Nebraska Cycling News

Four Individual Overall Championships and Four Criterium Titles Also Determined Sunday

Lawrence, Kan. - The 2007 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships concluded on Sunday as Stanford University claimed the overall Division I title and Western Washington University won the overall Division II championship.  Eight individual titles were also determined on Sunday as the three-day event closed with criterium racing in downtown Lawrence for the third consecutive year.

Stanford amassed 519 points to beat defending champion University of California-Davis (430) and perennial collegiate cycling powerhouse Fort Lewis College (409). 

Western Washington scored 478 points to finish ahead of Dartmouth College (448) and defending champion Whitman College (405). 

Mark Hardman (University of Virginia) and Rebecca Larson (University of Florida) captured individual Division I overall titles while Chris Stuart (Mesa State) and Mara Abbott (Whitman College) rode to overall wins in the Division II standings. 

Hardman and Abbott successfully defended their overall titles from a year ago. Hardman amassed enough points with a seventh-place effort in Saturday's road race and a third-place performance in Sunday's criterium to beat runner-up Tyler Dibble (UC-Davis), 231-206.

"I have the best team in the country," Hardman said after pulling on his stars-and-stripes jersey.  "All year long they've been giving me great support.  We knew going into today's criterium that we had to win almost every prime and that we had to finish first, second or third for me to make the overall podium.  That was our goal going into it this morning and these guys helped me get into the right position and I took it from there."

Abbott captured her third consecutive road race title on Saturday and placed third in the criterium to score a win over Jennifer Bodine (George Washington University), 274-226.

Larson beat Erica Allar (Penn State University) by just two points, 253-251 after winning the road race and placing fifth in the criterium.  Last year's criterium winner, Larson hoped to defend her title, but rode conservatively in order to protect her lead in the overall standings.

"Of course I wanted to win the criterium, but the omnium was pretty important to me so I kind of rode it like a points race," explained Larson of her tactics on Sunday.  "I didn't feel great for the final sprint, but getting fifth was enough.  Overall, it was a great weekend."

Stanford University's overall Division I title was the result of solid performances throughout the weekend that included third- and sixth-place finishes respectively by its women's and men's team time trial squads.  Rand Miller led the Stanford men in both individual events, placing ninth in the road race and sixth in the criterium, while top women's performances came from Caitlyn McCollough in the criterium (6th) and Arwen Bradley in the road race (9th).

Western Washington University won the men's team trial and placed second in the women's race against the clock while top individual performances came from Megan McPhee, who placed fifth in the women's criterium and 16th in the road race, Brian Williams (6th, men's criterium) and Chris Daifuku (9th, men's road race).

Overall team titles were determined by point contributions from both the men's and women's squads.

Also on Sunday, four criterium titles were earned.  In the men's 65-minute Division I race, Phil Mann (Colorado State University) outsprinted his nine breakaway companions to claim the national title.  In the women's 55-minute Division I contest, Natalie Klemko (Midwestern State University) escaped from the field to solo across the line nearly eight seconds ahead of her nearest threat.  Jennifer Bodine (George Washington University) won the only mass-sprint finish of the day with her victory in the women's 55-minute Division II race. Jared Faciszewski (Colorado College) rode to a national title in the men's 65-minute Division II contest by holding off a charging field by a mere second.

In addition to the stars-and stripes national championship jerseys and the medals presented to the podium finishers, the USA Cycling Development Foundation will contribute a total of $5,000 to the top three programs in the final Division I and Division II team standings.  As part the USA Cycling Collegiate Performance Awards program, Stanford University and Western Washington University will each receive $1,200, while runner-ups UC-Davis and Dartmouth College will each receive $800 and Fort Lewis College and Whitman College will each receive $500.  Awards are provided to the collegiate club budget to be used for operational and developmental purposes. Similar awards will be awarded at the 2007 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships in Banner Elk, N.C., October 26-28. 

2007 USA Cycling Collegiate Road Nationals

May 10-13

Lawrence Kansas

For complete results, visit http://www.usacycling.org/ <http://www.usacycling.org/> .

Division I Men's Criterium

1. Phil Mann (Colorado State University) 1:10:48.7

2. Tyler Dibble (UC-Davis) s.t.

3. Mark Hardman (University of Virginia) s.t.

4. Jeffery Buckles (Virginia Commonwealth University) s.t.

5. Reed Tanger (Northwestern University) s.t.

Division I Women's Criterium

1. Natalie Klemko (Midwestern State University) 59:28.0

2. Kristin McGrath (Fort Lewis College) +0:07.8

3. Erica Allar (Penn State University) +0:09.9

4. Susannah Pratt (University of New Hampshire) s.t.

5. Rebecca Larson (University of Florida) s.t.

Division II Men's Criterium

1. Jared Faciszewski (Colorado College) 1:11:14.7

2. Nicholas Bennette (Princeton) +0:01.05

3. Spencer Beamer (Furman University) s.t.

4. Craig Leukens (Yale University) s.t.

5. Thomas Brown (Emory University) s.t.

Division II Women's Criterium

1. Jennifer Bodine (George Washington University) 1:03:29.7

2. Kendi Thomas (Whitman College) s.t.

3. Mara Abbott (Whitman College) s.t.

4. Jen Stebbins (Dartmouth College) s.t.

5. Meagan McPhee (Western Washington University) s.t.

Final Division I Men's Omnium

1. Mark Hardman (University of Virginia) 231

2. Tyler Dibble (UC-Davis) 206

3. Alex Boyd (Midwestern State) 200

4. Kiel Reinjen (University of Colorado) 188

5. Will Duggan (University of Vermont) 186

Final Division I Women's Omnium

1. Rebecca Larson (University of Florida) 253

2. Erica Allar (Penn State University) 251

3. Susannah Pratt (University of New Hampshire) 217

4. Hadley Trotter (University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill) 178

5. Natalie Klemko (Midwestern State) 176

Final Division II Men's Omnium

1. Chris Stuart (Mesa State) 183

2. Eric Schlidge (Dartmouth College) 181

3. Peter Horn (Vassar College) 180

4. Todd Nordblom (Colorado College) 173

5. Toby Marzot (Dartmouth College) 166

Final Division II Women's Omnium

1. Mara Abbott (Whitman College) 274

2. Jennifer Bodine (George Washington University) 226

3. Megan Guarnier (Middlebury College) 216

4. Devon Haskell (University of Chicago) 213

5. Kendi Thomas (Whitman College) 196

Final Division I Overall Standings

1. Stanford 519

2. UC-Davis 430

3. Fort Lewis College 409

4. Midwestern State University 385

5. Colorado State University 347

Final Division II Overall Standings

1. Western Washington University 478

2. Dartmouth College 448

3. Whitman College 405

4. Mesa State 399

5. MIT 340