CU Cycling Team Captures Road Nationals
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“(The championship) was definitely a goal of ours all along,” said Missy Thompson, first-year women’s coach and cyclist at the nationals. “With all of the East Coast teams that we aren’t familiar with, we never know what’s going to happen, but we knew we had a strong team that could compete with the best.”
The national meet, which took place May 13-15, capped a two-month long road season for the Buffs. The team, which consists of over 50 members, competed in seven different meets during the season to prepare for nationals.
The individual results of these meets, however, did not necessarily determine which cyclists would compete at nationals. Since collegiate cycling success depends heavily upon consistency and teamwork, the coaches used a variety of factors when choosing the right combination.
“Individual fitness is important,” said first-year men’s coach Ainslie MacEachran. “But we also look at which cyclists attended most of the team meetings, training rides and races. We also want good team players who don’t care about their individual accomplishments.”
CU’s point total of 446 beat out some elite teams around the nation, such as UC Berkeley (410) and Stanford (391), and bested in-state rivals Ft. Lewis (385) and Colorado State (148).
“We brought a great team which was highly committed and enthusiastic,” MacEachran said. “Some of our cyclists had never raced at this level before, but they stepped up with a lot of heart and they were really fun to watch. I couldn’t have asked for a better season.”
The CU cycling team is a club sport which has been a dominant force in the collegiate ranks since the inception of the National Collegiate Cycling Association (NCCA) in 1987. The Buffs won the mountain biking national championships from 1997-2000, and again in 2002. Before this year’s road biking national championship, the Buffs had brought home the honor three consecutive seasons from 1998-2000.
“Other teams model their programs after ours,” MacEachran said. “We have very talented athletes, but they are also great kids.”
2005 National's Road Team Members:
Men: Collin Becker, Josh Bezecny, Adam Blanchard, Rolf Eisinger, Taylor Kneuven, Allen Krughoff, Jordan Logan, Dana Mosman.
Women: Molly Hummel, Sara Levy, Kelly Murphy, Nicole, Jenna, Missy Thompson.