After a week of inclement weather, a mild morning gave way to hotter temperatures on the final day of the 2022 USA Cycling Junior & Elite Track National Championships. Team events were on the agenda, with riders competing in the team pursuit and team sprint events in the Elite and Junior 15-18 categories. Eight national titles were up for grabs throughout the day at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center. Of those eight titles, the Edge Cycling program claimed half, taking the podium's top step in every sprint event today.
"Our team worked extremely hard this year and the years proceeding this to prepare for this, and going forward. They're preparing to take on some international-level competition. We're proud of what we accomplished here this week and hope to continue the development process," said Andrew Harris, Performance Director and Head Coach of Edge Cycling. When talking about how the program develops champions, Harris said, "The velodrome here in T-town has great introductory programs. We partner with the velodrome to continue a rider's development after they complete the Air Products [Youth Cycling League] or the [Bicycle Racing League].”
Edge Cycling went four for four in the team sprint events, taking home gold whenever they raced. In the Elite Women the squad of Mandy Marquardt (Allentown, Pa.; Team Novo Nordisk), Divya Verma (Breinigsville, Pa.; Edge Cycling), and Annika Flannigan (Bethlehem, Pa.; Edge Cycling) were able to stop the clock at 1:09.515. The silver went to the composite team of Skyler Espinoza (Menlo Park, Calif.; Alto Velo), Jennifer Wagner (Houston; Atomic Momentum), and Emily Schelberg (Linthicum, Pa.; IAMICANIWILLIDO p/b Vital Performance) riding under the name "Made It To Sunday."
On the Elite Men's side, Jamie Alvord III (Allentown, Pa.; Edge Cycling), Andrew Chu (Breinigsville, Pa.; Edge Cycling), Barak Pipkins (Bloomfield, N.J.; Edge Cycling), and Nicholas Roberts (Whitehall, Pa.; Edge Cycling) earned gold for their team. Alvord, Chu, and Roberts raced the qualifications, and Alvord, Chu, and Pipkins raced the final. Ethan Boyes (San Francisco), Sandor Delgado (Hialeah, Fla.; ASCP), and Zachariah McClendon (Allentown, Pa.) teamed up to race as "2.5 Looks" and came away with silver.
Verma and Flannigan also toed the line for the Junior Women 15-18 event, this time with Reagan Pattishall (Breinigsville, Pa.; Edge Cycling) as their third. They earned another gold for their effort. Three Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24 riders: Alexis Jaramillo (Colorado Springs, Colo.), Katie Smock (Indianapolis), and Homare Yamashita (Breinigsville, Pa.), teamed up as the "Power Puff Girls" and finished three seconds behind the Edge Cycling squad for silver.
Edge Cycling members Finn Koller (Bethlehem, Pa.) and George Mason (Schnecksville, Pa.) joined forces with Jacob Evans (Macungie, Pa.; Gotham Cyclists) to win the Junior Men 15-18 Team Sprint. The team stopped the clock at 1:07.261. The Star Track squad of Grayson Hauck (Allentown, Pa.), Enzo Edmonds (Brooklyn, N.Y.), and Liam McCary (Schnecksville, Pa.) finished just nine-tenths of a second behind the winners for the second.
The team pursuits events opened the morning. Each category raced four riders over 4,000 meters. For the elite women, the team of Jessica Chong (Allentown, Pa.; Bike Works p/b Fred Beans Cycling Team), Bethany Matsick (Warrington, Pa.; Bike Works p/b Fred Beans Cycling Team), Elizabeth Stevenson (Rochester Hills, Mich.; Marian University), and Kimberly Zubris (Albertus, Pa.) stopped the clock at 5:01.625 in the final round to get them the gold.
The elite men's event was a close race in the final between the Chaney Windows and Doors Team of Lance Abshire (Baton Rouge, La.), Ian Anderson (San Antonia, Texas), Tristan Manderfeld (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and Spencer Seggebruch (Saint Louis), and the squad of Beginner's Luck: David Domonoske (Menlo Park, Calif.; Alto Velo), Eddy Huntsman (Newport Beach, Calif.; ButcherBox Pro Cycling), Anders Johnson (Huntsville, Utah), and Brendan Rhim (Norwich, Vt.; Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling). A rear flat took Seggebruch out of the competition, giving the Beginner's Luck squad an advantage just past the halfway mark. However, they didn't squander the lead and were able to bring it home for the win.
For the Junior Women 15-18, the team of Chloe Patrick (Carson, Calif.; Serious Cycling), Kelly Dahlin (Bellevue, Wash.; Jerry Baker Juniors), Makala Jaramillo (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24), and Homare Yamashita (Breinigsville, Pa.; Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY24) stopped the clock at 5:08.150.
The crew from the Lexus Velodrome in Detroit took the top spot in the Junior Men 15-18 with their time of 4:43.608. The team was comprised of Connell Alford (Chelsea, Mich.; American Cycling League – Detroit), Brendan Leary (Detroit; American Cycling League – Detroit), Matthew Redfield (Troy, Mich.; American Cycling League – Detroit), and Christopher Rivera (Beverly Hills, Mich.; American Cycling League – Detroit).
