After a busy week of racing, the 2021 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships came to a close on Sunday afternoon. After the completion of all 9 events, Colorado Mesa University took their second consecutive varsity omnium title.
Cross-Country
Athletes arrived in Durango, Colo. on Wednesday to a mountain full of snow and daytime temperatures only reaching 40 degrees. In an effort to preserve the event, staff and volunteers began shoveling many sections of the DH and DS courses. Racing began in the late afternoon on Thursday where the Dual Slalom qualifiers would take place. Temperatures would rise on Friday to make for some very muddy Cross-Country racing. The first riders on the course were the Varsity Women. Maddie Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Colorado Mesa University) would ended up taking the win.
In the Varsity Men's race, Tyler Orschel (Brevard College) would throw down a time of 01:19:44 and beat second-place finisher, Torbjorn Roed (Asker, Norway; Colorado Mesa University) by almost 2-minutes.
Short Track
On Saturday, STXC would take place. Mud was still the name of the game as riders checked out the course on Saturday morning. Kicking off the afternoon with the win in the Varsity Women's race was once again Maddie Munro (Boulder, Colo.; Colorado Mesa University) whom would also go two for two with her win.
Dual Slalom
After a couple of days of racing, the ultimate last rides for Slalom would take place on Saturday evening. Colorado Mesa University would take a 1-2 sweep in the Men's Varsity race with Matt Sterling (San Jose, Calif.; Colorado Mesa University) taking the top step and Cameron Joye (Temecula, Calif.; Colorado Mesa University) grabbing second.
Downhill
Downhill would skip straight to the finals on Sunday. After multiple course modifications due to the elements, riders would compete on a muddy and technical course.
With 56 Men and 36 Women starting the competition Matt Sterling (San Jose, Calif.; Colorado Mesa University) would finish the day in 5th Place and the CMU Women’s team would land five riders in the top ten.
Team Relay
The pressure was on when it came to the last event of the weekend, the Team Relay. This was a crucial event for teams to grab their final points towards the overall omnium. Each college puts together a team where a man and a woman each must do two laps. Most teams have two men and two women if their roster allows, but some may only have one of each.
In the Varsity race, Colorado Mesa University (Scott Funston, Maddie Munro, Torbjorn Roed, and Ruby Ryan) snagged the overall win
Individual Omnium
In addition to the Team Omnium, student-athletes also have the opportunity to compete in an Individual Omnium. Racers must compete in at least three out of the four disciplines and the racer with the most points wins.
Women's Varsity
- Lauren Lackman (Wausau, Wisc.; Colorado Mesa University) - 190 Points
- Erica Leonard (Innisfil, Colo.; Brevard College) - 182 Points
- Tai-Lee Smith (Breckenridge, Colo.; Colorado Mesa University) - 155 Points
Team Omnium
After a long weekend, the Team Omniums were finally decided. Colorado Mesa University took the Varsity win, finishing with a total of 719 points.
