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Montana State Cyclocross Championships
Kalispell, Montana, November 9, 2003
Hahn, Jones claim MT State Championships
A rolling, snow-covered course and temperatures in the 20s met the racers contending for the Montana State Cyclocross Championship. The eighth race in the Montana State Series brought out 30 riders to the rolling fields of Herron Park in Kalispell, MT.
The Men's A field wasn't particularly large, but it definitely packed some punch. Jamul Hahn (Northern Rockies) was back to defend his title against the likes of Geoff Proctor (Montana Velo), the US National team coach, pro mountain biker Clint Muhlfeld (Flathead Cycling), Scott Herzig (Montana Velo), the state road champion the last two years, and Tejay Van Gadern (Rio Grande), a defending US Cyclocross junior champion. The parcours featured winding, off-camber grass and slick muddy climbs. Making it more challenging snow, which became warm and slippery as the race progressed. Steve Muller did a great job of "grooming" the course beforehand, going as far as to sweep the snow off the course before a fast set of triple barriers.
The Men's A race started at noon and would go for an hour. As the gun (it was really a whistle) went off, Hahn went right to the front with Proctor and Muhlfeld on his wheel. The next group was 5 seconds back halfway into the 7-minute lap. Led by Tom Robertson (Northern Rockies) and Andy Minier (Montana State University), the chasers were sliding on the now-melting snow, and were never in contact with the leading three again. Jay Noonan (Flathead Cycling) and Ethan Harrison (Verticle Earth) came the closest, but the chase was slowed when Noonan had a mechanical with a couple of laps to go.
By the end of the first lap, Hahn had a gap 5-second gap over Proctor and Muhlfeld. Hahn stayed upright and focused throughout the race, and increased his lead in almost all of the 9 laps. He beat Proctor by 1 minute to win his second state championship in a row. Muhlfeld finished three minutes back to take third with Harrison not far behind in fourth. Chance Cook (Flathead Cycling) won a two-up sprint against Robertson to round out the top five.
In the women's race Kathleen Jones (Five Valley Velo) got her just reward for a full season of cross racing, a victory in the state championship. She finished in front of Gwen Sensenig (Great Divide) by three minutes to claim the Women's crown.
All of the fields except for Men's "A", started their race at 11:00. The temperature was a bit cooler, and snow covered the whole course. The field was led on the first lap by Tim Gartner (Flathead Cycling) who went on to capture the 35+ crown. John Weyhrich (Five Valley Velo) just beat out Gaertner in the sprint to win the 45+ race, while Richard Allen took the 55+. Phil Hess (Great Divide) won the Mens "B" race, finishing just behind Weyhrich and Gaertner.
Results
Men's A, 9 Laps 1 Jamul Hahn (Northern Rockies) 1.01.42 2 Geoff Proctor (Montana Velo) 1.00 3 Clint Muhlfeld (Flathead Cycling) 2.55 4 Ethan Harrison (Vertical Earth) 3.27 5 Chance Cook (Flathead Cycling) 4.35 6 Tom Robertson (Northern Rockies) 7 Tim Evans (UMcycling) 6.52 8 Andy Minier (MSU) 7.08 9 Scott Herzig (Montana Velo) 7.17 10 Tejay Vangarden (Rio Grande) 7.51 11 Joe Arnone (E-Caps) 11.32 12 Pete Costain (Whitefish) 13.43 DNF Tim Noonan (Flathead Cycling) Men's B 1 Phil Hess (Great Divide) 47.48 2 Robert Presta (Missoula) 1.15 3 Jeff Crouch (5VV) 1.38 4 Mark Weiss (Kalispell) 4.15 5 Steve Willis (Flathead Cycling) 4.41 6 Bryan Schutt (Kalispell) 7.25 Women 1 Kathleen Jones (5VV) 55.48 2 Gwen Sensenig (Great Divide) 3.00 Masters 35+ 1 Tim Gaertner (Flathead Cycling) 47.07 2 Craig Pozega (Great Divide) 1.10 3 Jeff Brooks (Missoula) 1.34 4 Eric Greenberg (Flathead Cycling) 3.10 Masters 45+ 1 John Weyhrich (5VV) 47.07 2 Steve Muller (Flathead Cycling) 3.48 3 Byron Deford (Great Divide) 14.10 Masters 55+ 1 Richard Allen (5VV) 1.05.35
