ColumbiaMagazine.com
Printed from:

Welcome to Columbia Magazine  
 



































 
LWC wins 3rd place in Cyclocross nationals at Bend, OR

Ashley James wins Under-23 National Title; Clayton Omer takes 8th in Men's Division
Click on headline for full story plus photo(s)

By Chris Wells, LWC Sports Information Director

BEND, OR - The Lindsey Wilson College cycling team finished third at the USA Cycling National Collegiate Cyclocross National Championships over the weekend.

The Blue Raiders finished with 146 teams points - 73 points each from the men and the women - to finish on the podium in the Division I Team Omnium. Lindsey Wilson equaled its mark from a season ago when the Blue Raiders finished third in Kansas City, Kansas.



Ft. Lewis, Lee-McRae finish 1-2

Fort Lewis (CO) College (188 points) and Lees-McRae (NC) College (166) finished 1-2 in the championships.

"The team rode incredibly well and I couldn't be more proud of their efforts during the race," Lindsey Wilson cycling coach David Grigsby said. "Our women battled teams double their size and our men endured a number of mechanical issues and yet they continued to battle the elements and unbelievable competition.

"They were simply terrific this weekend on and off the course."

James has pair of unforgettable races

Lindsey Wilson sophomore Ashley James produced the best finish of the weekend with a pair of unforgettable races in frigid temperatures at the base of Mount Hood.

The Delafield, WI., native, captured the women's Under-23 national title in a race ran simultaneously with the women's elite race. A little more than an hour later, James grabbed the silver medal in the women's Division I race as she finished 14 seconds behind Fort Lewis' Teal Stetson-Lee, who captured the individual national title.

"Ashley was a machine," Grigsby said. "I had originally decided not to allow our women to complete in the U-23 race since it was the race prior to our collegiate race. But after talking to our women and re-reading our athletics mission statement -- which I interpreted to mean that we should not deny our student-athletes these opportunities -- I had a change of heart and allowed them to ride.

Grigsby: James a juggernaut

"Ashley proved to be phenomenal. She won the U-23 national championship and was just off first place in the collegiate race. She was a juggernaut."

James finished 29th in the women's Elite Race with a time of 46 minutes and 54 seconds. She was the top U-23 rider thus the national title. James finished more than five minutes -- but on the lead lap -- behind the world's top ranked woman cyclocross rider Katie Compton, who finished with a time of 41:08 to win her sixth consecutive national title.

It is the first national title for James.

Later, James overcame more than two minutes - after she was held up in a crash on the course - on the final lap of the 1-1/2-mile loop to nearly win her second race of the day. James finished with a time of 39:33. But Stetson-Lee - who had a mechanical issue on the last lap - carried her bike across the line to finish in 39:19 capturing the title.

Senior Sarah Lukas (44:48) and freshman Brooke Crum (45:24) finished 16th and 17th while sophomore Kelsey Markham (47:52) finished 19th.

"I was so proud our women," Grigsby said. "While we have four strong women others had as many as eight and it's hard to compete against those numbers. So I was very happy with their finish."

Clayton Omer finishes 8th in Men's Division

Earlier in the day, sophomore Clayton Omer finished a team-best eighth in the Men's Division I race. He finished with a time of 49:06.His plight - through the 100-plus riders and on icy course conditions - to a top-10 finish proved to be somewhat incredible.

During the opening lap, Omer found himself caught in an accident which made his bike almost impossible to ride. Entering the pit area -- where he is allowed to change to a backup bike -- he endures another crash that that leaves him in last place exiting the pits.

One mile later -- as he neared the end of the troublesome lap -- the Louisville, KY native had worked his way back to the middle of the pack and continued to climb en route to the eighth place finish.

Clayton has amazing comeback

"Clayton's comeback was amazing," Grigsby said. "I can only imagine what he could have done if he had of been on the front row in the beginning and avoided the early crashes."

University of Washington-Seattle's Zach McDonald sprinted to just edge Fort Lewis' Benjamin Sonntag to capture the title with a time of 46:42.

Lindsey Wilson junior Christopher Bogedin (51:11) and freshman Taylor Ladd (51:28) earned top-15 finishes with a 13th and 15th place respectively. Senior Kip Spaude finished 22nd and junior Stefan Swecker ended 31st.

"I'm struck by how well our men performed under the circumstances," Grigsby said. "Everyone has mechanical issues and you have to overcome those things, but our guys really battled to produce our finish.

"It's amazing, but midway through the race we had four guys in or around the top-10," Grigsby said. "That's when the issues popped up."

LWC in third place in Division I rankings

Following the cyclcross nationals and the 18 points the Blue Raiders earned for their finish, Lindsey Wilson takes sole possession of third place in the Division I Team Rankings.

Lindsey Wilson has amassed 49 points entering the final discipline, the road season in the spring. LWC is one of only five schools who have pointed in each of the three disciplines. The Blue Raiders scored 15 points in Track and 16 points in Mountain Bike prior to this weekend's Cyclocross.

Fort Lewis leads the pack with 58 points and Lees-McRae is second with 53 points.

The Blue Raiders begin their road season in March.


This story was posted on 2009-12-16 14:58:39
Printable: this page is now automatically formatted for printing.
Have comments or corrections for this story? Use our contact form and let us know.



Ashley James, LWC cyclist, takes national title



2009-12-16 - Bend, OR - Photo LWC photo. Ashley James, LWC cyclist, captured first place in the women's Under-23 race to take the national title in the catergory at the USA Cycling Natonal Collegiate Championships over the weekend.
Read More... | Comments? | Click here to share, print, or bookmark this photo.



 

































 
 
Quick Links to Popular Features


Looking for a story or picture?
Try our Photo Archive or our Stories Archive for all the information that's appeared on ColumbiaMagazine.com.

 

Contact us: Columbia Magazine and columbiamagazine.com are published by Linda Waggener and Pen Waggener, PO Box 906, Columbia, KY 42728.
Phone: 270.403.0017


Please use our contact page, or send questions about technical issues with this site to webmaster@columbiamagazine.com. All logos and trademarks used on this site are property of their respective owners. All comments remain the property and responsibility of their posters, all articles and photos remain the property of their creators, and all the rest is copyright 1995-Present by Columbia Magazine. Privacy policy: use of this site requires no sharing of information. Voluntarily shared information may be published and made available to the public on this site and/or stored electronically. Anonymous submissions will be subject to additional verification. Cookies are not required to use our site. However, if you have cookies enabled in your web browser, some of our advertisers may use cookies for interest-based advertising across multiple domains. For more information about third-party advertising, visit the NAI web privacy site.