Compton Makes it a Six-Pack in Bend – Full Report, Full Results, Photos

Careful application of her considerable power brought Compton to the win. © Janet Hill

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by Christopher Bagg

Glancing through the start list of the Women’s Elite race here in Bend, Oregon, the question was, as it has been for years now, whether or not anyone would be able to stay with Katie Compton (Planet Bike). Compton currently leads the World Cup standings and has steadily burnished her European resume through the fall. Compton was looking for championship number six, which would equal Alison Dunlap’s (Luna) mantel of trophies. Dunlap lined up in Bend, too, hoping to put some distance between herself and Compton, as she said in our issue seven profile. Dunlap had hoped to win CrossVegas but managed third behind a dominant Compton. The two live in Colorado Springs and train together – but a race is a race, and both of these superstars wanted another championship.

Amy Dombroski (Primus Mootry – Schlamm), fresh off two strong rides in Portland, also looked possible for the win, as she had hung tough with a brilliant Katerina Nash (Luna) for most of last weekend’s Portland Stanley Cup. Mary McConnelong (Kenda – Seven Cycles) has strung together an excellent season, and perhaps the slick conditions on this cold morning in Bend would suit the mountain bike star when the gun fired. Meredith Miller (Cal Giant Berry Farms – Specialized), too, after some difficulty and then redemption in Portland, figured to be in the mix on the quickly-thawing course nestled against Deschutes Brewery.

On the gun Compton took the holeshot and the sporting fantasies of the contenders, as they usually do, faded quickly into reality as Compton had three bike lengths on Dombroski only a few hundred meters into the two-and-a-half kilometer course. “I wanted to have a better start than that,” the diminutive Vermonter said afterwards. “I got caught behind some riders and had to make up ground.”

As the women came up the stairs for the first time, Compton slipped and elicited a gasp from the crowd. That would be the only weak moment of the day, however, and the superstar from Colorado Springs already had more than five seconds as she headed into the deceptively slick grassy section of the course. Chasing her was Dunlap, Dombroski, Miller and Laura Van Gilder (c3 – Athletes Serving Athletes), in that order.

Compton came through the first lap in six minutes and 45 seconds, equaling the pace of the U23 men from Saturday. As they came through the start/finish, Dombroski continued to have a great race, dangling about 10-15 seconds behind Compton. A group began to form around third place with Dunlap, Miller and Van Gilder coming together. Compton rode so fast that, as we moved from one side of the course to the other trying to follow her, she would often beat us back to the central area. “I started to calm down a bit after those first two laps,” she told us later. “The course was really technical, with all that ice under the mud and the course changing every lap. I slipped a bit on the stairs but after that everything kind of came together.”

After winning the Junior race, Coryn Rivera stepped up to the big leagues. © Janet Hill

Compton finished the second lap stretching her lead to 17 seconds as Meredith Miller began to stalk Dombroski for second place. Dunlap dropped off of Miller’s wheel but continued to ride bravely ahead of Van Gilder. It was on the third lap that Compton would push the pace hard enough to put the outcome out of doubt, moving more than thirty seconds ahead of second place, which had turned into a true battle as Miller and Dombroski rode side by side.

Miller attacked Dombroski through the start/finish and that pressure jarred the tough Vermonter: she went down about three-quarters through the lap in what she described as a “slick, shady area on the grass.” Under more pressure now, she “rode stupidly, taking bad lines and riding all nervous.” Miller quickly took advantage and was soon riding alone in second place.

That finish order would hold up through the final two laps, with Compton’s eventual margin of victory just under a minute. Meredith Miller, national road champion and now national ‘cross runner-up, looked all smiles during a post-race interview, while an upbeat Alison Dunlap discussed her fourth place finish. “It was fun,” she said, smiling brightly. “I mean, I went down once, but other than that had a lot of close calls. Yesterday was soft and wet, today was a lot more frozen. But then it kinda warmed up and you didn’t really know what turns were going to be frozen and what turns were going to be soft…it was crazy.” When we asked her about the battle for third she lauded Dombroski and Miller, saying brightly, “they’re just a little bit stronger, and they’ve been that way all season.” We asked Dunlap if she would consider returning next year and she demurred, but hinted that it wasn’t a strong possibility. “It’s just a lot of work getting back to racing shape.” Behind her, in 5^th, a defiant Laura Van Gilder said, “I knew that I had my work cut out for me, and I had to bring an A game. No one thinks I have technical skills and I was pretty determined to show that I had enough technical skills.”

The course, as Compton remarked, was technical today, and Van Gilder showed some grit keeping Dunlap in sight throughout the day. As Compton said about her huge lead, “if you mess up on this course, you’ll lose so much time, so there’s only so much relaxing you can do.” We’re certain that Compton, owner of six consecutive national titles, was the only person relaxing on the deceptively difficult course in Bend today.

Check back for even more photos and reports from Bend.

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