Day 3 of the 2022 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships kicked off with the Collegiate Varsity and Club women toeing the starting line. With sloppy conditions on tap for the day, leaders went through the pit every half lap to secure their dominance
The first race, the Collegiate Varsity Women, launched into action at 7:50 am and riders began their trek through deep mud. Teammates Madigan Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Colorado Mesa University) and Katie Clouse (Park City, Utah; Colorado Mesa University) took an early lead. Munro floated through the mud and eventually found herself over two minutes ahead of Clouse. Both hands went up as Munro finished her race on top in a time of 50:53, winning her first Collegiate Cyclocross National Title. Clouse earned second, and Natalie Quinn (Durango, Colo.; Fort Lewis College) third.
Munro is always excited about winning a National Championship, but the team aspect of collegiate racing may be even more important to her. She said, “My race today went pretty well. I had a lot of fun. This is definitely a really good course for me. There was a lot of running and hard technical sections, so I had a really good day out there. I really enjoyed it and being the new National Champion is super exciting, but I’m also really excited and proud of all my teammates. I think we had four people in the top six or seven, so we did really well on points and I think that was the most exciting thing.”
Future cyclocross legend Katherine Sarkisov (North Potomac, Md.; University of Maryland) was crowned the champion in the collegiate club race with Betty Hasse (Providence, R.I.; University of Rhode Island) finishing in second, and Tori Glascock (Highland Park, N.J.; Rutgers University) taking third. Sarkisov has all eyes forward as she plans to compete later this week in the U23 Women’s race.
Stacey Barbossa (Mountainside, N.J.; NJCX Project) was flying in the Women’s 55-59 finishing 6-minutes ahead of second place to win her third National title. Pat Murray (San Diego, Calif.; SDBC p/b Bonnici Law Group p/b UC Cyclery) and Jodi Connolly (Seattle, Wash.; Black Sheep Velo) would finish second and third.
In the Women’s 50-54, Kristin Weber (Boulder, Colo.; Lockton Full Cycle Team) battled all the way to the finish to win a stars and stripes jersey. Two-time Mountain Bike Olympian Mary McConneloug (Chilmark, Mass.; @mikeandmaryride) made her return to the National Championship circuit in her newly crowned Pan American Championship jersey. She finished in the silver position with Julie Robertson Zivin (Seattle, Wash.; PNW Colavita Factor) taking third.
After a strong start in the Master Women’s 45-49 race, Melanie Carter (Evergreen, Colo.; Feedback Sports) pulled away and finished over two-minutes ahead of second placer rider Jitka Borowick (Barnstable, Mass.; DEVO Cycling Cape Cod). Rounding out the podium was New Yorker Bonnie R Symes (South Wales, N.Y.; Campus WheelWorks).
After an incredibly strong performance, Jenna Lingwood (Portland, Ore.; Point S Nokian) secured the win in the Master Women’s 40-44 race. Erin Feldhausen (Madison, Wisc; Trek Midwest Team) placed second, and Holly Lavesser (New Berlin, Wisc.) finished in third.
In the Master Women’s 35-39 race, Britt Mason (Ellicott City, Md.; Knobby by Nature) finished on top of the podium. Clementine Nixon (Philadelphia, Penn.; RSCX-House Industries) took silver, and Erin Berg (Rochester, N.Y.; Minuteman | Empire Automation pb Full Moon Vista) took bronze.
The fastest laps of the day were during the Collegiate Club and Varsity Men’s races. Lance Haidet (San Luis Obispo, Calif.; California Polytechnic) had an excellent ride early on. Going in as the race favorite, Haidet battled it out with Dillon McNeill (Papillion, Neb.; University of Nebraska - Lincoln) and ended up taking the win by 13-seconds. McNeil finished in second and Nick Carter (Minneapolis, Minn.; Colorado State University) finished in third.
The temperatures dropped as the Varsity Men were warming up. They took to the line knowing they had 50-minutes to leave it all out on the course. At the beginning there was a solid group of six riders, that group eventually shattered apart leaving Austin Beard (Middlesex, Vt.; Colorado Mesa University) time to roll off of the front to take the win. Owen Clark (Mono, Ont.; Brevard College) finished forty-three seconds behind him to take second. Daxton Mock (Lake Mills, Wisc.; Colorado Mesa University) took third.
Racing continues tomorrow morning at the Riverside Park. A full schedule of racing can be found at cxnats.usacycling.org or by clicking here.
Photo By: Snowy Mountain Photography
