10/31/05 - National Champions Again

    The Lees-McRae cycling team headed to Seven Springs, PA this past weekend to defend their National Championship title.  After two straight years as champions they were attempting to do what only one team before them had done, win three straight Mountain Bike National Championships.  The team consisted of Brent Bookwalter, Monique Hein, 2004 men and women omnium National champions.  Also competing were Clara Beard, Kristi Henne, Rebecca Conklin, Katie Getchell, Olivia Maurey, Wes Shirey, Robert Jameson, Danny Marquardt, Ed Buress, David Flynn, Phillip Watters and Scott Stewart.  Besides their coach, Doug Owen, they also had a strong support team of Carson Worts, Kevin Holldber, Will Hoffarth, Wentworth Knipe, Preston Anderson, Gonzalo Escobar, and Chris Perham.  The first event of the weekend started out amazing as the Bobcats showed their strength and some of their future National level riders.  Wentworth, Will, Kevin and Carson swept the top four spots in the opening B race.  In the National Champion short track the Bobcats once again flexed their muscle with Brent taking home the gold medal with Danny finishing fifth, Ed sixth and Scott Stewart ninth.  In the women’s race Monique took home the top spot with Clara just behind her in second.  Kristi finished twelfth, despite being very sick, and Rebecca finished 15.  The team took first place team over all for each event.  Friday afternoon the race featured one of the most fun events for spectators, the mountain cross.  In the men’s field David Flynn came in fourth, and Monique in third to both receive podium spots.  The women’s team finished first over all and the men’s team finished second over all to conference rival ETSU.
 
    Saturday brought very cold and wet conditions for the long cross country race.  The women raced first in the mud with Clara taking second place and Monique, despite falling down and getting wet, in fifth place.  Katie Getchell, a new comer to Mountain Biking, finished fifteenth.  Kristi was unable to start due to the conditions and her illness.  Brent came to the line as the defending National Champion and showed that he had not lost a step from a long season racing in Europe for the USA Under 23 National Road team.  His finishing time was the fastest of any rider, Div I or Div II to bring home his second Gold medal of the competition.  Scott Stewart rode strong and finished sixth.  The conditions took their toll on many riders and despite mechanicals Wes came in at 23 with Robert was not able to finish.  The women’s team finished second over all and the men’s team finished first overall.  At this point in the competition the team had a commanding lead over second place Union College, the 2002 National Champions.
 
    Sunday finally brought warmer temperatures and some needed sunshine for the downhill race.  With Kristi still sick, Katie took her starting spot to assure four riders in the women’s event.  Despite the wet and very muddy conditions, Monique rode to a second place finish, Katie surprised the field and her team with a ninth place finish, Clara finished tenth and after a hard crash Olivia came in at thirteenth.  This left the women’s team with a second over all finish.  The men rode extremely hard with David finishing second, Brent fifth, Wes sixteenth and Phillip twentieth.  The men took the first place team overall for the event. 
 
    In the final standings the Lees-McRae team finished first overall to secure their third straight National Championship.  This is only the second time in collegiate cycling that a team has won three straight championships and the first time a Div II team had won three at all.  To complete the domination of the weekend, Brent and Monique once again won the overall omnium for their second year in a row.  Clara finished third overall and Scott Stewart just missed the podium with a sixth place overall finish.  This years win was a total team effort.  The support offered not only by the other team members present, but the parents and school administration helped the Bobcats to win not only by a large margin, but with the most points scored by any team all weekend, Div I or Div II.  The team will now take a short break before heading off to Rhode Island in December to compete for the National title in Collegiate Cyclocross.  After that it will be a long winter of base training before they attempt to move to the top step of the podium as Collegiate Road National Champions in the Spring of 2006.  In spring of 2005 they finished second overall and National Champions in the team time trial.  The team appreciates everyone in their community that understands their desire and love of riding and respect them as they ride around the local roads.  It helps them to reach the highest level possible in cycling knowing that the community supports them.
 

Doug Owen
Head Coach
Lees-McRae Cycling Team