Ishay, Zaveta claim Division 1 cross country titles

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The USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships kicked off on Friday as collegiate cyclists from around the nation gathered at the Northstar at Tahoe Resort to begin their quests for the 22 national titles up for grabs over the weekend. In the first day of racing, student-athletes battled it out for individual titles in the cross country competitions.

In the Division I men’s contest, Rotem Ishay (Fort Lewis College) successfully defended his title from a year ago. Although the Israeli national led the race in its entirety, he consistently found himself fighting off attacks from Lees-McRae rider Brad Perley, California Polytech rider Menso Dejong, and Colorado State’s Nicholas Enjalbert. The men went for four laps of the 6.5-mile course for a total of 26 miles. Ishay completed the test in 2:09:02 to finish 4:43 ahead of Enjalbert, the silver medalist. DeJong crossed the line in third while Perley and Jack Hinkens (Fort Lewis College) were fourth and fifth.

Erica Zaveta (Lees McRae College) was the victor in the women’s Division I competition. Although Fort Lewis strong woman Sage Wilderman led the first two laps of the three-lap contest by 20 to 30 seconds, Zaveta passed her on the first climb of the final lap, gained two and a half minutes on the former leader and crossed the line solo for the stars-and-stripes jersey with a time of 1:57:16. Wilderman secured the silver medal while Erin Alders (UC Davis) earned bronze. The University of Colorado pair of Katie Sodergren and Deidre York claimed the final two spots on the podium.

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In division II men’s racing, 17-year-old Howard Grotts (Colorado School of Mines) broke out of a select group of five after the first of four laps. Despite his young age, the Colorado rider went off by himself for the final three laps and won the race by more than five minutes. Second place went to Brevard College’s Tristan Cowie while Macky Franklin (Middlebury College) had the bronze medal ride. Crossing the line in fourth and fifth were Zach Guy (Montana State University) and Scott Hoffner (Brevard College).

In the Division II women's race, Lydia Tanner (Montana State University) dominated the field. The defending champion led the entire race, not only gaining a large gap on her Division II competitors, but also passing all but seven of the Division I women who started their wave six and a half minutes before she toed the line. Rachel Milsop (Union College) was the silver medalist in the Division II event, finishing the three laps only 12 seconds behind Tanner. The gold and silver medal pair had more than eight minutes on their nearest threats. Essence Barton (California Lutheran University) crossed the line for the bronze medal while Caroline Descosimo (Brevard College) and Amy Hale (Western State College of Colorado) were fourth and fifth respectively.