Junior Men Battle in Icy Conditions for National Titles – Full Results, Photos

Crashes were the norm in the early, icy junior races. © Joe Sales

Be sure to check out our full coverage of the 2009 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships.

Three categories of Junior Men contended for titles today, just after the Junior Women finished up. The two younger fields started things off with riders soloing away to victory. The 15-16 year-olds’ race was a back-and-forth throwdown with several lead changes, heroic efforts and exciting race action.

The final Junior’s race, for the 17-18 year-olds, will be at 10:30 A.M. Saturday

Men’s 10-12
Gage Hecht showed that with age comes experience.  Last year’s 10-12 year-old silver medalist took home top honors today. With a year of experience under his belt and a national championship on the road in the bag, Gage won his first cyclocross title on this cold December day. The Colorado native took the race lead early and never let up on his rivals Grant McElroy and Spencer Petrov.

1. Gage Hecht (ICCC)
2. Grant McElroy (Beaverton Bicycle Club)
3. Spencer Petrov (Queen City Wheels Lionhearts)
4. Zachary Mikkelson
5. Matteo Jorgenson (Byrds)

Men’s 13-14
The Planet Bike team was poised for greatness today and Ian Haupt delivered.  The Wisconsin native battled a poor start position and early race leader Peter Goguen in the opening laps.  Once he reached the front, Haupt took off and rode as if he were being chased by a horde of angry Green Bay fans.  The top three spots on the podium of Haupt (Planet Bike), Goguen (Minuteman Racing) and Gavin Haley (Red Zone Cycling) showed that junior development programs really do make a difference.

1. Ian Haupt (Planet Bike)
2. Peter Goguen (Minuteman Road Club)
3. Gavin Haley (Red Zone Cycling)
4. Daniel Parks (GS Tenzing)
5. Austin Vincent (Cinoonan/kam/Coast to Coast)

Men’s 15-16 The Men’s 15-16 year old race proved to be one of the most exciting of the day as winner Owen Logan of Redline Bicycles overcame a third row start spot to take the lead in the closing laps of the race.  Early race leaders Zane Godby (Clif Bar) and Michael Dessau (Above Category) faded in the closing laps as Logan appeared to get stronger, passing five to ten riders each lap to take the lead on the closing circuit.  Once in the lead the battle didn’t stop as Logan put almost 20 seconds into second place finisher Godby and Curtis White fought and clawed his way into third with hard and consistent laps. Godby suffered a mid-race crash and faded back as far as fifth before eventually rallying back into second. The Clif Bar Development team put two riders on the podium and four in the top-ten.

1. Logan Owen (Redline Bicycles)
2. Zane Godby (Clif Bar Development)
3. Curtis White (Clif Bar Development)
4. Michael Dessau Team 5280 / Slipstream
5. Sam O’Keefe (C3 Athletes Serving Athletes)

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Full Results: