Nebraska Cycling News

Cyclo-cross Champion Compton Wins First Short Track Moutain Bike Title

West Dover, Vt. - Jeremiah Bishop (Harrisonburg, Va.) brought home his second national title in the month of July, winning the pro men's short track contest on the final day of competition at the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships, while 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championship silver medalist Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) earned the pro women's victory. Adam Craig (Bend, Ore.) also added to his list of national titles winning the super D competition as Gerritt Beytagh (Fletcher, N.C.) and Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz.) took home national titles in pro men's and women's downhill.

After winning the USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Championship on July 4, Bishop showed his versatility on Sunday, adding a second Stars-and-Stripes jersey to his wardrobe. 

"Its always been one of my goals to be a rounded, complete rider," said Bishop. "I'd prefer to win a cross country title, but this is a close second. Its incredible redemption to win here as this is where I did my first national-level race as a junior."

The 2006 national cross country champion and reigning short track title-holder Ryan Trebon (Ventura, Calif.) pushed the pace early. However after his breakaway companion, 2008 Olympian Todd Wells (Durango, Colo.), suffered from a flat, Trebon was swallowed up mid-race by a powerful group of chasers including Bishop, super D and cross country national champion Adam Craig (Bend, Ore.), Jeremy Horban-Koebelski (Boulder, Colo.), Carl Decker (Bend, Ore.) and Barry Wicks (Santa Cruz, Calif.).

With the crowd roaring and the clock ticking down in the 20-minute contest, Bishop, the recent USA Cycling Mountain Bike Marathon National Champion, made his move. Although much better known for his endurance skills, Bishop showed his versatility holding off a surging Wicks to take home his first-ever short track national title.  

After 14 years of racing, Bishop's time of 24:16 gave him his second national title in 2008. Wicks crossed the line in second, eight seconds later while Decker grabbed the bronze in 24:27 and Horgan-Kobelski and Craig rounded out the top five.

In the pro women's short track contest, Compton pounded it from the gun and never looked back taking the victory in in 26:15. Saturday's cross country national champion Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass.) gave solo chase throughout the 20-minute criterium-style race off, but wasn't able to close the gap on the powerful cyclo-cross champion Compton. 

"I definitely wanted to go out and see if I could just lay it down today," said Compton. "I do well on the short, intense stuff. Had this race been 10-15 minutes longer there may have been a different outcome." 

In the first laps local favorite Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt.) and McConneloug attempted to keep Compton in check, but Davison soon fell back to a small chase group of Kelli Emmett (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Willow Koerber (Asheville, N.C.) and Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo.). 2008 Olympian Gould seemed poised to push the pack, but fell off the pace after suffering from a mid-race crash.

The leaders remained constant with McConneloug crossing the line 34 seconds off of Compton's winning pace. Davison outsprinted her group to grab the bronze with a time of 27:01. Emmett and Koerber finished in fourth and fifth three seconds later.

In the pro men's super D competition, reigning super D national champion and 2008 cross country champion Craig clocked a winning time of 7:09 to win the title ahead of Ross Schnell (Grand Junction, Colo.) by six seconds.

Meanwhile, Rachel Lloyd (Fairfax, Calif.) gathered her second Stars-and-Stripes jersey in as many years with another victory in the women's super D. Lloyd finished 11 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Marla Streb (Los Osos, Calif.).

In the day's other major pro competition, Buhl and Beytagh earned national titles in the pro downhill event. After securing the second seed in the qualifying round, Buhl topped fifth-seeded Streb by three seconds in the finals, while the top-seeded Beytagh rode a flawless final to bump 55th-seeded Cody Warren (Alpine, Calif.) into second place.

Several expert national titles were also awarded in short track cross country divisions on Sunday.

For complete results, click here <https://www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3730> .

To view photos from the event, click here <http://www.usacycling.org/gallery/album294> .

Pro Men's Short Track Cross Country

1. Jeremiah Bishop (Harrsionburg, Va.) 24:16

2. Barry Wicks (Santa Cruz, Calif.) 24:24

3. Carl Decker (Bend, Ore.) 24:27

4. Jeremy Horgan-Kobelski (Boulder, Colo.) 24:29

5. Adam Craig (Bend, Ore.) 24:35

Pro Women's Short Track Cross Country

1. Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 26:15

2. Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass.) 26:49

3. Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt.) 27:01

4. Kelli Emmett (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 27:04

5. Willow Koerber (Asheville, N.C.) 27:04

Pro Men's Downhill

1. Geritt Beytagh (Fletcher, N.C.) 4:56.5

2. Cody Warren (Alpine, Calif.) 4:59.4

3. Duncan Riffle (Santa Barbara, Calif.) 5:04.3

4. Curtis Keene (Freemont, Calif.) 5:05.1

5. Ryan Condrashoff (Auburn, Calif.) 5:07.4

Pro Women's Downhill

1. Melissa Buhl (Chandler, Ariz.) 5:54.4

2. Marla Streb (Los Osos, Calif.) 5:57.3

3. Dawn Bourque (Campton,N.H.) 6:23.4

4. Darian Harvey (Durango, Colo.) 6:30.8

5. Allegra Burch (Patterson,N.Y.) 6:32.9

Men's Super D

1. Adam Craig (Bend, Ore.) 7:09

2. Ross Schnell (Grand Junction, Colo.) 7:15

3. Bryan Fawley (Austin, Texas) 7:20

4. Greg Carpenter (Canton, Conn.) 7:22

5. Sam Koerber (Asheville, N.C.) 7:23

Women's Super D

1. Rachel Lloyd (Fairfax, Calif.) 8:23

2. Marla Streb (Los Osos, Calif.) 8:34

3. Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) 8:41

4. Kyia Anderson (St. Cloud, Minn.) 9:30

5. Pua Sawicki (Millani, Hawaii) 9:35

Semi-Pro Men's Downhill

1. Sam Mellen (Boston, Mass.) 5:18

2. James Patterson (Burlington, Vt.) 5:20

3. Ken Walter (Park Ridge, N.J.) 5:28

4. Adam Raphael (Boyne Falls, Mich.) 5:30

5. Dan Ferreira (Milford, Conn.) 5:32