Lea Davison (Specialized) on lap two with over a minute lead(Image credit: Dave McElwaine/trailwatch.net)
Amy Dombroski (Telnet Fidea) taking a flier for a lap(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) chasing down Dombroski(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Lea Davison (Specialized) sitting in fourth position early in the contest(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Judy Freeman (Crankbrothers) lost contact with the leaders during the chase for Dombroski(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Eric Tingey (Team Jamis) on the grassy upper part of the course(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) put everything she could into beating Davison(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Teal Stetson-Lee (Luna Pro Team) watching her team-mate Pendrel blow the race apart(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
The course included a significant climb on grass(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) did much of the work at the front of the race(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Lea Davison (Specialized) entering the woods(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Amy Dombroski (Telnet Fidea) making like a downhill racer(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Sarah Kaufmann (Stans NoTubes Elite Women’s Team) riding down one of several steep drops(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Lea Davison (Specialized) was attentive to all attacks(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Chloe Woodruff (Crankbrothers) leading the race on lap two(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Chloe Woodruff (Crankbrothers) is one of the pre-race favorites(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
USA Short Track Champion Lea Davison (Specialized)(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Judy Freeman (Crankbrothers) gets the hole shot today(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Judy Freeman (Crankbrothers) leading out the Elite Women(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Lea Davison (Specialized) leading up the hill with three laps to go(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) leading a select group that includes Davison and Woodruff(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Woodruff, Davison, and Penrel head for one of the gap jumps(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
A chase group being led by Judy Freeman (Crankbrothers)(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Lea Davison (Specialized) winning the short track race and sweeping the weekend(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Teal Stetson-Lee (Luna Pro Team) taking 4th place over Maghalie Rochette(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Elite Women at the start(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Catharine Pendrel (Luna Pro Team) was constantly marked by Davison(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
US short track national champion Lea Davison (Specialized) made it two victories in a row at the Catamount Classic in Vermont on Sunday when she followed up the previous day's cross country win with a short track win. Catharine Pendrel (Luna) finished second ahead of Chloe Woodruff (Crankbrothers) in third.
Racers enjoyed perfect weather - relatively cool for August and sunny. They did, however, race an unusual short track course. Between 50 percent and two-thirds of the course was on grass. The lap started with one significant climb, and each lap riders climbed to the top of the hill on grass, then ducked into the woods onto a mostly singletrack downhill with minimal passing options. The downhill featured three separate launch points, and racers were catching air all over. One launch point was a fairly wide bridge while the other two were effectively singletrack. The second third of the course was all downhill, and racers came out onto a grassy, mostly flat section to the finish. It was wide open, but slow going on the grass for sprint finishes, and both the hill and the wind were factors in the races.
Judy Freeman (Crankbrothers) took the hole shot and led the first lap.
Everyone was watching what favorites Davison and Pendrel were doing. Pendrel came to the front and did a majority of the work during the race, leading for much of the race. She tried to get Davison to come through and do some more work, especially when the two had a small gap, but Davison took a defensive approach and spent most of the race sitting in.
Amy Dombroski attacked on lap three and got a gap, but Pendrel chased her down.
Pendrel tried several attacks, but none were ultimately successful. Davison covered each attack, and Woodruff hung on until the last lap.
That's when Davison launched her attack. She went so fast, like a rocket ship, that it looked like Pendrel was going backward. Whoever got to the top of the climb first had a definite advantage for the finish, and Davison obviously had figured that out on her home course.
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Davison raced in, uncontested, for the win. Pendrel followed in second place while Woodruff was third. Teal Stetson-Lee and Maghalie Rochette rounded out the top five.
Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
