Swenson wins junior national short track championship
Cannondale rider doubles up on titles





Keegan Swenson (Cannondale) tripled-up on junior national titles on Sunday afternoon when he won the Cat. 1 Junior 15-18 short track in Sun Valley, Idaho. Swenson had won the cross country championship on Friday and the super D on Sunday morning.
Swenson, Tobin Ortenblad (Ritte Elite U23 Development Team) and Casey Williams (Whole Athlete/Specialized) broke away together early in the race, establishing themselves definitively as the lead trio in the 20-minute plus three-lap race.
About 14 minutes into the race, Williams came off the pace of Swenson and Ortenblad. With two laps to go, Swenson made his move and got away from Ortenblad.
"I felt great. I was planning with two or three to go to attack Tobin and get a gap because I knew he'd be a stronger sprinter," said Swenson. "I wanted that gap before the finish."
"I went in a corner and ramped it up on the last lap. At first, I wasn't sure I had it, so I kept going a little harder."
Swenson rode the last two laps alone to victory. Ortenblad finished up on his own in second while Williams hung on - also on his own - for third place.
"I was with Keegan for a while, and I attacked him near the end, but then I couldn't hold it, and he counter-attacked," said Ortenblad. "He's a skinny little guy and he got me on the hill. I held on for second and did damage control."
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Third placed Williams said, "It hurt, but I felt pretty good," said Williams. "I was stoked to get right on Keegan at the start. I didn't have the legs to stay with them. I fought as hard as I possibly could to stay in third, and I'm glad it worked out."
Full Results
# | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
---|---|---|
1 | Keegan Swenson (Cannondale Factory Racing) | 0:31:19 |
2 | Tobin Ortenblad (Ritte Elite U23 Development Team) | 0:00:23 |
3 | Casey Williams (Whole Athlete-Specialized) | 0:00:46 |
4 | Chase Dickens | 0:00:54 |
5 | Sepp Kuss | 0:00:56 |
6 | Jacob Albrecht (Whole Athlete) | 0:00:56 |
7 | Bryan Duke (Ritte Elite U23 Development Team) | 0:00:58 |
8 | Cody Phillips | 0:01:19 |
9 | Christian Husband (Sho-air/Rock 'n Road/Team Velos) | 0:01:34 |
10 | Ryan Geiger (AZ Devo) | 0:01:45 |
11 | Zachary Carlson (Matrix/RBM/Matrix Cycling Club) | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Sean Bennett (Whole Athlete-Specialized) | 0:01:45 |
13 | Michael Sampson (Team Alpine Clinic RCN) | 0:01:49 |
14 | Stephan Davoust (Durango Devo) | 0:01:50 |
15 | Casey Hildebrandt (Twin Six) | 0:02:10 |
16 | Levi Kurlander (Durango Devo) | 0:02:11 |
17 | Luke Allen (Matrix Cycling Club) | 0:02:11 |
18 | Taylor Smith (Cannondale Factory Racing) | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Landen Beckner (Montana Velo) | 0:02:13 |
20 | Tyler Coplea (BMC Mountainbike) | 0:02:13 |
21 | Eliel Anttila | 0:02:13 |
22 | Adin Baird (BJC/Tokyo Joe's Junior Development) | 0:02:24 |
23 | Mason Shea (Bicycle Sport Shop Mountain Bike) | 0:02:25 |
24 | Nolan Brady (Old Town Bicycle Race Team) | 0:02:27 |
25 | Peter Karinen | 0:02:33 |
26 | Jacob Sacket (Tri-City Bicycles) | 0:02:33 |
27 | Zachary Peterson (KUHL) | 0:02:33 |
28 | Matthew Erbentraut | 0:02:40 |
29 | Joe Christiansen | 0:02:40 |
30 | Jack Keane (Above Category Racing) | 0:02:42 |
31 | Justin Griffin | 0:03:14 |
32 | Adam Christopher | 0:03:15 |
33 | Ben Hoffman (Team Muleterro/Gallatin Valley) | 0:03:37 |
-2laps | Garrett Lundberg | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
-2laps | Shane Skelton (Whole Athlete-Specialized/Whole) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
-5laps | Daniel Henderson | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
-5laps | Jorge Munoz Jr (Dominion - Falcon Bank) | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
-5laps | Liam Earl (BYRDS (Boise Young Rider Dev Sq)) | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
-5laps | Dillen Maurer (Montrose Cycling Club) | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
-5laps | Elliott Baring (Cycle Youth) | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
-5laps | Evan Williams | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
-5laps | Haakon Sigurslid (Durango Devo) | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
-5laps | Lukas Giesen (Get Out! New Mexico) | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
-6laps | Garrett Gerchar (BJC/Tokyo Joe's Junior Development) | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
-7laps | Taylor Squillaci (Get Out! New Mexico) | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Zane Godby (enCompass Racing) | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Ryan Totman | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Skyler Taylor (Ritte Elite U23 Development Team) | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Spence Peterson (Ritte Elite U23 Development Team) | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
DNS | Lucas Newcomb (Whole Athlete) | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
DNF | Cody Cupp (Methow Valley Cycling) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
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