Williams tops Hall, Hogan earns first national title

The 40-44 women's contest provided one of the most exciting finishes of the day with last year's 35-39 national champion Wendy Williams (River City Bicycles) edging Gina Hall (Cal Giant Cycling) for the national title. A powerful sprinter, Williams surged to victory once she hit the pavement.

After a chaotic first lap for the nearly 50-rider field, Williams and Hall were able to separate themselves by nearly three minutes from third-place finisher Christina Probert.

Karen Hogan (Justin's-Titus Mountain Bike) was able to surge to her first national title in the 45-49 women's division, 30 seconds ahead of Shannon Gibson (Velo Bella).

"I've been trying for a few years - third twice and second once," said Hogan. "Today ended up being my day. Starting out, I got behind three other women, but in the technical sections on the first part of the course I was able to get around them and start a gap.

"I slowly built on that, was relatively mistake free and ended up winning by about 25 to 30 seconds or so. It was a fantastic course, grippy conditions, a little wet but it was all fun."

In the 50-54 women's contest, multiple-time national champion Kris Walker (Church of the Big Ring) edged Marilyn Ruseckas to add another stars-and-stripes jersey to her closet.

The first half of a husband and wife national champion duo, Linda Elgart (Alto Velo) earned the win in the 55-59 women's race after passing second and third-place finishers Lee Smith (Sound Velo) and Tove Shere (KHSNM.com).

Martha Iverson (Durango Wheel Club) got the win over Flo Leibowitz in the 60-64 contest while multiple-discipline masters star Julie Lockhart (NEBC) won yet another title in the 70-74 division.