WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- An unknown dark horse competing in its first national championship event, Whitman College took the National Collegiate Cycling Association (NCCA) championships by storm last May in Madison, Wisc.
There will be no such surprise factor later this week, however, when Whitman sends another strong group to the NCCA’s Road National Championships in Lawrence, Kan.
Sam Johnson, a Whitman junior from Santa Fe, N.M., and Mara Abbott, a first-year competitor from Boulder, Colo., head to nationals as the top-seeded Division II riders from the Northwest Collegiate Cycling Conference (NWCCC). The Whitman women’s squad also includes juniors Laura Valaas (Wenatchee, Wash.) and Jane Rynbrandt (Petoskey, Mich.), who helped the Missionaries capture a national title last May in the team time trial.
The 2005 championships begin Friday, May 13, with the fast-paced criterium event in downtown Lawrence. The road race is set for Saturday, followed by the team trial event on Sunday.
As the criterium and road race events get ready to start, the top seeds from each of the 10 conferences around the country will be introduced and called first to the starting line. Whitman’s Johnson and Abbott earned the NWCCC top seeds by racking up the most points during five regular season events. Other Division II schools (enrollments of less than 15,000) in the NWCCC are Western Washington University, Montana State University, University of Portland, University of Puget Sound, and North Idaho College.
Abbott was a dominant force in the NWCCC this spring, finishing in the top five in each of her road races and criterium events. She won the road races hosted by Montana State and Washington State, and she was the runner-up in two criteriums.
Abbott destroyed her competition at the Montana State road race, completing the 58-mile course outside Bozeman in two hours, 41 minutes and 44 seconds. Battling a head wind of about 20 m.p.h. and a course that included two climbs that peaked at over 6,000 feet, Abbott beat her nearest competitor by 12 minutes and 20 seconds. "That may be the largest margin of victory for a road race in the history of our conference," Whitman coach Glenn Silver said. "The road race is Mara’s speciality."
Regular season highlights for Johnson included a victory at the Montana State road race. He placed second and fourth in two criteriums. "Sam is strong in both the road race and criterium," Silver said. "He also does an exceptional job in the team time trial."
Valaas missed the early part of the cycling schedule this spring while completing an NCAA All-American season in nordic skiing. Valaas quickly made up for lost time, placing first and third in her only two criteriums. She also placed third in each of three road races.
Valaas heads to nationals next week as the NWCCC’s No. 2 seed among the women.
Rebecca Jensen, a sophomore from Mukilteo, Wash., is the fourth member of the Whitman women’s contignent headed to nationals.
Joining Johnson on the Whitman men’s national squad are Bill Goulding, a senior from Los Alamos, N.M; Ian Gallaher, a senior from Seattle, Wash.; and Sam Bell, a freshman from Glouchester, Mass.
Last year, graduating senior Laura Matsen teamed with Valaas, Rynbrandt and Jamie Hinderliter to win the women’s team time trial. Matsen nearly won a second national crown in the road race, losing in a photo finish to New Mexico State University’s Merrill Sapp (who was recently ruled ineligible and disqualified). Valaas recoved from a flat tire in last year’s road race to place 18th.
In the men’s team time trial last year, Johnson and Goulding were part of a Whitman foursome that placed fifth, finishing just six seconds out of fourth place.
The Whitman women’s and men’s teams scored enough points at last year’s championships to place second in Division II. Dartmouth, an Ivy League school with an enrollment about four times higher than Whitman, was first, winning its third consecutive overall title.