Everything is riding on the upcoming weekend. VT will be battling it out on WVU’s home turf to decide the overall team results.
WVU will be hoping to add another team conference championship to go with their other nine, all of them in a row. There will be five events over the week, so the first team to win three will be the victor.
SECCC/ACCC Dual Conference Mountain Bike Race
This past weekend the Virginia Tech Mountain Bike team traveled to rainy Banner Elk, North Carolina to compete with the ACCC and SECCC. The SECCC brought on some very tough competitors for us, Lees-McRae college, the 2008 National Mountain Bike Champions, were one of many.
On Friday, during the drive from Blacksburg, the 19 person team stopped at a Mexican restaurant to fuel up for some big racing. This food was crucial to our success on Saturday. We arrived at our campsite (Lees-McRae soccer field) and set up camp for the night. Friday morning, the team was hungry for some WVU Mountaineer domination. The first event was a 4-mile loop cross country course. It consisted of some rolling climbs, slippery turns and a crazy fun downhill. The first half of the Downhill was a rocky creek bed with water following you down the decent. The tifosi were staged there to tell riders to man-up and not use brakes. The second half of the downhill was a steep, rutted-out fire road that required many bunny hops to navigate quickly.
The course was incredibly fun and resulted in a bunch of top ten finishes.
Men’s B
David Henry - 4th
Kyle Kearsley - 5th
James Kearsley - 7th
Christian Probst - 10th
Men’s C
Benjamin Rice - 1st
Christopher Brown - 2nd
Brice Collamer - 4th
Brian Lusher - 8th
Browning Gentry - 9th
Andrew Roberson - 10th
Women’s A
Laura Hamm - 6th
Kelly Neville - Honorable Mention, She rode 2 laps with a mechanical like a champ.
Women’s B
Irene Gardner - 4th
Later on in the evening, the Dual Slalom event took place.
VT also placed well in this event:
Men’s B
David Henry - 3rd
Men’s C
Brice Collamer - 1st
Andrew Roberson - 6th
Jordan Mullins - 8th
Brian Lusher - 9th
Benjamin Rice - 10th
Women’s B
Irene Gardner - 4th
Saturday night, you could find the VT Cycling team getting their money’s worth at a Chinese buffet in Boone, NC. We came back to our humble tents with full bellies and went to bed. Once all the tents were zipped up, the rain came. It rained all night long and prepared the short track course for a muddy event. Members of the team changed their sleeping locations as tents flooded with water. Some were found in vans some on couches in the vestibule of the Lees-McRae gym.
Sunday morning, the Downhill was canceled due to land owner issues. So, everyone was excited about a Short Track course in the rain. The VT team celebrated by going to a breakfast buffet and, again, getting their money’s worth. The short track course was an absolute mud pit. It consisted of lots of slippery muddy turns, a creek crossing and a little bit of grass that was converted to mud by the end of the day. Every person who raced had mud caked on their body. The pictures tell the story.
The VT team again placed very well:
Men’s B
David Henry - 1st
James Kearsley - 5th
Kyle Kearsley - 10th
Men’s C
Christopher Brown - 1st
Brice Collmer - 4th
Benjamin Rice - 5th
Bennett Gentry - 6th
Matt Londrey - 7th
Jan Grajkowski - 8th
Andrew Roberson - 9th
Brian Lusher - 10th
Women’s B
Irene Gardner - 3rd
After everything was all packed up and everyone was quite literally hosed off, the team went to Black Cat Burrito in Boone, NC for some well deserved Burritos.
It was an epic weekend of racing and fun was had by all who attended.
-Ben Rice
“Now is the time to get the best cycling gear around!
We will be taking orders until Sunday the 27th and need money by that following Wednesday.
This year we are working with Funkier Bikewear for the clothing, whose quality and comfort I can attest to personally. Their sizing chart is at www.andyreagan.com/funkier_sizechart.xls, and some highlights will include: a waterproof, zip pocket on all the jerseys, and much better prices! We will be ordering jerseys, long-sleeve jerseys, shorts, bib shorts, arm warmers, leg warmers, winter shoe covers, summer (aero) shoe covers, wind breaker vests, gloves, and socks! The other things that we are still looking into are winter jackets, t-shirts/polos, and skinsuits, so fill out the bottom of the form if you’re going to want those!
The picture of the jersey here is not 100% complete, we’re still working on the sleeves, but that is what they’re going to look like.
You can order by:
1) filling out the order form, which can found at https://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1252934180241, email vtcyclingclothing@andyreagan.com for the password.
2) Then you’ll need to get a check to Andy Reagan, addressed to “Treasurer, VT”, for the total amount no later than Wednesday, September 30.
My address is on the order form too, but for mailing checks it’s 0745 Lee Hall, Blacksburg, VA 24060-0007. They need to be made out to “Treasurer, VT.”
Send any clothing questions to vtcyclingclothing@andyreagan.com.
Thanks!
-Andy Reagan”
Last weekend, the cycling team visited William and Mary to compete in two mountain biking events. Saturday was a time trial and Sunday was the cross country event.
The Hokies were narrowly defeated in both events by WVU, but there were some outstanding results. Zach Morrey was dominate during his races, winning the Men’s B time trial and then upgrading to Men’s A for the cross country race… and then dominating that race. David Henry was able to finish just behind Zach in the time trail and was able to win the following day in the Men’s B cross country race. Justin Morrison finished 3rd in the xc race.
Kelly Neville won the Women’s B time trial and then upgraded to Women’s A for the following day. She finished 3rd in the xc event while Lyndsay McKeever finished 2nd.
Unofficial results have VT trailing WVU my one event.
The VT cycling team took the first mountain bike win of the season over West Virginia University last weekend with a score of 1931 to 1919. This is an extremely significant result considering that WVU has won mountain bike conferences 9 years in a row. Yes, that number is correct, 9 years in a row.
“WVU is no longer sitting pretty for the win of the season. We are going to give them a run for their money,” says David Henry, the VP of mountain biking.
Over 16 mountain bikers from VT will be competing at William and Mary this weekend and will hope to use the momentum from the past weekend to widen the gap between VT and WVU.
Full results from the VT weekend can be seen here.
Photographs taken by Nick Shoemaker are up on the VT cycling Pisca account. The short track races were held Saturday night at the recreation fields on campus.
