Caroline Mani and Kerry Werner, teammates for Groove Auto Off Road Racing, won the elite C2 races on the opening day of the Nash Dash cyclocross doubleheader in Hampton, Georgia.
Mani dominated the elite women's contest on a dry, sunny Saturday afternoon on a fast, rolling 3.37km course at Nash Farm Park, located south of Atlanta near the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Lidia Cusack (CXD Trek Bikes) took second, 1:07 back, while Anna Dorovskikh (Donovan Racing p/b AES) was another 33 seconds back in third.
Cusack, just 17 years old, rode to her first elite women's UCI cyclocross podium. The Maryland native won the junior women's individual time trial title in Charleston, West Virginia earlier this year.
For Dorvoskikh, she added a second career UCI podium to the one she earned at Major Taylor Cross Cup in October.
The reigning single speed champion at MTB and cyclocross nationals, Werner was able to distance the duo of Scott Funston (Cervelo Orange Living) and Caleb Swartz (ENVE-Forward Endurance) for the victory. Funston took second, 15 seconds back, with Swartz another four seconds behind in third.
Werner returned to cyclocross action after moving to his mountain bike for a third place at Ice Man Cometh in Michigan two weeks ago. In early October, he finished second overall in the Trek USCX Cyclocross Series when he was on the podium twice at Trek CX Cup in Wisconsin.
The Georgia cyclocross race, produced for a sixth year by East Point Track Club, attracted a number of riders from L39ION of Los Angeles who are based on the East coast of the US, including Alexis Magner, Ty Magner and Robin Carpenter. Alexis Magner, who moves to Cynisca Cycling in 2025, finished eighth in the elite women's contest. Carpenter finished sixth in the elite men's race, with Ty Magner taking ninth.
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Nash Dash, November 16-17, followed by North Carolina Grand Prix on November 23-24 are the final stops for the 2024 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Series.
Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. On the bike, she has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast), and spends time on gravel around horse farms in north Georgia.
