Weekly Collegiate Racing Wrap - May 1, 2012
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Print ECCC: Conference Championships at UNH – by Garrett Lynch
After nine weeks up and down the east coast, the ECCC finished its season at the University of New Hampshire for the ECCC championships.With the warmer than usual weather we have experienced this season, many riders were shocked to see the thermometer at 35 degrees to begin the Team Time Trial. MIT did not ease up their remarkable run of the TTT as they ran the table this season winning every TTT in both the men’s and women’s A races.
Saturday afternoon the weather began to warm, but strong headwinds made the rolling 20 mile course that more interesting. The boys from Brown, Gregory Alexander and Edward Grystar, timed their move right and rolled across the line 1-2 with a 2:30 advantage on the field. Jasmine Hansen (USMA) out sprinted Yuri Matsumoto (MIT) to win the women’s race.
Sunday was a bittersweet day for many. A long season was coming to an end and for some, it was their last collegiate race. The temperatures had improved from the day before but a ferocious headwind seemed to face the riders at every turn. The wind played a big factor in the women’s race, coming down to a big field sprint where Kelly Desharnais (Bucknell) took the victory. A small four man break held a slight advantage to the finish where Samson McHugh (Pitt) bested Charlie Avis (Princeton) and Brendan Rhim (Killington Mountain School).
MIT were the big winners of the season, winning the team omnium, Men’s overall with Adam Bry, and Women’s overall with Katie Quinn.
NCCCC: Conference Championships at University of Minnesota
Conference omnium champions Nicole Mertz (Univ. Minnesota- Div I Women), Andy Buntz (Univ. Iowa - Div I Men), and Anna Luckow (St Olaf College - Div II Women)
By Sunday, the rain had gone and the sun began to peak from mostly cloudy skies, warming riders up finally for the criterium championships on the St. Paul campus of the University of Minnesota. The course, making almost a figure-8 up and down a steep little hill, was short at just half a mile, and somewhat narrow in a couple places, including two 180-degree turns. This made for a challenging but extremely fun course that was worthy of the championships. In a dramatic show of strength, Nicole Mertz, who claimed the overall conference omnium championship title, attacked early on and never looked back, almost lapping the entire field by the time the race was done.
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