no one wondering as the straightforward course featured very little elevation change and only slight curves. Riders would have to rely on strong legs and lungs to excel on the course as technical abilities would only play into those who would have to negotiate slick roads.

It was the junior and espoir men who would feel the crunch of a consecutive day of racing as the time trial followed both the scorching junior and espoir road race held Thursday in Normangee.

Despite having put over 150 and 199 km respectively on their legs less than 24 hours prior, Junior men’s 17-18 time trial winner Zach Taylor (Marietta, GA) and Espoir time trial winner Michael Creed (Colorado Springs, Colo.) both had enough left to ride swift and strong on the 7-mile out and back course southeast of College Station.

Taylor, 17, finished the 23.6 km course in 31:21.190 capturing his first national championship jersey as a first-year junior. The Georgia resident was eager to show that his racing experience in Europe earlier this spring had helped him improve, especially with his time trialing.

“I felt really good today even after such a long race yesterday,” said Taylor. “I woke up this morning and my legs felt actually really good – I wasn’t sore. I came through the halfway mark and my split was the fastest. I definitely felt like I had a top-five ride going, but really my goal was to keep the rhythm going and get the win.” Taylor hopes to continue his winning ways through the month of July at Junior Track Nationals where he will ride the kilo, 3 km pursuit, and the team pursuit.

Taylor’s teammate Zak Grabowski (Lafayette, Colo.) followed right behind clocking a 31:41.640 to clinch the runner-up spot on the day. Steven Cozza (Petaluma, CA) clocked in at 31:48.080 to claim third-place. Grabowski was also pleased to be on the podium for the second-time in as many days, having won the 17-18 road race yesterday in Normangee.

“It’s fantastic – Zach winning today and me right in there for second,” commented Grabowski immediately after the time trial. “Zach has really stepped it up lately and he is having a really impressive first year. Myself, I was about a minute off what I wanted to ride today, but that may have been a little unrealistic considering yesterday’s ride and the heat again today. You really can’t have an easy time trial – if you do, you obviously aren’t pushing hard enough, so when you’re not feeling as good as when you have fresh legs, you just do what you can.”

Michael Creed came to these 2003 National Road Championships with an eye on defending his national time trial title. The 22 year-old from Colorado Springs made a clear statement posting a 45:12.680 for 34.4 km, securing his second national championship title, almost a minute and a half up on runner-up Timmy Duggan (Boulder Colo.). Duggan clocked a 46:38.050 for second-place with Steven Cozza (Boulder, Colo.) claiming third in 47:25.530.

“Yesterday was rough, I didn’t feel that great and I was definitely marked so it made the ride even harder,” explained Creed. “I rode yesterday with an eye on today mainly because I wanted to defend my jersey. So today I got up, rode a bit, had lunch, and just relaxed. Really it is a race against yourself and for me today I had everything to lose and nothing to gain with keeping the jersey another year.”

Along with 17-18 junior men and Espoir men time trial champions, seven categories of national champions were crowned today beginning with the junior women 10-12 race.

Mandy Marguardt (Plantation, Fla.) won the junior women 10-12 event in 20:45.195 with Jacqueline Kurth (Palm City, Fla.) fast on her heels in 20:48.220 for the runner-up spot. Colleen Gulick (Spring City, Pa.) clocked in at 21:43.630 to claim third-place.

In the junior women’s 13-14 category, Danielle Haulman (Denver, Colo.) posted a 18:10.13 to clinch the victory. Samantha Schneider (West Allis, WI) clocked a 19:30.060 to take second with Lauren Shirock (Emmaus, Pa.) right behind in 19:33.770.

Kimberly Geist (Emmaus, Pa.) had the right stuff in the women’s 15-16 category to clinch the national championship title in 37:26.730. Shannon Koch (Flower Mound, Texas) claimed second-place in 37.45.30 with Jacquelyn Crowell (Maitland, Fla.) securing third in 38:48.30.

The women’s 17-18 event found Karen Amundson (Woodinville, WA) crossing the line in 36:23.070 to claim the victory. Second-place went to Larssyn Staley (Beaverton, Ore.) clocking a 36.44.830 for 23.6 kms. Rebecca Much (Chicago, IL) claimed third in 38:15.610.

Jeremy Shirock (Emmaus, Pa.) won the men’s 10-12 category posting a 20:41.050 for 11.8 km. Second-place went to Mitchell Witmer (Lancaster, Pa.) with a 21:01.180. Njisane Phillip (Miami, Fla.) claimed third-place clocking a 21:16.440 on the day.

In the men’s 13-14 category, Shane Kline (Bally, Pa.) took home a national championship jersey clocking a 16:52.840 for 11.8 km. Ricky Cruz (San Ysidro, Calif.) followed in 17:17.920 to claim second-place with Bryson Sewell (Los Alamos, NM) securing third in 17:30.820.

Chris Stockburger (Ft.Collins, Colo.) took home the 15-16 men’s jersey clocking a 31:45.890 for 23.6 km. Nick Frey (Des Moines, IA) made it close with a 31:52.210 and Adam Switters (Folsom, Calif.) posted a 33:15.620 to clinch third.

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