Blue skies and sunshine made for an electrifying fourth day of the 2022 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships. 19 categories took to the cross-country course and a plethora of others kicked their week off with downhill seeding. With so much happening, the mountain was on the clock from sun up to sun down.
Cross Country
The morning kicked off with some of the youngest racers of the week taking to the gold cross-country course. The first national champion of the morning was Emmett Davis (Missoula, Mont.; Team Stampede), who would win the Men’s 11-12 cross-country race after finishing in a time of 48:49. Up next was the Women’s 11-12 cross-country race where Anna Morozowich (Scottsdale, Az.; Durango Devo) would take home the stars and stripes jersey.
Later in the morning, the Men’s 15-16 and 17-18 riders would take to the blue cross-country course for their individual qualifying races. With nearly 350 riders registered between the two categories, only 240 riders would advance to the championship race on Friday.
Afternoon racing would be full of cross-country racing and downhill seeding. In the younger Master Women’s categories, Amelia Shea (Denver, Colo.) won the 30-34 cross-country race, and Jane Marshall (Littleton, Colo.; CTS) won the 35-39 cross-country race. The Women’s Single-Speed cross-country race was won by Julie Young (Calif.; Julie Young Training) who beat her second place competitor by over 13-minutes.
Winning the Women’s 25-29 cross-country race would be Colorado native Sarah Horen (Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Steamboat Ski and Resort Corporation). After a strong performance Lia Westermann (Salt Lake City, Utah; Pivot Cycles / Stan’s No Tubes) ended up winning the Women’s 19-24 cross-country race.
Today’s Women’s 45-49 cross-country race was dominated by Trish Thomas (Durango, Colo.; 2nd Ave Sports / Stans Cycling Team) who beat second place by over a minute. Lastly, the Master Women’s 40-44 race was won by Jessica Mullins (Littleton, Colo.; Avout Racing).
On the men’s cross-country side Blair Perkes (West Bountiful, Utah; Kuhl Elite) took gold in the 19-24 race, Kenneth O’Donnell (Denver; Groove Subaru Excel Sports) won the 45-49 race, and Cody Waite (Lakewood, Colo.; WE Development) won the 40-44 race. In the Men’s Single-Speed race, Niner rider Macky Franklin (Los Alamos, N.M.; Niner Bikes) took home the stars and stripes jersey. Rounding out the Master Men’s categories was the 50-54 cross-country race where Christopher Peck (Los Gatos, Calif.; Live Play Real Estate) took home the gold medal.
Other strong performances came from Henry York (Westminster, Colo.; Rio Grande Elite Cycling) and Tony Baca (Boulder, Colo.; SoFlo Racing p/b Proteinex) who would win the Men’s 25-29 race and Master Men’s 30-34 cross-country races respectively. Lastly, Roger Arnell (Farmington, Utah; Johnson Elite Orthodontics) had an impressive ride, taking home first in the Master Men’s 35-39 race.
The Team Relay is arguably one of the best events at Nationals. Nine teams entered the relay. Teams are made up of all genders and skill levels, but time penalties are given based on skill. Durango Devo repeated their win from last year with the USA Cycling Olympic Development Academy coaches taking second and the Donkey Label Racing team grabbing bronze.
Downhill
The championship downhill races kicked off at Trestle Bike Park with Amateur seeding. The riders started on the 2.2 mile course with the Boulevard trail and merged on to the demanding Trestle Downhill “Tater Patch” and onto the tight black diamond trail Witness.
Taking the fastest times in seeding for the Junior 11-12, Christopher Simeur (Bellingham, Wash.; Galbraith Gravity Racing) and Sophie Gregory (Riverton, Utah; Dharco/ Fox) will be the last riders to drop tomorrow. In the Junior 13-14 category, Cash Shaleen (Acton, Calif.; DVO Suspension/ Fasthouse/ Goliath Ind.) had the fastest time of the day with a 5:10 taking the top seed for the men and Aletha Ostgaard (Selah, Wash.; Fasthouse/ Schwalbe/ Trek) for women. In the Master’s 55-59, Jon Stickler (Avon, Colo.) and Lynn Childers (Staunton, Va.; BRC) rode to the top spots for men’s and women’s, respectively. In the 60-65 category, Dennis Foster (Murrieta, Calif.; Intense Cycles) and Ellen Guthrie (Salt Lake City; Guthrie Bicycles) would go fastest. For the Master Men 65-69, Russell Asleson (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Matheny Endurance) took the top spot.
Find a full list of results here.
