Day five of the 2019 USA Cycling Junior, Elite, & Para-cycling Track National Championships saw two national records fall. Siblings Zoe Ta-Perez (Orange, Calif.; LUX Cycling Team) and Noah Ta-Perez (Orange, Calif.; Team Velosport Junior & U23 Development Rock N Road Cyclery) would both set new American records in the individual pursuit in their respective age divisions. Noah would clock a 3:36.902, which is .533 seconds faster than the previous Junior Men 15-16 three-kilometer record. Zoe would break a 28-year-old record set at altitude in 1991.
Individual Pursuit
“I don’t think it’s set in. It’s pretty crazy but it’ll be really motivating for the next couple weeks as we train up for worlds”, Ta-Perez said about setting the record.
On top of her new record, Ta-Perez would also earn the national title for the Junior Women’s Individual Pursuit. Megan Jastrab (Apple Valley, Calif.; Rally UHC Cycling) would forego her ride for the gold to rest up for the Elite Women’s Madison, and would take home the silver in the pursuit. Elizabeth Stevenson (Rochester Hills, Mich.; American Cycling League – Detroit) would take home the bronze.
Nathan Roberts (Whitehall, Pa.; Young Medalists) would prove to be the fastest 15-18 junior man on the track, posting a winning time of 3:31.553 in the final. Peter Moore (St. Paul, Minn.; Donkey Label) would make Roberts work for his win, coming in just three-tenths of a second slower. Brody McDonald (Escondido, Calif.; Team Velosport Junior & U23 Development Rock N Road Cyclery) would take home the bronze.
World record holder in the Elite Men’s Individual Pursuit, Ashton Lambie (Lincoln, Neb.; HUUB-Wattbike), would successfully defend his title. In the qualifying rounds, Lambie would post a 4:16.862, which would set a track record for the VELO Sports Center.
Talking about defending his national title, Lambie said, “It’s nice to be able to be consistent. My first year, this was main event of the entire year, to be able to train a little bit more through this event, and really focus on worlds, and still be able to come and represent the country is a great honor.”
John Croom (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team) would successfully
defend his silver medal. Croom’s teammate Danny Summerhill (Centennial, Colo.) would round out the podium.
In the Elite Women’s Individual Pursuit, it was Molly Van Houweling (Berkley, Calif.; Revolution Racing p/b JAKROO), who took home the Star-and-Stripes. The Masters World hour record holder would overtake her opponent Alijah Beatty (Washington, Iowa; Pickle Juice Pro Cycling) in the final. Beatty, the collegiate national champion, would take the second step of the podium. Zoe Saccio (Vancouver, BC, CAN; Fluevog’s Crit Nasty) came in third.
Elite Keirin
Following her win in the Elite Women’s Sprints on Friday, Mandy Marquardt (Allentown, Pa.; Team Novo Nordisk) would claim victory in the keirin as well.
“The racing in T-town, it’s been incredible racing with the international field there. It was week after week of lots racing, bringing it up to the top level there. Racing with women from all over the world, we bring out the best in each other. Coming to this, with that momentum, was big.” Marquardt said about how she prepared for the national championships.
Madalyn Godby (Louisville, Colo.), the first American woman to be invited to the Japanese Keirin School, would narrowly miss the top spot, placing second. Former junior keirin national champion Ivy Koester (Los Angeles; Velo Club La Grange) would take home the bronze.
James Mellen (Schnecksville, Pa.; Edge Cycling) would also duplicate his efforts from Friday, and taking home another national title, this time for the Elite Men’s Keirin. Sandor Delgado (Hialeah, Fla.) would place second and Joe Christiansen (Lyons, Colo.; Star Track Racing) would round out the podium.
Elite Madison
In the Elite Men’s Madison the Texas Roadhouse Cycling Team of Adrian Hegyvary (Ashville, N.C.) and Daniel Holloway (Boulder, Colo.) defended their national title successfully, coming taking three laps on all but one team. Eric Young (Boulder, Colo.) and Gavin Hoover (Redondo Beach, Calif.) riding for Elevate KHS Pro Cycling would take second. National Amateur Criterium Champion Justin Williams (Los Angeles; Legion of Los Angeles) would team with Shane Kline (Bally, Pa.) to get third.
Jennifer Valente (San Diego; Sho-Air Twenty20) would team with Jastrab in the Elite Women’s Madison. The team would go on to accumulate 41 points, earning them the top step of the podium. Kim Geist (Emmaus, Pa.; The Velo Shop/LWA Racing) and Christina Birch (Los Angles; Foundation for American Track Cycling Ambassador) would take second. In third was Elspeth Huyett (Emmaus, Pa.; Silberline Racing p/b IAMICANIWILLIDO) and Tela Crane (Seattle, Wash.; Lake Washington Velo).
Junior 17-18 Scratch Race
Jastrab and Ta-Perez would switch podium spots in the Junior Women’s Scratch Race, with Jastrab on the top stop this time. Stevenson would add another Bronze to her collection of hardware she garnered this week.
Part of the winning team for the Junior Men’s Madison, Ian Oelrich (San Diego; Team Velosport Junior & U23 Development Rock N Road Cyclery) would add another Stars-and-Stripes jersey to his collection. The Junior Men’s Keirin champion from earlier this week, Alexander Wulfgang Lochmiller (Poway, Calif.; Team Velosport Junior & U23 Development Rock N Road Cyclery) would take the second step of the podium. Adding a second bronze for the day, McDonald, took third.
16 & Younger Omnium
Going into the second day of the Junior 15-16 Women’s Omnium, Makayla MacPherson (Corona, Calif.; Sho-Air Twenty20 Development) was leading, with Chloe Patrick (Carson, Calif.; Team Velosport Junior & U23 Development Rock N Road Cyclery) and Kelly Dahlin (Bellevue, Wash.; Jerry Baker Juniors) hot on her wheel. After two additional events, the elimination and points race, Patrick would prove the victor and take the title. MacPherson would earn the silver and Dahlin the bronze.
Grant Carter (Macungie, Pa.; Team T Town) would earn the overall omnium title for the 15-16 Junior Men, winning three of the four events. Brian Luciano (Katy, Texas; Northwest Cycling Club) who was sitting third going into day two, would move into the silver medal position after a solid performance in the elimination race in the morning. Will Sharp (Katy, Texas; Hot Tubes Development Team) would earn bronze.
Winning one and placing second in the other two events in the Junior 11-12 Women’s Omnium, Alexis Jaramillo (Colorado Springs, Colo.; Front Rangers Junior Cycling) would earn the Stars-and-Stripes jersey. Eire Chen (Del Mar, Calif.; Team Velosport Junior & U23 Development Rock N Road Cyclery) Would come in second with her win of the final race of the omnium. Emma Jimenez Palos (Plymouth, Mich.; American Cycling League – Detroit) was third.
Completing his hattrick, Enzo Edmonds (Brooklyn, N.Y.; Star Track Racing), won the last of the three events for the Junior 11-12 Men, earning him the national title. Benjamin Juracich (Bellingham, Wash.; Liquid Velo) sped to the second step of the podium. Third was JC Pile (Kirkland, Wash.; Jerry Baker Juniors).
Sunday’s schedule features elite, junior, and para-cycling 1,000-meter & 500-meter time trials, elite points races, and para-cycling scratch races.
The event will be live streamed during the evening sessions beginning Thursday July 4 through Sunday July 7 on USA Cycling’s YouTube channel.
You can follow the action on USA Cycling’s @usacyclinglive Twitter account as well as the @usacycling Instagram account, and follow along with others posts by using the hashtag #TrackNats.
