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Crit closes collegiate championships

by VeloNews.com

• May 14, 2006
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By Fred Dreier

Collegiate athletes mobbed the streets of downtown Lawrence, Kansas, on Sunday for the third and final race of the 2006 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships.

The finale, a criterium run on a one-mile course, saw Division I and II men’s fields race 65 minutes plus three laps and the women’s fields race 55 minutes plus three laps.

The D-II men hit the streets first. The race held extra importance, as the team omnium was nearly tied after Friday’s team time trial and Saturday’s road race. Defending champions Whitman College trailed Lees-McRae College by a mere seven points. Both teams were represented in a five-man breakaway that separated itself from the peloton., but the win went to Lees-McRae freshman Scott Jackson.

The Whitman women answered Lees-McRae in the Division II women’s event. Road-race champion Mara Abbott crossed the line first, with teammate Laura Vallas coming in fourth, while a crash took Lees-McRae’s top female rider out on the last lap. The points deficit put Lees-McRae nine points behind Whitman in the final team omnium standings.

Mark Smelser of Kansas State University won the men’s Division I race. The senior attacked midway through the final lap and had enough of an advantage at the line to raise his arms. Finishing second was last year’s criterium champion, Ken Hanson of Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo.

Rebecca Larson (Florida) won the women’s Division I race, crossing ahead of road-race winner Sarah Uhl (Penn State). Larson, who rode for the Colavita-Cooking Light pro team and helps coach the Florida squad, attacked midway through the final lap for the win. The University of California at Davis wrapped up the team omnium competition in Division I.

Stay tuned to VeloNews.com for further updates.

2006 USA Cycling Collegiate National Road Championships
May 14, 2006. Lawrence, KS
Criterium
Division I
Men
1. Mark Smelser, Kansas State University, 1:10:49
2. Ken Hanson, Cal Poly Wheelmen, same time
3. Bennet Van Der Genugten, Indiana, s.t.
4. David Wiswell, Columbia, s.t.
5. Chris Ruhl, Penn State, s.t.

Women (unofficial)
1. Rebecca Larson (Florida)

Division II
Men
1. Scott Jackson, Lees-McRae, 1:11:42
2. Phil Mann, DePauw University, same time
3. Ben Kneller, Montana State, s.t.
4. Brendon Weil, Whitman, s.t.
5. Peter Fairbanks, Cumberland, s.t.

Women
1. Mara Abbott, Whitman, 1:03:34
2. enna Boyd, DePauw University
3. Caitlin Bever, MIT
4. Laura Valaas, Whitman
5. Monique Hein, Lees-McRae