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Marian University’s Coryn Rivera, Jackie Kurth and Kaitlin Antonneau celebrate after the U.S. Collegiate Championships criterium in Ogden, Utah. Antonneau won and Rivera finished 2nd.
For the third year in a row, Marian University is the class of collegiate road racing. The small, Franciscan and Catholic university in Indianapolis successfully defended it’s 2010 and 2011 team omnium titles at the USA Cycling Collegiate National Championships in Odgen, Utah from May 4-6.
Check out a full gallery of photos from the weekend at Pavedmag.com
Marian rode to the national title largely on the backs of their women, who were dominant through the first two days of competition. In the team time trial on Antelope Island, the Marian women’s team, consisting of Sinead Miller, Jackie Kurth, Kaitlin Antonneau and Coryn Rivera, bested the University of Colorado by a minute and a half, and Antonneau and Rivera followed that up with a 1-2 finish, respectively, in Saturday’s criterium through downtown (Miller was 7th and Kurth 11th).
“The women controlled this race very well, creating one of the scenarios that we’d hope would unfold,” Marian coach Dean Peterson told the school’s website. “All four riders executed the plan to perfection, and did all the little things necessary to get a 1-2 finish.”
Heather Fischer of the University of Colorado won Sunday’s road race around the Pineview Reservoir in Hunstville by two minutes over Antonneau, who out-sprinted Sarah Sturm of Colorado’s Fort Lewis College to take 2nd.
Sunday’s road race circled the Pineview Reservoir in the scenic Ogden Valley
Josh Yeaton, meanwhile, helped Colorado to a 2nd place finish in the team omnium. Yeaton won both the criterium and the road race, and was helped by Jeffrey Perrin, who finished 5th in the road race, and by Fischer, who was consistent all weekend. But Marian’s Alder Martz (5th in the crit, 9th on the road), Alex Wiessler (9th in the crit), and Isaiah Newkirk (7thon the road) did enough to fend off the Buffs and give Marian the title by 30 points. The Marian men also took bronze in the team time trial, finishing behind Fort Lewis College and Stanford in a close race in which the top three were separated by less than 10 seconds.
The crit took racers up Ogden’s historic 25th Street, once a place for brothel’s and gunfights
Marian wasn’t always the road cycling powerhouse they have become. Long known for their track prowess, by virtue of their proximity to the Major Taylor Velodrome (which the university also operates), Marian won its first national title on the road in 2010, and hasn’t finished off the top spot since. And the future looks bright as well. Antonneau is only a sophomore, and from the championship time trial team, only Miller is graduating this year. Rivera just finished her freshman year. Marian also won the cyclocross national title, led by Antonneau, and the track championships, led by Rivera. The 2012 road national title is Marian U’s 18th national championship across cycling disciplines.
In the Division II races, the women from Massachusetts Institute of Technology were even more dominant than Marian in D1, winning every event, and finishing 1-2 in the crit on Saturday. Laura Ralston won the crit ahead of teammate Katie Quinn, who finished first in the road race. Duke won the men’s time trial. Patric Rostel of Colorado Mesa University won the crit, and Cortlan Brown, from nearby Bountiful, Utah, and racing for Salt Lake City Community College, took the road race.
Katie Quinn of MIT rolls to victory in the women’s D2 road race, with Snowbasin Ski Resort looming on the horizon.
