Werner and Bahnson Ride Away to D1 and D2 Collegiate National Championships, Marian and Mars Hill Seal Team Competition: 2012 Collegiate National Cyclocross Championship UPDATED: Photo Galleries, New Videos, Full Report

For full coverage, schedules and information on the 2012 Cyclocross National Championships at Badger Prairie County Park in Madison, Wisconsin, visit our 2012 Cyclocross National Championships homepage.

by Chris Bagg and Ted Burns

Division 1 Collegiate Men

VERONA, WISCONSIN—Temperatures approached normal today outside of Madison, and collegiate racers returned to Badger Prairie Park to find frozen ruts instead of yesterday’s mud. They made adjustments, running slightly higher tire pressures, and lap times dropped as speeds picked up. Fort Lewis College, third in the team competition yesterday after the women’s race, needed a win and many riders in the top ten to take the championship, and sent two riders, Skyler Trujillo and Eric Emsky, to the front early in an attempt to shut the door on leaders Lees-McRae. “Our team director said we’d have to win for sure to take the team competition,” said Trujillo at the finish line.

Despite their best intentions and attempts, Kerry Werner of Lees-McRae College was not to be denied, powering away from an early group of five to take the individual championship and lead his teammates to the team victory. College racing, scored similarly to cross-country running, in which packing the front of the race with as many competitors as possible is crucial, lent an importance to every racer’s positions, and athletes fought battles far back in the field. Supporters ran from corner to corner, exhorting their teams to “move up, move up!” In short, given the cold temperatures and mid-winter sun, nationals took on the flavor of a fall football match. Smiles were given and received, and the only thing missing was the band.

“The women set us up well yesterday,” an exuberant Werner said at the finish line. After building a big lead, Werner was able to hold Trujillo off by only 13 seconds, who worked together with Emsky to try to bring the Lees-McRae rider back on the last lap. Werner said he and his team had been riding the course at night, trying to get a sense of the frozen course rather than the thawed one, and he said the course was navigable, if treacherous. Trujillo, who raced in the U23 race yesterday, said “We made these ruts yesterday, so now we had to deal with them when they froze!” The Fort Lewis rider has raced in Europe,  and said that conditions yesterday more closely mimicked what he’d experienced across the pond. “Over there it’s mostly a lot of mud; things don’t freeze there like this.”

Full results below the photos and videos.

Division Two Collegiate Men

Jeff Bahnson, third in yesterday’s U23 race, lined up in the third in the DII Men’s race in a pink wool jersey with his school’s name, Green Mountain College, pinned on the back. Despite his Clark Kent-style camouflage Bahnson made contact with the leaders halfway through the first lap, and then established a six second lead by lap’s end, a margin which he lengthened with apparent ease lap after lap.

Mars Hill College rider Timothy Jenkinson snagged the hole shot, but had some early bad luck which drove him into the pit before he had even completed a lap. “I felt my wheel dropping out, it obviously wasn’t tight enough after I got off the trainer,” said Capetown, South Africa student Jenkinson after the race “Next lap around I had to pit again; my shifting was all out, so I changed bikes for the second time and just started to chase.”

As Bahnson extended his lead to almost a minute and started lapping riders, the battle for second place heated up when Jenkinson caught Tanner Hurst (Cumberland University) with one lap to go. Jenkinson’s grit put him in a head-to-head battle with Hurst on the last lap.  Jenkinson, who is riding his second collegiate cross series for Mars Hill college, widened his gap last time up the hill which had started to soften up as temperatures crept above freezing.

“It started to get a lot more technical the last two laps as it started to melt and get real slick,” said Bahnson, who is currently undeclared at Green Mountain College, a school traditionally known for its skiing program, not cycling. Bahnson, who is done for the season, is ready for cyclocross to end for the year. The U23 rider does not have any plans to head over to Europe for World Cups or Worlds. “I’m going skiing this winter … Killington!”

Omiums

Division 1:

1. Marian
2. Lees Mc-Rae
3. Fort Lewis

Division 2:

1. Mars Hill
2. Cumberland
3. U.S. Military Academy

Results beneath Videos and Photos

Division 1 Photo Gallery by Tim Westmore:

Division 1 Photo Gallery by Andrew Yee:

Division 2 Photo Gallery

Kerry Werner Interview:

Skyler Trujillo Interview:

Keep up to date on all of the action at 2012 Cyclocross Nationals on Cyclocross Magazine’s 2012 Cyclocross National Championships homepage.

D1 Results:

Place	Name	City, State	Bib	Team
1	Kerry WERNER	Banner Elk, NC	156	Lees-McRae College
2	Skyler TRUJILLO	Fort Collins, CO	175	Fort Lewis College
3	Eric EMSKY	Durango, CO	183	Fort Lewis College
4	Joshua JOHNSON	Fort Wayne, IN	169	Marian University
5	Rotem ISHAY	Durango, CO	179	Fort Lewis College
6	Dylan STUCKI	Durango, CO	155	Fort Lewis College
7	Ryan DORSEY	Woodland Park, CO	152	Fort Lewis College
8	Patrick BRADLEY	Richwood, NJ	172	Rutgers University-New Brunswick/Piscataway
9	Bradford PERLEY	Banner Elk, NC	180	Lees-McRae College
10	Daniel GEROW	Grosse Pointe Farms, MI	189	Marian University
11	Alder MARTZ	Charlotte, NC	190	Marian University
12	Weston LUZADDER	Carmel, IN	174	Marian University
13	Nathan LARSON	Banner Elk, NC	186	Lees-McRae College
14	Robbie JONES	Durango, CO	161	Fort Lewis College
15	Taylor LADD	Paducah, KY	196	Lindsey Wilson College
16	Ryan CLEVELAND	Durango, CO	159	Fort Lewis College
17	Davis BENTLEY	Mill Valley, CA	181	Lees-McRae College
18	Joseph MALONEY	Madison, WI	165	University of Wisconsin-Madison
19	Brandon FEEHERY	Homewood, IL	157	Lindenwood University
20	Benjamin COLEMAN	Burlington, VT	170	University of Vermont
21	Alexander MARTIN	Wausau, WI	167	University of Wisconsin-Madison
22	Ben STALKER	Durango, CO	168	Fort Lewis College
23	Logan VONBOKEL	Fort Collins, CO	164	Colorado State University
24	Adam PROSISE	Ames, IA	185	Iowa State University
25	Matias PERRET	Iowa City, IA	160	University of Iowa
26	Ezra MULLEN	Nottingham, NH	184	Lees-McRae College
27	Neal FORBES	Columbus, IN	151	Marian University
28	Joseph JOHNSON	Salt Lake City, UT	182	Utah Valley University
29	Pat TERRY	Mapleton, UT	153	Utah Valley University
30	Sam DRIES	West Bend, WI	177	University of Wisconsin-Madison
31	Andrew TEMPLETON	Albuquerque, NM	166	University of New Mexico
32	Joseph WELSH	Cordova, TN	188	Lees-McRae College
33	Sean LEADER	Knoxville, TN	163	University of Tennessee-Knoxville
34	Kevin SEVERS	Ames, IA	162	Iowa State University
35	Ashton WISCHMEIER	Columbus, IN	191	Indiana University-Bloomington
36	dylan KNUTSON	Eagan, MN	192	Lees-McRae College
37	Will MEGER	La Crosse, WI	176	Marian University
38	Adam KAYE	Ann Arbor, MI	154	University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
39	David YOHE	Indianapolis, IN	178	Marian University
40	Zachary DORSEY	Louisville, KY	194	Lindsey Wilson College
41	Jesse LEONARD	Bettendorf, IA	158	Iowa State University
42	James BROWN	Simpsonville, KY	193	Lindsey Wilson College
43	Reed BAGLEY	Lexington, KY	171	Lindsey Wilson College
44	Marshall GREENE	Madison, WI	173	University of Wisconsin-Madison
DNF	Johnathan FRETER	Columbus, OH	195	Lindsey Wilson College
DNF	Zeb KING	Boone, NC	187	Appalachian State University

D2 Results:

Place	Name	Location	Bib	Team
1	Jeffrey BAHNSON	Newark, DE	258	Green Mountain College
2	Timothy JENKINSON	Mars Hill, NC	238	Mars Hill College
3	Tanner HURST	Gallatin, TN	246	Cumberland University
4	Zachary SEMIAN	Mertztown, PA	252	Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
5	Adam MILLER	Colorado Springs, CO	236	Colorado College
6	Andrew LYSAGHT	Somerville, MA	230	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
7	Austin JONES	Lewisville, NC	231	Wake Forest University
8	Corey DAVIS	Danville, VA	233	Mars Hill College
9	Cimarron WORTHAM	Cambridge, MA	227	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
10	Christopher MONDIEK	Dublin, OH	247	Rochester Institute of Technology
11	Cole SPRAGUE	Bend, OR	242	Reed College
12	Devin WAGNER	Marlborough, CT	250	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
13	Brian MORRA	Durango, CO	226	University of Idaho
14	Britton KINNARD	Nashville, TN	244	Cumberland University
15	Buckley BIRKHOLZ	Eauclaire, WI	239	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
16	Thomas ANDERSON	Moscow, ID	249	University of Idaho
17	Peter HAGERTY	South St. Paul, MN	261	Rochester Institute of Technology
18	Chris CARRAWAY	Washington, DC	255	Georgetown University
19	Joseph NEAR	Somerville, MA	229	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
20	Gregory GROSICKI	Winston-salem, NC	254	Wake Forest University
21	Benjamin SENKERIK	Ripon, WI	251	Ripon College
22	Brae PATTEN	Gunnison, CO	257	Western State College of Colorado
23	James MCCABE	Bridgewater, NJ	259	Wake Forest University
24	Logan LUKER	Tulsa, OK	228	Cumberland University
25	Michael ROBINSON	Mars Hill, NC	248	Mars Hill College
26	Aaron CASEY	Kingsport, TN	234	East Tennessee State University
27	Jesse PISEL	Gunnison, CO	260	Western State College of Colorado
28	Nick GARCIA	West Point, NY	262	US Military Academy
29	Matthew WARBRICK	Tuxedo Park, NY	263	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
30	Kevin RUTHERFORD	West Point, NY	240	US Military Academy
31	Steven RUSNAK	West Point, NY	245	US Military Academy
32	Stephen ROGACKI	Westpoint, NY	241	US Military Academy
33	Nathan YADON	Eau Claire, WI	232	University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
34	Gregory KEITH	Birmingham, AL	237	US Military Academy
35	Patrick BASTIANELLI	West Point, NY	235	US Military Academy
36	Zachary LABRY	Somerville, MA	256	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
37	Lance CHARLTON	West Point, NY	264	US Military Academy
38	Thomas DEVANE	West Point, NY	243	US Military Academy
DNS	Ansel SCHIMPFF	Gunnison, CO	253	Western State College of Colorado