Bobcat cyclists dominate Conference race
The Lees-McRae cycling team traveled to Nashville for their conference
race hosted by Vanderbilt and Cumberland. Saturday was a road race just
south of Nashville. Traveling this week with the team was A rider’s Luke
Winger, Robert Jamieson, Wes Shirey, Danny Marquardt, Chris Saxton, Ed
Burress, Kevin Holldber, Carson Worts, Gonzalo Escobar, Scott Jackson
and Scott Stewart. B rider’s traveling were Jesse Hayes, Chris Consorto,
Andy Evans, Preston Anderson, Wentworth Knipe and Will Hoffarth. The
women traveling were Clara Beard, Monique Hein, Kristi Henne, Rebecca
Conklin, Katie Getchell, Olivia Maurey and Rebecca Johnson. In the A
men’s race the race started out the first 20 miles with no breaks
escaping from the peloton and the bobcat cyclist dictating the pace. In
the next 20 miles a break was established with Luke, Wes and two
Cumberland riders. That break was brought back in and in the last 20
miles Scott J got away with Peter Fairbanks from Cumberland. It was a
long hard sprint at the finish with Scott Jackson finishing strong for
the win. Danny finished in third, Ed in fifth, Wes in eighth, Luke in
tenth and Scott S. in eleventh. In the Women’s A race Clara, and Monique
drove the field and Clara sprinted hard and won the race. Monique was
just clipped by an Auburn rider and finished third. In the Women’s B
race Rebecca rode well for fourth place with Katie finishing in sixth,
Olivia in seventh and Rebecca J. in eighth. The Lees-McRae men really
dictated the pace in the B race with Preston and Went finishing first
and second with Andy winning a sprint for fifth place and Will finishing
tenth.
Sunday the weather warmed up a little for the Criterium race. With a
dominating race on Saturday the team was looking to complete a strong
showing for the weekend. The B men raced first with Preston riding away
from the pack to win the race going away. Wentworth despite crashing
hard early helped to drive the peloton hard and was just clipped at the
line to finish third. Chris finished sixth and Will Hoffarth finished
eleventh. The women completely dominated the A race with Clara and
Monique completely lapping the field. After catching back on with the
peloton they then helped set up Kristi for a field sprint. Kristi
responded well and came away with third place for a one, two, three
finishes. In the women’s B race Rebecca Conklin rode away early for a
break, but was eventually brought back and finished in a sprint for
second place, Olivia finished in fourth and Katie finished in fifth. In
the Men’s race Luke and Scott S. formed a break with Jason Chatham from
Cumberland to ride away from the field. They eventually lapped the field
with Luke and Jason then breaking away again. Meanwhile Ed, Scott J and
Wes formed a chase group that also gapped the peloton and set up Scott
for strong finish. The final finishing order for the day was Luke
second, Scott S third, Scott J fourth, Wes fifth, Ed sixth, Danny
eighth, Kevin tenth and Robert eleventh. The complete domination brought
the bobcats seven of the top ten places.
With five wins for the weekend and a strong point total, the team
dominated the weekend and secured their spot at the top of the
conference. April 1 and 2 the Bobcats travel to the University of
Georgia for their next race. April 8 and 9 the team will co host a race
with Appalachian State in downtown Banner Elk and the surrounding area.
The cycling team would like to thank all the support from their
sponsors, Food Lion, Hammer Nutrition, Pro Link, Magic cycles, Hampton
Trail cycles, Red Bull and Cane Creek
