Smith, Annis solo to masters women's championships

Unseasonably warm conditions in the Madison, Wisconsin area created a parcours replete with thick mud, rather than the expected snow and ice, for the duration of the 2.1-mile circuit on Friday.

Andrea Smith (Minuteman Road Club-LadiesFirst Racing), who sits in fourth in the United States International Cyclo-cross (USICX) elite women's standings heading to Sunday's finale, held off Kari Studley (Team Redline), the winner of Wednesday's women's singlespeed championship, early in the race and a surging Crystal Anthony late in the contest to earn the gold medal. Anthony was 11 seconds faster than Nicole Thiemann (Team CF-Elite) to win the silver.

"I heard she (Anthony) moved into second and I can't count her out," Smith said. "So I just tried to ride steady, consistent and keep the pedals moving and keep it upright otherwise she would pass me."

The day's racing closed with the masters women's 35-39 race where Sally Annis (CrossResults.com) sprinted to an early lead before riding away with the coveted stars-and-stripes jersey. On her first lap, Annis traversed the muddy course nearly 30 seconds faster than any other rider before turning her second of four circuits 45 seconds faster any competitor en route to winning the race by nearly two minutes.

"It was messy, so having bikes that functioned and getting traction was key," Annis said. "You can never let up in 'cross. You never know what's going to happen. You can roll a tire. You could crash. You could break a chain. At one point, I had some chain stuck, so I had to stop and do a little maintenance. You never know. You always have to stay on the gas."

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