2010 US Collegiate Nationals - Day 3 - TTT

Day three of the 2010 US Collegiate Nationals was a 19.5 mile team time trial just outside of Waterloo, WI but first let's catch up on the rest of the action from the criterium in Madison yesterday. 

Women's Division 2 saw a three up break roll down the road from about midway. Arielle Filiberti (Dartmouth), Kendi Thomas (Whitman), and Rita Klofta (DePauw) put over a minute on the hard chasing pack with Filiberti surging ahead and taking her second win of the championships (she won the road race on Saturday). Kendi Thomas came in second besting her third in the road race, and Rita Klofta earned her place on the podium.

The Women's D1 race came down to a field sprint and I suppose everyone suspected that Carla Swart would get yet another win, but NO! Wisconsin native now going to school in Texas, Jen Purcell (Midwestern State) held off Swart from the final turn and got the win, and the championship, right on the line! Little did we know that Midwestern State would later win the D1 Mens race as well.

The Men's D2 race was a barn burner with constant attacking, quite often from Minnesota State's Pat Lemieux who took second in Saturday's road race (and has been having a good season leading up to the championships). Once again it came down to a field sprint and this time it was Richard Geng (Mesa State) beating Lemieux for the victory. 

Now it's Sunday, the sun finally came out, and it was time for the team time trial held just outside of Waterloo, WI - home of Trek's World HQ. The course was a 19.5 mile mixture of open road and twisty back farm lanes, all with rollers and twists, some of which were rather tight. Whitman College took the Women's D2 title with a time of 45:26.

Women's Division 1 was taken by Indiana's Marian College with a time of 42:25, 10 seconds faster than Lees-McRae, and 36 seconds faster than third place UC-Davis.

Men's Division 2 was won by a very tight looking Mesa State with a time of 38:15, besting Western Washington and Whitman College for their national championship. 






To learn who would be the Men's Division 1 National Champion, spectators were forced to wait until the very end of the day, biting their fingernails the whole time as each team crossed the finish line and stopped the clock. With still a number of teams out on course, Colorado finished with an impressive time of 38:11 and the crowd gave out an audible "Oooooo" as they beat Lindsey Wilson by a full 29 seconds. This was repeated again as Fort Lewis crossed with a blistering 37:32 ,  this time a full 40 seconds faster than Colorado! 

The next team to finish was Marian, and the crowd cheered for them as they streaked across the line in 36:23! Over a FULL MINUTE ahead of Fort Lewis! Now there were only two teams left on course, Lees-McRae and UC-Davis. Lees-McRae posted a 4th place 37:52 and the announcers counted down the seconds to see if UC-Davis could still win, but no - 36:58. Good for second place. Marian College wins the Men's Division 1 National Championship!


Full results including the omnium results can be found on the USA Cycling site. It was a long, hard weekend for everyone, but WOW! what fun!