Saturday, May 14, 2005
WALLA WALLA, Wash. -- With Mara Abbott winning the 56-mile road race and Laura Valaas placing second in the criterium, the Whitman College cycling team moved into position Saturday to snap Dartmouth College’s three-year reign as Division II national champions.
The National Collegiate Cycling Association (NCCA) championships, which got underway Friday in Lawrence, Kan., conclude Sunday with the team time trial events.
Based on Saturday’s results in the men’s and women’s road races, Whitman slipped past Lees-McRae College (Banner Elk, N.C.) into first place in the overall team standings for Division II, which is for schools with enrollments of less than 15,000. Whitman has about 1,450 students.
Sunday’s results in the team time trial events should determine whether Whitman or Lees-McRae will displace Dartmouth, an Ivy League school, as the new Division II champion.
“Lees-McRae is strong, but our women are the defending national champions in the team trial event,” Whitman coach Glenn Silver said. “And a couple of our guys crashed today in the road race, so the men’s team has something to prove Sunday also. It should be a fight to the finish.”
Whitman competed as a team for the first time at last year’s championships, placing second to Dartmouth.
Whitman’s Abbott, a first-year student from Boulder, Colo., won the women’s road Saturday in three hours and 11 seconds. She beat Stephanie Hannos, a rider for Cumberland University (Lebanon, Tenn.), by two minutes and 26 seconds.
Valaas, a Whitman junior from Wenatchee, Wash., placed ninth in the road race, finishing two minutes and 34 seconds off the winning pace. Rebecca Jensen, a sophomore from Mukilteo, Wash., finished 18th for Whitman, while Jane Rynbrandt, a junior from Petoskey, Mich., was 21st.
In the men’s 84-mile road race Saturday, former Whitman rider Nick Clayville, now competing for Western Washington University, was the winner in 3:35.26. Clayville transferred to Western Washington last fall after one year at Whitman.
Sam Johnson (Santa Fe, N.M.), a Whitman junior, placed sixth on Saturday, finishing two minutes and 41 seconds behind Clayville.
Bill Goulding, a senior from Los Alamos, N.M., survived what Silver called a “horrendous crash” near the finish line to place 40th, three minutes and 49 seconds off the winning pace.
“Bill ran across the finish line, holding the two pieces of his bike, which had broken apart in the crash,” Silver said. “He’s beat up with some scrapes and bruises, but he’s okay. We’ll put some duct tape on him and he’ll be ready to go tomorrow for the team time trial.”
Whitman’s Sam Bell, a freshman from Glouchester, Mass., finished 52nd in the road race. Ian Gallaher, a senior from Seattle, Wash., crashed about two-thirds of the way through the race and was unable to finish.
The cycling championships got underway Friday with the men’s and women’s criterium, a fast-paced event held in downtown Lawrence. In the women’s race, 33 riders sped around the one-mile, L-shaped course for 60 minutes and then finished with an additional three laps.
Cumberland’s Hannos, who placed second in Saturday’s road race, out-sprinted Whitman’s Valaas to win the criterium by one bike length. The finishing pack also included Lees-McRae’s Clara Beard, who took third, and Whitman’s Abbott, who was fourth. Jensen added a 14th-place finish for Whitman.
In the men’s criterium on Friday, Gallaher enjoyed what Silver called the "best race of his life" in placing 11th. Johnson was close behind in 14th place, and Goulding was among the race leaders until he slid out with a blown rear tire. "Had he not crashed, I really think Bill was going to win the race, or at least place in the top three," Silver said.
Todd Yezefski, riding for the University of Chicago, won the men’s criterium.
In the final individual standings, based on combined results from the criterium and road race, Abbott and Valaas finished second and third, respectively, among the women. Jensen was 15th and Rynbrandt 25th. First place went to Cumberland’s Hannos.
In the men’s individual standings, Johnson finished third. Gallaher was 38th and Goulding 43rd.
A year ago, Whitman wrapped up the national championships by winning the women’s team trial event. Valaas and Rynbrandt were part of that winning team.
The Whitman men placed fifth in their team trial last year. Johnson and Goulding were part of that team.
CONTACT: Dave Holden, Whitman Sports Information
holden@whitman.edu; 509 527-5902
