CSU crowns women’s national omnium champion at Collegiate Mountain bike National Championships
Riding over harsh terrain, through boulders, over streams and
around trees, Hana Fiserova of the CSU cycling team raced well
enough to take top honors at the Collegiate Mountain Bike National
Championships in Angel Fire, N.M.
Competing in the short track, cross country, slalom and downhill
events during the three-day championship, Fiserova finished high
enough in each event to tabulate sufficient points to win the
women’s omnium (overall) champion award.
Fiserova’s chance to win came down to Sunday’s final race – the
downhill – in which riders had to meander through a “treacherous
downhill race that featured open roads, technical woods’ sections,
fast singletrack and boulder fields that looked like something one
would never attempt to ride through,” said cycling head coach Steve
Owens in a press release.
Entering the race fourth overall, Fiserova knew she had to make
up for the “bad race” she had in the cross country event. With the
pressure on her shoulders, she came through.
“The pressure was on for everyone,” Owens said. “We knew
everyone had to focus on doing the best they could…and that they
did.”
Beating out several downhill ‘specialists’, Fiserova claimed
fourth overall, giving her just enough push to go from fourth to
first in the omnium standings.
Other competitors for the Rams took to the slopes and the tracks
over the weekend. The first event for all competitors was the short
track race where men’s team members Steve Ladd and Kyle Drennen
competed for the Rams with Ladd taking 11th overall. For the women,
Fiserova led the charge with a fifth place finish.
Immediately following the short track, the team competed in the
mountain cross event – making rest and smart racing a must for
those who had just competed in the short track event.
“For those members of our team that were racing all events,
recovery was key,” Owens said. “But practicing the course was also
paramount.”
In the head-to-head mountain cross competition a handful of Rams
advanced to the round of 16, but were unable to qualify into the
final brackets.
In the cross country race the cyclers met their match as a wet,
muddy course slowed the men’s team down over the 30-mile course.
Ladd again led the way with a 29th place showing.
The course dried up for the women and led to better times and
finishes as Fiserova and company pushed their way through 20-mile
course with Fiserova taking the top team honors with a ninth place
finish.
After a poor cross country race overall, the Rams dropped from
fourth to sixth place overall – 10 points behind sixth – with only
the difficult downhill remaining.
“I personally rode the course three times with Hana and was
forced to walk a fair amount of it,” Owens said of the difficulty
of the challenge facing the team. “Hats off to the guys who raced
it.”
Greg Smith finished 11th overall for the men and that, combined
with Fiserova’s finish, put the Rams fifth overall in the team
standings.
“It was a great weekend and a great season,” Owens said.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.