Criterium and individual omnium champions crowned on day two of the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships

Fort Collins, Colo. (May 9, 2009) – Saturday’s criterium racing in Old Town Fort Collins provided for plenty of excitement with nearly every race coming down to a photo finish on day two of the 2009 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships. The University of Vermont continued its dominance of the Division I men’s field, while a rising star emerged from Marian College in the DI women’s event. In Division II a pair of iron men held off the field for just under half of the 75-minute affair while it all came down to the sprint for the DII women.

With one full day of racing still to be factored into the team omnium standings Lees-McRae College holds a 271-227 lead over the University of Vermont and the University of Arizona in DI. Traditional DII powerhouses are poised to fight it out in tomorrow’s DII team time trial as Whitman College (333) is leading the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (247) and Western Washington University (215) in the team overall.

The DI men’s criterium played out like a big time Pro Tour event with fine team tactics on display. In the early going no one was able to escape the powerful peloton with Fort Lewis and Lees-McRae College controlling the front and reeling back anyone who attempted to break. It wasn’t until around 10 minutes left in the 75-minute affair that things really started to heat up. It looked as if the winners may be decided when a group of five riders, including Colorado State University’s Chris Hall (Fort Collins, Colo.), the University of Florida’s Bobby Sweeting (Gainesville, Fla.) and Fort Lewis College’s Alister Ratcliff (Durango, Colo.) were able to escape off the front with just over five laps to go. The powerful University of Vermont squad however quickly responded, timing the chase perfectly and swallowing up the leaders with just under one lap to go. In the mass sprint to the finish, yesterday’s road race winners Jamey Driscoll (Jericho, Vt./University of Vermont ) and Will Dugan (Burlington, Vt./University of Vermont) worked with Alex Cox (Winooski, Vt./University of Vermont) to deliver their teammate into the final turn. Colin Jaskiewicz (Upper Montclair, N.J./University of Vermont) then turned on the afterburners to reel in the national title by a mere 10th of a second.

“Taking it with five to go wasn’t the plan,” explained Jaskiewicz. “Our original plan was to break with one to go, but those guys were just too strong to let go. It was pretty evident after yesterday that we are one of the strongest teams out there and my teammates were incredible today. This is the most prestigious win I’ve ever had and it was definitely a team effort.”

After several aggressive moves early everything came back together and settled down halfway through 60-minute DI women’s race. As the race progressed the collegiate powerhouse squads of Lees-McRae with Carla Swart (Banner Elk, N.C.) and the University of Arizona with Chloe Forsman (Tucson, Ariz.) as well as Fort Lewis College controlled the pace, quickly squashing any breaks. The ladies appeared relaxed heading into the final laps when the pace suddenly began to accelerate, causing a race ending crash for many riders. The remaining riders strung out with one lap to go as yesterday’s road race third-place finisher Jacquelyn Crowell (Gainesville, Fla.) established herself out front. Marian’s outstanding freshman Sinead Miller (Pittsburgh, Pa.) tracked her down coming out of the final turn and sprinted to the women’s DI criterium national title.

“With four or five to go I knew it was going to come down to a field sprint,” stated Miller, a former USA Cycling Junior National Team program standout. “With two to go I knew I had to follow Jacque’s wheel, then I was just able to outsprint her to the line.”

Phil Elasser (Bellingham, Wash./Western Washington) and Thacker Reeves (Tyler, Texas/Cumberland University) put on a show in the DII men’s race. The pair broke away from the 80-rider field a little over halfway through the 75-minute affair and never looked back. Although their lead was never over 30 seconds, the peloton couldn’t mount an organized attack until it was too late. A powerful Furman squad attempted to pull in the leaders on the final laps but Elasser and Reeves stayed out front and finished one-two with Elasser earning the Stars-and-Stripes. Emory’s Thomas Brown (Decatur, Ga.) and Whitman’s Ben Chaddock (Walla Walla, Wash.) emerged from the peloton to grab third and fourth from a talented field.

The DII women’s race got off to a fast and furious start and the team battle between Whitman and MIT was quickly apparent. Despite the quick pace, the first real move of the race was when DePauw University’s Rita Klofta (Greencastle, Ind.) broke away, taking Whitman’s Kendi Thomas (Walla, Walla, Wash.) with her. Kim Geist (Emmaus, Pa./DeSales University) kept the field calm and eventually reeled the pair back in. It then came down to the final lap of the 60 minute event with MIT’s Martha Buckley (Cambridge, Mass.) leading a group of 20 through the final turns. It was Whitman’s Thomas however who was able to was able to take the sprint to the line less than a second ahead of Daisy Phillips (Bellingham, Wash.) of Western Washington and Dartmouth’s Arielle Filberti (Worcester, Mass.) who was riding without the help of any teammates.

With both the individual events already contested, this year’s individual omnium winners will be crowned at Saturday evening’s USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championship banquet. The University of Florida’ Bobby Sweeting used a balanced approach to edge road race champion Jamey Driscoll (University of Vermont) in the DI men’s omnium. For the DI women it was road race winner Carla Swart of Lees-McRae College (299) coming away with yet another Stars-and Stripes jersey, just ahead of Jacquelyn Crowell of the University of Florida (271). Joey Rosskopf (Pfeiffer University) earned the DII men’s omnium crown with 247 points over Mesa State’s Conor Mullvervy (216). For the DII women it was Rita Klofta of DePauw University holding off last year’s second place finisher Kendi Thomas of Whitman College.

Racing will wrap-up at the 2009 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships with the team time trial starting at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday.