Ten crowned on third day of cyclo-cross national championships

  
  


The 2012 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships on Friday crowned 10 more national champions on the third day of competition. Approximately 150 junior and 100 masters competitors contested the muddy 2.1-mile course in unseasonably warm temperatures in Badger Prairie Park outside Madison, Wisc.

Garrett McNear en route to finishing 19th in the junior men's 10-12 race.
Garrett McNear en route to finishing 19th in the junior men's 10-12 race.
The day's racing opened and closed with the country's best 30-and-overs squaring off, with junior competition between riders 10-18 filling the mild day in between.

Masters

In the morning's first race, Stephen Tilford (Topeka, Kansas) bested the 46-rider masters men 50-54 field to earn the Stars-and-Stripes. On the third of the four-lap competition, Tilford and his closest chaser, Kevin Hines (East Wareham, Mass./Corner Cycle Cycling Club), opened a gap approaching three minutes on the third-place rider. Hines trailed Tilford by 21 seconds as they heard the bell for their last lap. In the end, Tilford crossed 10 seconds ahead of a hard-charging Hines.

In the afternoon, Andrea Smith (Somerville, Mass./Minuteman Road Club-LadiesFirst Racing), who sits in fourth in the United States International Cyclo-cross elite women's standings heading to Sunday's finale, held off Kari Studley (Bothell, Wash./Team Redline), the winner of Wednesday's B race, early in the race and a surging Crystal Anthony (Beverly, Mass.) late in the contest to earn the gold medal. Anthony was 11 seconds faster than Nicole Thiemann (Philadelphia, Pa./Team CF-Elite) to win the silver.

"I heard she (Anthony) moved into second and I can't count her out," Smith said. "So I just tried to ride steady, consistent and keep the pedals moving and keep it upright otherwise she would pass me."

The day's racing closed with the women 35-39 race, Sally Annis (Nashua, N.H./CrossResults.com) sprinted to an early lead before riding away with the coveted Stars-and-Stripes. On her first lap, Annis traversed the muddy course nearly 30 seconds faster than any other rider before turning her second of four circuits 45 seconds faster any competitor en route to winning the race by nearly two minutes.

"It was messy, so having bike that functioned and getting traction was key," Annis said. "You can never let up in 'cross. You never know what's going to happen. You can roll a tire. You could crash. You could break a chain. At one point, I had some chain stuck, so I had to stop and do a little maintenance. You never know. You always have to stay on the gas."

Juniors

Mina Anderberg on her national championship-winning ride
Mina Anderberg on her national championship-winning ride
The women 13-14 competed in the second race of the day. Mina Anderberg (Louisville, Colo./Sports T.E.A.M.-T.E.A.M. Fuji) rode away with the third national title of her career by outlasting Wisconsin-native and multi-time national champ on the road Skylar Schneider (West Allis, Wisc.). Anderberg was able to open a gap on Schneider by riding up a run-up.

"It went awesome, I did exactly what I wanted," Anderberg said. "It was perfect conditions for me, I love the mud, and it was just really good."

In the women 10-12 race, 11-year-old Sydney Lach (Cincinnati, Ohio/Queen City Wheels-Lionhearts) credited a fast start to her winning the first national title of her career. Lach was over a minute faster than her closest competitor on the first lap and she completed her second lap two minutes faster than any other rider in her age group.

As the sun shone on the course and ground loosened further, the women 17-18 contested their three-lap race. Wisconsin-native Corrie Osborne (Mequon, Wisc./ISCorp Cycling Team) and Allison Arensman (Rutherford College, N.C./Fiets Maan Racing) turned in an opening lap 20 seconds faster than the next rider. Osborne's second lap opened a 26-second margin on Arensman before winning the race by 1:14 to secure the second national title of her career.

"My coach was building me up to this race so I'm at my peak right now." Osborne said. "So its really good."

The women 15-16 started just one minute after the women 17-18 group started. It took until the first climb of the first lap for Emma White (Delanson, N.Y./NYCross.com) to establish herself as the cream of the crop. She started passing riders in the 17-18 race by the first climb and crossed the line third with one lap remaining. Her strong start of her race allowed her to win by 31 seconds.

"I tend to have good starts, I feel strong in my starts," White said. "So I like to take advantage of them and see where I can go."

In the youngest men's age group, Andrew Schmidt (Lake Geneva, Wisc.) took the top prize finishing his two-lap contest in 24:04, 32 seconds faster than the silver-medalist, Scott Funston (Black Diamond, Wash./Old Town Bicycle).

Gage Hecht (Parker, Colo./International Christian Cycling Club) rode away with a win by 46 seconds in the men 13-14 race. Hecht's two lap times were within one second of each other, completing the first lap in 10:49 and the second in 10:50.

"It felt like I did everything just like I hoped it would go in practice. It felt like it should have." Hecht said.

In the day's last junior race, Austin Vincent (Simsbury, Ct./Team CF) turned in a stellar performance to win by 47 seconds. As the lone rider to keep each of his three laps under 11 minutes, Vincent led by 30 seconds after the first lap and did not relent, maintaining his advantage throughout the race.

"I've been working the whole season to get it," a visibly excited Vincent said. "I'm so happy."

Next Up

The event continues Saturday with masters men 30-49, junior men 17-18 and collegiate women before culminating Sunday, Jan. 8 with the elite men's and women's races.

Live Stream

Watch the men's and women's race live online at at http://media.usacycling.org/2012CX-NatsStream.html or http://www.youtube.com/usacyclingorg.

More Info

Visit the official event webpage of the 2012 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships for more information on the event, including eligibility and call-up details, complete schedule, results, photo gallery and more. Follow the event on Twitter, using hashtag #CXNats.

2012 USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships
January 4-8, 2012
Verona, Wisc.

FULL RESULTS

Masters Men 50-54
1. Stephen Tilford (Topeka, Kansas) 47:38
2. Kevin Hines (East Wareham, Minn./Corner Cycle Cycling Club) 47:49
3. Wayne Simon (Lake Barrington, Ill./PISMET Racing-Enzo's PISMET) 51:30
4. Tim Hacker (Madison, Wisc./Planet Bike) 53:04
5. Ron Huebner (Waterford, Va./Evolution Cycling Club p/b Long and Foster) 53:13

Masters Women 30-34
1. Andrea Smith (Somerville, Mass./Minuteman Road Club/Ladies First) 49:04
2. Crystal Anthony (Beverly, Mass.) 50:04
3. Nicole Thiemann (Philadelphia, Pa./Team CF-Elite) 50:15
4. Carolyn Popovic (East Norriton, Pa./Team CF-Elite) 50:42
5. Rebecca Blatt (Denver, Colo./Team Kenda p/b Geargrinder) 51:21

Masters Women 35-39
1. Sally Annis (Nashua, N.H./crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles) 50:11
2. Kristal Boni (Erie, Colo./Rapid Racing) 52:10
3. Nicole Borem (Warsaw, Ind./OCD Cycling-Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross) 52:30
4. Corey Coogan Cisek (Minneapolis, Minn.) 52:41
5. Kristin Weber (Boulder, Colo./Boulder Cycle Sport) 53:05

Junior Men 10-12
1. Andrew Schmidt (Lake Geneva, Wisc.) 24:04
2. Scott Funston (Black Diamond, Wash./Old Town Bicycle) 24:36
3. Adam Croft (Toano, Va./Slipstream-Craddock Junior Development) 25:28
4. Philip Hempstead (Northampton, Mass./Northampton Cycling Club) 25:47
5. Benjamin King (Anacortes, Wash./Revel Consulting-Rad Racing NW) 26:52

Junior Men 13-14
1. Gage Hecht (Parker, Colo./International Christian Cycling Club) 21:39
2. Spencer Petrov (Mason, Ohio/Queen City Wheels-Lionhearts) 22:25
3. Cameron Beard (Bend, Ore.) 23:02
4. Sean Mcelroy (Palmdale, Calif./Team Specialized Racing Juniors) 23:47
5. Michael Owens (Richmond, Vt./Green Mountain Bicycle Club) 23:57

Junior Men 15-16
1. Austin Vincent (Simsbury, Ct./Team CF) 32:22
2. Peter Goguen (Hopedale, Mass./Team CF) 33:09
3. Ian Haupt (Whitefish Bay, Wisc./My Wife Inc) 33:31
4. Ethan Reynolds (Boise, Idaho/Boise Young Rider Development Squad) 33:40
5. Maxx Chance (Boulder, Colo./Boulder Junior Cycling) 34:06

Junior Women 10-12
1. Sydney Lach (Cincinnati, Ohio/Queen City Wheels-Lionhearts) 28:51
2. Carrley Smith (Boulder, Colo./Boulder Junior Cycling) 32:02
3. Ella Neurohr (Chicago, Ill./Chicago Cuttin Crew) 34:16
4. Petra Schmidtman (Nederland, Colo./Black Sheep Cycles) 34:44
5. Morgan Fortin (Albuquerque, N.M./Goathead Jr. Devo) 34:46

Junior Women 13-14
1. Mina Anderberg (Louisville, Colo./Sports T.E.A.M.-T.E.A.M. Fuji) 22:40
2. Skylar Schneider (West Allis, Wisc.) 22:47
3. Ashley Zoerner (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Groove Subaru-Alpha Bicycle Co) 24:35
4. Frances Haley (Louisville, Ky./Red Zone Cycling) 25:04
5. Gina Johnson (Park Ridge, Ill./Village-Verdigris Cycling) 25:54

Junior Women 15-16
1. Emma White (Delanson, N.Y./NYCross.com) 36:29
2. Tiziana DeHorney (Albuquerque, N.M./Get Out! New Mexico) 37:00
3. Laurel Rathbun (Monument, Colo./JET Cycling) 37:49
4. Andrea Casebolt (Olympia, Wash./Revel Consulting/Rad Racing NW) 38:14
5. Victoria Gates (Fitchburg, Mass./Tenet Racing/J.A.M. Fund / NCC) 38:37

Junior Women 17-18
1. Corrie Osborne (Mequon, Wisc./ISCorp Cycling Team) 34:25
2. Allison Arensman (Rutherford College, N.C./Fiets Maan Racing) 35:39
3. Erin Donohue (Norwich, Vt./Woodstock Bicycle Club/Killington Mountain School Cycling Team) 36:21
4. Bailey Semian (Mertztown, Pa./Mid-Atlantic Cycling Club) 36:22
5. Sarah Huang (Kenosha, Wisc./Peanut Butter & Co. TWENTY 12/Exergy TWENTY12) 36:24



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