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Saturday’s third race, Junior Men 11 – 12, saw Henry Rapinz of Boulder Junior Cycling jump clear before the first climb of the race, leading through the stairs, ditch and sand. Miles Mattern, of New York, powered back to challenge Rapinz, leading into the final climb up the steep hill on the east side of the course. Rapinz would not give up easily.
“I practiced my starts a lot this year,” said Rapinz. “I got maybe a two second gap (at the start) then he (Mattern) caught up with me and passed me.”
Barrier hopping was in order for Ryan Drummond. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © A. Yee / Cyclocross Magazine
Mattern took the lead through the first half of the course on the second lap, and held it to the bottom of the climb, crowded with cheering spectators.
“There’s this little muddy section before the off camber and heading into that, Henry (Rapinz) passed me on the inside,” said Mattern, “so then we were together riding into the hill. Then Henry cut into the inside of the off-camber and I slid out of it, so he got a gap there.”
Henry Rapinz had success on the hill. Junior Men 11-12. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © D. Mable/ Cyclocross Magazine
Rapinz went with that gap and tried to hold it to the line.
“I saw that at the first lap I got a pretty good gap after the hills,” said Rapinz. “So I just went all out on the hill and saw that I got a really big gap, so I sprinted all the way to the line.”
Rapinz took the lead on the crowded hill and would not relinquish it, crossing the line first, securing his first stars and stripes jersey. Mattern would hold on to second though a driving Calvin Conaway (Midwest Devo) was coming up from behind, finishing in third only five seconds later. Of his win, Rapinz called on both strength and skills.
Miles Mattern finished second. Junior Men 11-12. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © D. Mable/ Cyclocross Magazine
“I play soccer, so that helped a lot with the running,” said Rapinz. “I use to race downhill and did an enduro program that focuses on downhill, so I prepped off that and managed to do pretty good on that!”
Photos, interviews and results are below.
A young rider shoulders his bike. Junior Men 11-12. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © D. Mable/ Cyclocross Magazine
The Junior run-up was steep. Junior Men 11-12. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © D. Mable/ Cyclocross Magazine
William Palmer was sporting the latest fashion for his race. Junior Men 11-12. 2018 Cyclocross National Championships. © D. Mable/ Cyclocross Magazine
Junior Men's 11-12 Results: 2018 Reno Cyclocross Nationals
| Place | Bib | LAST | First | Team | City ST | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 83 | RAPINZ | Henry | Boulder Junior Cycling | Boulder CO | 15:47 | |
| 2 | 85 | MATTERN | Miles | Park Ave Bike Shop | Rochester NY | 15:59 | 12 |
| 3 | 64 | CONAWAY | Calvin | Midwest Devo | Zionsville IN | 16:04 | 17 |
| 4 | 57 | DRUMMOND | Ryan | Soundpony Triad Bank | Tulsa OK | 16:23 | 36 |
| 5 | 86 | FRAZIER | George | Louisville KY | 16:35 | 48 | |
| 6 | 53 | SABOL | Nathan | Rad Racing NW | Edmonds WA | 16:51 | 1:04 |
| 7 | 82 | STRAIT | Zane | Bend Endurance Academy | Bend OR | 17:01 | 1:14 |
| 8 | 76 | HAUCK | Grayson | T Town Elite | Allentown PA | 17:08 | 1:21 |
| 9 | 72 | ENGEL | Otis | Long Tail Creative | Kutztown PA | 17:08 | s.t. |
| 10 | 70 | ELLIS | Liam | KCOI U20 | Pleasanton KS | 17:12 | 1:25 |
| 11 | 54 | CLARK | Aden | Boulder Junior Cycling | Louisville CO | 17:23 | 1:36 |
| 12 | 62 | DEBOOM | Eli | Boulder Junior Cycling | Lyons CO | 17:27 | 1:40 |
| 13 | 67 | BAILEY | Chase | Boulder Junior Cycling | Lyons CO | 17:28 | s.t. |
| 14 | 68 | BALIKA | Jett | Littleton CO | 17:36 | 1:49 | |
| 15 | 59 | SMITH | Zachary | Portland OR | 17:39 | 1:52 | |
| 16 | 63 | MALIN | Bodhi | Rage Factory racing | Louisville CO | 18:13 | 2:26 |
| 17 | 65 | BROWN | Kalen | Boulder Junior Cycling | Boulder CO | 18:15 | 2:28 |
| 18 | 52 | STRINGHAM | Jack Barrett | Rad Racing NW | Seattle WA | 18:23 | 2:36 |
| 19 | 66 | SHELTON | Noah | Mill Valley CA | 18:28 | 2:41 | |
| 20 | 69 | MORGENSON | Tyler | Cycle U | Seattle WA | 18:32 | 2:45 |
| 21 | 77 | SPRANGER | Joe | Rad Racing NW | Sammamish WA | 19:33 | 3:46 |
| 22 | 58 | TUCKER | Galen | CX Nation | Sebastopol CA | 19:46 | 3:59 |
| 23 | 78 | ELPHINGSTONE | Jack | Boulder Junior Cycling | Boulder CO | 20:31 | 4:44 |
| 24 | 80 | EDWARDS | Ian | Avout Racing | Centennial CO | 20:35 | 4:48 |
| 25 | 71 | NAVARRO | Maury | KCOI U20 | Shawnee Mission KS | 20:56 | 5:09 |
| 26 | 81 | TOMKINS | Mac | Orinda CA | 21:02 | 5:15 | |
| 27 | 84 | PETERSON | Tristan | Endurance Boise | Boise ID | 21:16 | 5:29 |
| 28 | 51 | PALMER | William | Midwest Devo | Zionsville IN | 21:21 | 5:34 |
| 29 | 74 | ANDERSON | Luke | Reno NV | 21:39 | 5:52 | |
| 30 | 75 | UUSITALO | Ayden | San Jose CA | 22:32 | 6:45 | |
| 31 | 87 | KEEFE | Cullen | Mountain View CA | 22:33 | 6:46 | |
| 32 | 79 | PALMER | Jack | Midwest Devo | Zionsville IN | 22:36 | 6:49 |
| 33 | 56 | BOTT | Owen | Baltimore Youth Cycling | Towson MD | 22:38 | 6:51 |
| 34 | 60 | WESCOTT | Cameron | Bend Endurance Academy | Bend OR | 23:42 | 7:55 |
| 35 | 61 | DEL PINO | Peter | Fayetteville NY | 25:00 | 9:13 | |
| 36 | 55 | BYRNE | Thomas | Byrne Racing LLC | Boonton Township NJ | 26:48 | 11:01 |
For more from Reno, see our continuing coverage of the 2018 Reno Cyclocross Nationals on our dedicated Nationals page.
Photos from the races and reports are available to license here, with more to be added throughout the next week.
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