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."
| 1 | Andrea Smith (Minuteman Road Club/Ladies First) | 0:49:04 |
| 2 | Crystal Anthony | 0:01:00 |
| 3 | Nicole Thiemann (Team CF/Team CF-Elite) | 0:01:11 |
| 4 | Carolyn Popovic (Team CF-Elite) | 0:01:38 |
| 5 | Rebecca Blatt (Team Kenda presented by Geargrinder) | 0:02:17 |
| 6 | Kari Studley (Team Redline) | 0:02:21 |
| 7 | Ellen Sherrill (Bike Station Aptos) | 0:04:09 |
| 8 | Lisa Curry (Gallatin Valley Bicycle Club/Gallatin Alpine Sports/Intrinsik Archite) | 0:04:10 |
| 9 | Laura Murray | 0:04:59 |
| 10 | Anna Dingman | 0:05:04 |
| 11 | Marne Smiley (Bob's Red Mill) | 0:05:06 |
| 12 | Christina Tamilio (Minuteman Road Club/Ladies First) | 0:05:49 |
| 13 | Brittany McConnell (Iowa City Cycling Club/Mercy-Specialized) | 0:05:55 |
| 14 | Amber Rydholm (GS Boulder/Trek Store) | 0:06:45 |
| 15 | Alyssa Severn (Cyclocrossracing.com) | 0:07:44 |
| 16 | Serena Gordon | 0:09:42 |
| 17 | Kristine Church (Human Zoom Cycling/Human Zoom) | 0:10:12 |
| 18 | Jessica Hill (The Pony Shop) | 0:11:00 |
| 19 | Meredith Peterson | 0:12:34 |
| 20 | Michelle Bishop (Cadence/Cannondale Women's Racing Team) | 0:13:35 |
| 21 | Cooper Ambjorn (Covington-Newport Cycling/Team CNC) | 0:14:07 |
| 22 | Kristin Wentworth (Brazen Dropouts/Brazen Dropouts Cycling Team) | 0:15:10 |
| 23 | Elizabeth Cobb (BikeReg.com Cycling Club) | -1lap |
| DNS | Amanda Carey (Kenda/Felt) | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Kristina Young (Team TATI) | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
| 1 | Sally Annis (crossresults.com/crossresults.com p/b JRA Cycles) | 0:50:11 |
| 2 | Kristal Boni (Rapid Racing) | 0:01:59 |
| 3 | Nicole Borem (OCD Cycling/Bob's Red Mill Cyclocross) | 0:02:19 |
| 4 | Corey Coogan Cisek | 0:02:30 |
| 5 | Kristin Weber (Boulder Cycle Sport) | 0:02:54 |
| 6 | Kelly Fisher-Goodwin (KCCX Fuji Elite Cyclocross Team p/b Challenge Tires) | 0:04:08 |
| 7 | Lisa Hudson (Feedback Sports Racing) | 0:04:10 |
| 8 | Jennifer Gaertner (Coeur d 'Alene Velo Racers (CDAVR)) | 0:08:26 |
| 9 | Alice Drobna (WebCyclery Racing/WebCyclery.com) | 0:12:15 |
| 10 | Kimberly Thomas (Fusion Cycling Team/Fusion IT) | 0:13:33 |
| 11 | Shannon Greenhill (Peachtree Bikes) | 0:15:21 |
| 12 | Gina Kenny (PSIMET Racing) | 0:16:37 |
| 13 | Anne Cheeney (Durango Devo) | 0:17:41 |
| 14 | Heather Curnutt (Brazen Dropouts/Brazen Dropouts Cycling Team) | -1lap |
| 15 | Tamara Cabalu (Campanohvac/Breakawaybikes.com) | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
| 16 | Amanda McNabb (Sound Velo Cycling Club/Team Group Health) | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Annajean Dallaire | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Darcy Sanford (Iowa City Cycling Club) | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Claire Pettersen (Magnus) | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Melanie Glenn (Campanohvac/Breakawaybikes.com) | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
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