Marian sweep Division 1 titles

Marian University swept the Division I team time trial on the final day of competition at the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships, and took the team omnium title home to Indianapolis. Whitman College used a victory in the DII women’s team trial and a third-place finish in the men’s event to seal their DII team omnium national title. The Mesa State College men’s squad won the Stars-and-Stripes in the men’s team time trial and finished just short of the team omnium title.

Traditional track cycling powerhouse Marian leapfrogged the powerful Lees-McRae College squad in the final of three events factored into the team omnium competition to earn the road team omnium competition. Whitman used a balanced attack through the three-day contest to defend their team title from a surging Mesa State College team and last year’s runner-up, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The final day of competition of the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships saw teams of three to four riders take off from the Trek Bicycles World Headquarters. The DII women kicked off the action, tackling the 19.2-mile out-and-back course on a crisp, sunny Mother’s Day. Whitman College defended their DII women’s TTT title, edging MIT’s women’s squad by 26 seconds. Dartmouth College posted a time of 45:51.95 to grab third.

The DI women were next off the line, in reverse order of team omnium standings. Marian’s women posted a time better than many of the men’s squads, 42:25.44, earning the title by only around 10 seconds ahead of the powerful Lees-McRae squad. The University of California-Davis finished around 30 seconds later to earn third.

Mesa State’s men’s squad posted a time of 38:15.10 to win the DII TTT by more than 20 seconds ahead of Western Washington University. Whitman College’s men put down a 38:43.42, enough to grab third and lock in the team omnium title.

Marian University’s men clocked the fastest time of the day at 36:23.44. Last year’s champion, the University of California-Davis settled for second in 2010 at 36:53.50 as Fort Lewis College grabbed third.

“We brought almost an entirely new squad this year,” said Adam Switters of UC-Davis. “Despite some bad luck we finished well. Marian really stepped up their game this year.”

With both individual events completed on Saturday the individual omnium national titles were awarded at the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships banquet at the Monona Terrace on Saturday night. Robert Bush (Indianapolis, Ind.) of Marian College and road race champion Carla Swart (Banner Elk, N.C./Lees-McRae College) took away national titles in the Division I individual omnium, or best all-around rider, category. Arielle Filliberti (Worcester, Mass./Dartmouth) and Richard Geng (Grand Junction, Colo./Mesa State) took home that honor for Division II.

The top women's omnium finishers will once again be invited to be a part of the Fiber One Collegiate All-Stars, a composite squad who will compete on the National Racing Calendar's Nature Valley Grand Prix in June. In all 18 Stars-and-Stripes were awarded at the 2010 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships in Madison, Wisconsin this weekend.

In addition to the Stars-and Stripes national championship jerseys and the medals presented to all podium finishers, the USA Cycling Development Foundation will contribute a total of $5,000 to the top three programs in the final Division I and Division II team standings. As part the USA Cycling Collegiate Performance Awards program, Marian University and Whitman College will each receive $1,200, while runner-ups Lees-McRae and Mesa State will each receive $800 and UC-Davis and MIT will each receive $500. Awards are provided to the collegiate club budget to be used for operational and developmental purposes.