WSCU bike team takes second at Nationals

“I’m so proud of our team”

Western State Colorado University mountain bikers improved on last year’s third-place  finish at the Collegiate National Championships by taking second in the Team Omnium in Division 2.
The Team Omnium is a points tally and combines men’s and women’s results from all four disciplines—cross country, short track, downhill and dual—and this year a coed team relay was added.
Snow fell early-on, so mud, chilly temperatures and slippery rocks and roots defined course conditions. Solid riding and consistency in all disciplines by the entire team allowed Western to excel.
Even though local powerhouse Brevard College outpaced everyone from the opening gun, the Mountaineers—down three riders due to injuries and a family emergency—found themselves in a heated battle for second with Rocky Mountain Conference foe Colorado Mesa University (CMU).
With only the dual event remaining, CMU had overtaken Western for second place. But in that final contest, the men just outpaced their west slope rivals while the Western women crushed the lady Mavericks, outscoring them by 30 points. In the end, Western beat CMU by only 12 points, 617 to 605, so every point earned throughout the weekend was crucial.
Coach Eddy Cohn summed up the weekend: “I’m so proud of our team. Nobody ever quit or got discouraged and we have quite a few riders who had never experienced this kind of riding. They’re already talking about next year and even though team leaders Owen, Caleb and Alex are graduating, we’re bringing back some great riders, including two freshman, who were part of this nationals team.”
The cycling team is part of the Mountain Sports program at Western and they’ll wrap up their season by hosting the Rocky Mountain Conference Cylcocross Championships on the WSCU campus the weekend of November 16-17. For complete results from nationals and for more information about the Mountain Sports program, go to: www.wscumountainsports.com.