Fort Lewis wins Division I collegiate mountain bike championships

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After earning the maximum 94 points in six of the eight categories, Fort Lewis College won the Division I team omnium by 76 points over the University of Colorado-Boulder. The Skyhawks earned the maximum points in all but the men's and women's dual slalom contests. Marian University surged up the rankings with four individual podium appearances on Sunday to finish third with 445 points. Lees-McRae College finished only six points behind Marian with 439 points to place fourth, while the University of Wyoming placed fifth with 434 points.

Brevard College totaled 629 points to win the Division II team omnium, finishing 41 points ahead of second-place Union College-Kentucky. Powered by strong performances in the men's gravity events, Western State Colorado University totaled 421 points to place third, 41 points ahead of Warren Wilson College. Mars Hill College rounds out the top five with 359 points.

"I've been training and racing with these guys all season and I've seen how hard they've worked," Brevard College rider Erica Zaveta (Brevard College) said. "It's awesome to win this because it shows our program is going to be strong for years to come."

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Joey Schusler (University of Colorado-Boulder) used the same bike in all four events this weekend. He accured 364 points to top the Division I men's individual omnium, beating silver medalist Rotem Ishay (Fort Lewis College) by only 18 points. Kerry Werner (Lees-McRae College) finished third with 230 points. Erik Nelson (Northern Arizona University) placed fourth with 209 points while Casey Coffman (University of Nevada-Reno) rounds out the top five with 142 points.

Jill Behlen (University of Wyoming) reached the podium in each of the four events this weekend to claim the top spot of the Division I women's individual omnium. Behlen earned a bronze medal in Sunday's dual slalom after placing fourth in each of the first three contests of the weekend. In all, Behlen amassed 478 points toward the individual omnium. Behlen's teammate Linnea Dixson finished second with 292 points, only 23 points ahead of Eva Wilson (Colorado State University), who placed third. Kaila Hart (Fort Lewis College) finished with 237 points to place fourth while Emily Paxson (University of Vermont) was fifth with 231 points.

"It's really fun to do all of the events because they are so different," Behlen said. "You get to compete with everybody and it's fun to podium at all four events."

Wesley Lamberson (Union College-Ky.) finished in top-10 three times, including a bronze medal in the short track race, to total 375 points and win the Division II men's individual omnium. Bobby Zidek (California State University-Chico) placed second to Lamberson with 288 points while Timothy Jenkinson (Mars Hill College) earned the bronze medal with 277 points. Justin Graves (Humboldt State University) finished only one point ahead of Daniel Ennis (Brevard College) to place fourth and fifth, respectively.

Similar to Behlen, Essence Barton (California Lutheran University) reached the podium in each of the four events this weekend. Barton won the dual slalom, placed second in the downhill and finished fourth in the two endurance races, the cross country and the short track to secure the top spot of the Division II women's individual omnium with 542 points. Zaveta earned three bronze medals before placing eighth in the dual slalom to record 470 points to finish second to Barton. Elisa Otter (Union College-Ky.) totaled 444 points to earn the bronze medal while Allison Jones (Warren Wilson College) placed fourth with 323 points. Kara Uhl (Union College-Ky.) amassed 295 points to place fifth.

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