Owen earns junior 17-18 'cross national title

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Logan Owen continued his remarkable unbeaten streak in junior men's cyclo-cross championships today in Madison, Wisconsin as the Redline rider soloed to victory in the 17-18 category to claim his seventh consecutive title in the junior ranks.

In a hard-fought battle for the silver medal, Tobin Ortenblad (California Giant-Specialized) outsprinted Cypress Gorry (Whole Athlete-Specialized) 48 seconds behind Owen.

Andrew Dillman (Bob's Red Mill) and Curtis White (Clif Bar Cyclocross Team) rounded out the top five, finishing fourth and fifth respectively.

"It was really important for me today to get the win," said Owen. "I wanted to tie Katie [Compton] and be up there in the record books. Next year I want to be the first one to ever go all eight through the junior national championships.

"I was smooth on the course and made sure to pit every lap and get a clean bike so nothing broke down. Everything worked out perfectly and I just rode away with it. Without my crew in the pits I couldn't have won it today."

With its 11:00am start time, the parcours which started the morning in a frozen state had begun to thaw, providing a slick sheen of slime which put a premium on bike handling skills throughout the course. In addition to the slick surface, many sections of the course still had deep ruts from the previous day's racing to add to the challenge.

Wasting no time stamping his authority on the race, midway through the opening lap Owen had already gapped his rivals and the taxing up-and-down circuit blew the 48-rider field apart.

Andrew Dillman was Owen's closest chaser on the second lap, 35 seconds back at the barrier section prior to the second pit, but a crash soon knocked the Kentucky rider out of second.

Dillman was soon passed by Ortenblad, Zane Godby (Clif Bar Development Cyclocross Team) and Gorry.

Owen kept the pressure on at the front, making quick work of the technical sections and pushed his lead out to over one minute on the penultimate lap.

Ortenblad rode alone in second at 1:04, while Gorry and Godby followed together only 10 seconds later at the barrier section, which Godby bunny-hopped to thunderous approval from the spectators. Dillman had recovered from his crash and was alone in fifth, eight seconds behind Godby and Gorry.

Owen continued his smooth demolition of the Badger Prairie Park course on his fourth and final lap in the 40-minute contest, and comfortably won his seventh straight junior championship.

Gorry separated himself from Godby early in the final lap and bridged across to Ortenblad and the pair would sprint for second place, with Ortenblad edging Gorry. Dillman passed Godby to claim fourth and Godby's teammate Curtis White passed him as well to secure fifth.

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