BIG BEAR LAKE, C.A. – It was an exciting day as the top colleges battled it out at this years USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships at Snow Summit in Big Bear Lake, C.A.
The first race of the day was the Men's Varsity Cross Country race. Last years winner, Cole Paton (Durango, C.O.; Fort Lewis College), became victorious once again finishing with a time of 1:51:58. Torbjorn Roed (Grand Junction, C.O.; Colorado Mesa University) came in 52 seconds behind Paton. Rounding out the podium in third was Tyler Clark (Brevard, N.C.; Brevard College).
In the club race, Sandy Floren (Berkeley, C.A.; UC Santa Cruz) won with a time of 1:51:27. It was a tight finish with Alexander Sugarman (Boulder, C.O.; University of Colorado Boulder) only finishing 3 seconds behind. Zach Calton (Salt Lake City, U.T.; University of Utah) would take the third step of the podium.
In the women's varsity race, we crowned another back-to-back winner Gwendalyn Gibson (Grand Junction, C.O.; Colorado Mesa University). Gibson finished just ahead of her teammate, freshman Katie Clouse (Grand Junction, C.O.; Colorado Mesa University). Last years silver medalist, Savilia Blunk (Durango, C.O.; Fort Lewis College) finished right behind in third.
Harper Powell (Boulder, C.O.; University of Colorado Boulder) won the stars-and-stripes jersey for the women's club category. McKenzie Steiner (Colorado Springs, C.O.; U.S. Air Force Academy) and Rachel Anders (Stanford, C.A.; Stanford University) rounded out the podium.
With strong finishes from both Fort Lewis and Colorado Mesa, they are left tied in the Varsity Omnium standings with 152 points. Brevard is sitting at 121 points currently in third with a tight battle between the rest of the schools.
University of Colorado Boulder is leading the Club Omnium standings with 160 points, winning the total points in both men's and women's cross country races. University of Utah is in second with 132 points and California Polytechnic - San Luis Obispo is in third with 127 points.
In the afternoon, Dual Slalom racers qualified into their final brackets. We will see the teams race for the gold Saturday afternoon.