Schusler, Napoli descend fastest in Division I downhill

Racers also contested the downhill at the 2011 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships on Saturday.

Division I

In the men's downhill race, Joey Schusler (University of Colorado-Boulder) qualified in the top spot and backed it up to secure his fourth downhill national title, recording a 7:46.45. Five seconds behind Schusler was David O'Day (Colorado State University), who earned the silver medal with a 7:51.63 and Michael Larsen (University of Colorado-Boulder) won the bronze medal with a 7:54.04 mark.

"There was a lot of pressure today," Schusler said. "With the ice at the top of the track, it was pretty intense. It was a fight all the way to the finish. I ended up crashing once in my run and then just pushing all the way to the end."

The women's downhill winner, Andrea Napoli (University of Nevada-Reno), was the first rider of the day to contest the course. The first-time national champion was 45 seconds faster than the silver medalist Brittany Clawson (Fort Lewis College). Daniell Griffo (University of Nevada-Reno) earned the bronze medal after finishing approximately five seconds faster than Jill Behlen (University of Wyoming), who finished fourth.

"I was trying to get down as fast as possible whether I was on my bike or sometimes off my bike," Napoli said. "The bottom part was just not hitting the brake and feeling like you're going to lose it left and right and somehow not. I took big fall at the bottom. I was able to run back up and grab my bike. The flat parts were challenging. It was so muddy the conditions made this the most challenging race I've ever done. It felt so good to do well."

Division II

Alex McAndrew (Clarkson University), who qualified in the top spot during Friday's seeding runs, opened the men's Division II competition with the best time of the day. After placing second in the downhill in 2010, McAndrew was not to be denied as he posted a 7:35.89, 10 seconds faster than the Division I winner. Owen Tulip (Western State College of Colorado) finished second with a mark of 8:10.61, which was six seconds faster than the bronze medalist Colin Pickett (Western State College of Colorado).

"Right out of the gate, first corner I blew it," McAndrew said. "It kinda set the pace. I had to chill out. I chilled out and nailed a couple of the lines right off the bat that I was worried about. There were some nasty ruts that were really muddy. I took them slow. I just stayed on the bike as best I could. I almost lost it in one spot. I got through to the traverse and started having fun with it."

The women's Division II downhill competition offered the most drama of the day. Kate Weisenfluh (Brevard College) qualified with the fastest time on Friday and was set to descend first. Weisenfluh was ready to race, but due to unforeseen circumstances, her bike did not meet her at the top of the descent. She was slotted to ride after the first group of men, which meant that, Coleen Pacurariu (US Air Force Academy), who posted a 10:42.74 during competition, had to wait longer to be sure of her final placing. Weisenfluh rode a 11:24.60 to finish second while Eva Wilson (Warren Wilson College) placed third.

Omnium

Kerry Werner (Lees-McRae College) leads the men's Division I individual omnium by 28 points over his teammate Bradford Perley (Lees-McRae College). Werner opened the event placing fifth in the cross country race, third in the short track before placing 20th in the downhill.

In the women's Division I omnium, on the strength of three top-four finishes, Behlen leads by 76 points over Clare Bensard (University of Colorado-Boulder).

After claiming the top two spots in the men's and women's short track races on Saturday, Fort Lewis College leads the Division I team omnium by 45 points over the University of Colorado-Boulder.

Matt Schiff (Humboldt State University) holds a 101-point lead on Eric Smith (Ripon College) in the men's Division II omnium. Schiff won the cross country race Friday before earning the silver medal in the short track race and placing 35th in the downhill.

Wilson leads the women's Division II omnium by 48 points over Elisa Otter (Union College-Kentucky). Wilson claimed a pair of bronze medals along with a sixth-place finish in the cross country race on Friday.

However, Otter's Union College-Kentucky holds a strong 184-point lead in the Division II team omnium over Western State College of Colorado.

The competition concludes Sunday after riders compete in the dual slalom.

Full Results

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Division I men downhill
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Joey Schusler (University of Colorado-Boulder)0:07:46.45
2David ODay (Colorado State University)0:00:05.18
3Michael Larsen (University of Colorado-Boulder)0:00:07.59
4Benjamin Elliott (University of Delaware)0:00:16.99
5Timothy Price (University of Virginia)0:00:18.33
6Lucas LeMaire (Fort Lewis College)0:00:26.27
7Phil Cowan (Fort Lewis College)0:00:28.19
8Dylan Stucki (Fort Lewis College)0:00:30.72
9Taylor Borucki (Fort Lewis College)0:00:32.58
10Brent Davidson (University of Missouri-Columbia)0:00:35.38
11Jon Wilson (University of Nevada-Reno)0:00:36.31
12Nick Caron (University of Colorado-Boulder)0:00:39.20
13Adam Gagne (University of Massachusetts-Amherst)0:00:40.56
14Tom Davidson (University of Vermont)0:00:42.16
15Eric Bercume (Lees-McRae College)0:00:49.99
16Joshua Patton (Lindsey Wilson College)0:00:57.34
17Greg Hermansen (California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo)0:00:58.37
18Weston Walker (University of Wyoming)0:00:59.03
19Ryan Quinn (University of California-Santa Barbara)0:01:14.34
20Kerry Werner (Lees-McRae College)0:01:16.27
21Dustin Foudray (Colorado State University)0:01:16.50
22Casey Coffman (University of Nevada-Reno)0:01:21.95
23Samuel Frey (University of Connecticut)0:01:31.38
24Joseph Yoham (California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo)0:01:38.92
25Ben Jones (University of Nevada-Reno)0:01:39.35
26Max Ramos (California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo)0:01:39.79
27Bradford Perley (Lees-McRae College)0:01:50.23
28Eric Newell (Colorado State University)0:01:57.32
29Patrick Goebel (California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo)0:02:00.76
30Dan OConnor (University of Connecticut)0:02:03.84
31Andrew Dean (University of Colorado-Boulder)0:02:09.15
32Logan Collins (Lindsey Wilson College)0:02:10.16
33Daniel Caluag (Lindsey Wilson College)0:02:11.08
34Brandon Hopkins (Lindsey Wilson College)0:02:20.46
35Alex Winkler (Northern Arizona University)0:02:22.91
36Nelson Klein (University of Massachusetts-Amherst)0:02:30.29
37Sam Wilson (California State University-Chico)0:02:31.07
38Clayton Omer (Appalachian State University)0:02:33.83
39Dillon Kovacs (Northern Arizona University)0:02:34.99
40kirby faulkner (California State University-Chico)0:02:46.00
41Chase Hines (Lindsey Wilson College)0:02:50.10
42Christopher Seymour (California State University-Chico)0:02:52.25
43Christopher Convis (California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo)0:02:53.46
44Nik Benko (University of California-Santa Barbara)0:02:57.75
45Jake Rehfeld (University of New Mexico)0:03:06.51
46Devin McPherson (California State University-Chico)0:03:08.95
47James Wittwer (Appalachian State University)0:03:18.26
48Taylor Ladd (Lindsey Wilson College)0:03:39.34
49Antonio Baca (University of New Mexico)0:03:40.90
50David Gambardella (University of Connecticut)0:04:02.44
51Oakley Erickson (University of Nevada-Reno)0:04:20.85
52Nitish Nag (University of California-Berkeley)0:05:14.63
53Chase Haegele (University of California-Berkeley)0:06:09.44
54Jordan Kestler (University of California-Berkeley)0:09:23.08
DNSScott Whynall (University of Connecticut)Row 54 - Cell 2
DNSCarter Luck (Lees-McRae College)Row 55 - Cell 2
DNFIan Estes (University of Wyoming)Row 56 - Cell 2
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Division I women downhill
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Andrea Napoli (University of Nevada-Reno)0:12:22.63
2Brittany Clawson (Fort Lewis College)0:00:45.07
3Danielle Griffo (University of Nevada-Reno)0:01:01.43
4Jill Behlen (University of Wyoming)0:01:06.32
5Madison Pitts (Lindsey Wilson College)0:01:42.53
6Deidre York (University of Colorado-Boulder)0:01:44.20
7Erica Zaveta (Lees-McRae College)0:01:51.61
8Claire Bensard (University of Colorado-Boulder)0:03:07.59
9Brittany Bates (Lindsey Wilson College)0:04:08.65
10Sally Hermansen (California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo)0:05:14.36
11Brooke Crum (Lindsey Wilson College)0:05:36.82
12Crystal Kalogris (Lindsey Wilson College)0:05:49.07
13Kathleen Kramer (California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo)0:06:03.70
14Kristy Peck (University of Nevada-Reno)0:06:06.00
15Stephanie Barragan (Lindsey Wilson College)0:06:48.49
16Victoria Yoham (California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo)0:07:32.23
17Kathryn Hicks (California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo)0:07:41.18
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Division II men downhill
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Alex McAndrew (Clarkson University)0:07:35.89
2Owen Tulip (Western State College of Colorado)0:00:34.72
3colin pickett (Western State College of Colorado)0:00:41.03
4Justin Graves (Humboldt State University)0:00:42.83
5Jacob Hinlicky (Humboldt State University)0:00:45.82
6Paul Mayes (Michigan Technological University)0:00:46.25
7Blake Carney (California Lutheran University)0:00:56.02
8caleb woodworth (Western State College of Colorado)0:00:58.55
9Ansel Schimpff (Western State College of Colorado)0:01:00.84
10Samuel Pensler (Colorado College)0:01:05.78
11Eric Smith (Ripon College)0:01:14.92
12Alexander Honkonen (East Tennessee State University)0:01:16.95
13zach winn (Union College-KY)0:01:20.77
14Bennett Winn (Union College-KY)0:01:28.44
15Brad Nelson (Union College-KY)0:01:29.38
16Thomas Wilkinson (East Tennessee State University)0:01:37.37
17joseph leahy (East Tennessee State University)0:01:50.59
18Mac Banner (Brevard College)0:01:51.33
19Joe Schneider (Colorado School of Mines)0:01:56.62
20Trey Cassell (Brevard College)0:02:01.64
21Coty VanLannen (Michigan Technological University)0:02:10.93
22Taylor Pfohl (Colorado School of Mines)0:02:11.57
23Wesley Lamberson (Union College-KY)0:02:21.91
24Zack Dinkins (East Tennessee State University)0:02:37.18
25Thomas Bagnal (Brevard College)0:02:41.30
26Thomas Bommarito (Western State College of Colorado)0:02:42.13
27Asher Blackmore (Brevard College)0:02:42.91
28Mike Zeek (Colorado Mesa University)0:02:44.06
29James Bailey (East Tennessee State University)0:02:46.42
30Timothy Jenkinson (Mars Hill College)0:02:46.67
31Chris Fehn (Colorado School of Mines)0:02:54.83
32taylor biner (Colorado Mesa University)0:03:08.54
33Tanner Hurst (Cumberland University)0:03:36.93
34Ian Bloomfield (Colorado School of Mines)0:03:48.39
35Matt Schiff (Humboldt State University)0:03:52.10
36TJ Trotter (Warren Wilson College)0:04:13.24
37Michael Flynn (Warren Wilson College)0:04:25.42
38Dylan Johnston (Warren Wilson College)0:05:14.20
39Anthony Mazza (Warren Wilson College)0:05:14.30
40Corey Davis (Mars Hill College)0:06:33.79
41Ethan Quisenberry (Milligan College)0:09:11.72
42Logan Luker (Cumberland University)0:11:01.49
DNSKody Adams (Brevard College)Row 42 - Cell 2
DNSChristoph Hurley (Colorado School of Mines)Row 43 - Cell 2
DNFAlexander Deich (Humboldt State University)Row 44 - Cell 2
DNFCharlie Sponsel (Lewis & Clark College)Row 45 - Cell 2
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Division II women downhill
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Coleen Pacurariu (US Air Force Academy)0:10:42.74
2Kate Weisenfluh (Brevard College)0:00:41.86
3Eva Wilson (Warren Wilson College)0:02:34.56
4Klara Rossouw (Mars Hill College)0:03:25.03
5Catherine Harnden (Union College-KY)0:04:25.34
6Kara Uhl (Union College-KY)0:05:14.03
7Elisa Otter (Union College-KY)0:09:22.99
8Molly Friedland (Warren Wilson College)0:09:25.25
9Christen Boyer (Colorado School of Mines)0:20:58.80

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