Month: October 2015

For the first time in almost a decade, the Cats have returned to the podium at mountain bike nationals!

The team was lead by conference champion Kyle Trudeau and consisted of David Carlson, Ian Wilkey, and Bryan Little. Friday saw the team take on the Short Track. Kyle made the lead group of 5 and survived several attacks to make the lead group of 4.

In the end, Kyle finished 4th with David Carlson in 34th, Ian Wilkey 48th, Bryan Little 49th out of 80 starters.

On Saturday the team tackled the cross country race. The pace was high from the start and the lead group formed in the first few miles and consisted of 4 riders, including defending champion Sepp Kuss. Trudeau was again present in the lead group, which fell apart on the second lap. Trudeau put in a move to chase down the leader, Kuss, but came up just short on the line. Kyle’s 2nd place marks the best finish at mountain bike nationals since Chloe Woodruff’s win in 2008! Bryan Little was 34th
Ian Wilkey, 67th, and David Calrson was 71st.

The team is now gearing up for cyclocross season and looks to defend it’s conference title for the second year in a row!

 

 

On Saturday, the men’s A team had a commanding XC race- taking 1,2, 4 and 5th (Kyle Trudeau, David Carlson, Ian Wilkey, and Bryan Little). David Greif easily won the men’s B race. Amy Burkel, in her first mountain bike race, took 3rd in the women’s B. Saturday’s success put the team within striking distance for the title- just like in 2014.

On Sunday, the men’s A team went 1-4 in the STXC (same order as Saturday), David repeated his victory, and Erica Clevenger came in 2nd in the women’s A. The team jumped to a 14 point lead over NAU going into the team relay. The relay was a must win for UA- the difference between first and second place? 14 points.

And win they did! The team relay (Trudeau, DC, Clevenger, and Wilkey) dominated from start to finish. It came down to the final race, but your University of Arizona Wildcats pulled off the upset and unseated NAU as the 2015 SWCCC Division 1 team omnium champions!

We we’re thrilled to share the win with our long time sponsors, Dr. Keith Carlson of Claris Eye Care! Thanks for helping us reach our goals Dr. Carlson!

This week, the team- Kyle, DC, Ian, and Bryan- head out to Snowshoe, WV for nationals. Let’s bring home a jersey! BEARDOWN!