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O’Reilly (Santa Barbara, Calif.)

by VeloNews.com

• October 01, 2009
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By USA Cycling

he 2009 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships opened in the velodrome at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, on Wednesday as Cody O’Reilly (Bissell) and Cari Higgins (Proman) were awarded the first-ever elite omnium national titles.

In all, three national champions were crowned on the first day of competition inside the country’s only 250-meter indoor velodrome.

Cody, son of former kilo world record holder and Pan American champion Rory O’Reilly, used a balanced attack to take what is considered the all-around title, finishing second in the individual pursuit and kilo time trial, third in the 200-meter time trial and the scratch race and sixth in the points race.

“I have a lot of endurance from all the road racing I’ve been doing and that combined with some speed makes the omnium suit me really well,” O’Reilly said.

Jacob Duehring (Felt Factory Team) mounted a formidable attack, including a blazing win in the individual pursuit, but had to settle for silver after an eighth-place finish in the points race. USA Cycling National Development Team rider Daniel Holloway (Felt-Holowesko-Garmin) also had a strong showing, winning both the points race and the kilo, but couldn’t recover from a slow start in the 200-meter time trial.

After collecting four medals at this year’s Pan American Track Cycling Championships, Higgins began her quest for the stars-and-stripes Wednesday, winning what is to be the first of eight events she will contest at these national championships.

The soon-to-be 33-year-old grabbed the sixth national title of her career in impressive fashion, placing first in three of the five omnium events.

“This was the most important race for me this week because I feel like on the world level this is where I’m most competitive,” explained Higgins. “I really wanted to show what I can do in this event and the dominance of our entire Proman squad.”

Long-time endurance racer Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Verducci-Breakaway) earned the silver with an all-around strong performance while Heather Jackson (Oceanside, California) grabbed the bronze after winning the points race.

Recently added to the national championship slate, the men’s and women’s international omniums are a compilation of the 200-meter flying time trial, scratch race, individual pursuit, points race and time trial. Each rider is awarded points in each event with the rider accumulating the lowest cumulative point total earning the title.

In the only other title awarded on Wednesday, Giddeon Massie (Bike Religion) clocked a time of 18.359 seconds to win the standing 250-meter time trial over David Espinoza (Bike America) and Kelyn Akuna (Veritas Cycling Team).

2009 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships
Carson, Calif.
Sept. 30 – Oct. 4

For full results from the event, click here .

Men’s International Omnium
1. Cody O’Reilly (Santa Barbara, Calif.) 16
2. Jacob Duehring (Irvine, Calif.) 19
3. Daniel Holloway (Morgan Hill, Calif.) 23
4. Ian Moir (Long Beach, Calif.) 29
5. Daniel Lionberg (Fort Collins, Colo.) 39

Women’s International Omnium
1. Cari Higgins (Boulder, Colo.) 9
2. Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich.) 14
3. Heather Jackson (Oceanside, Calif.) 22
4. Anna Lang (La Jolla, Calif.) 23
5. Christen King (Huntington Beach, Calif.) 26

Men’s 250-Meter Time Trial
1. Giddeon Massie (Huntington Beach, Calif./Bike Religion) 18.359
2. David Espinoza (Breinigsville, Pa./Bike America) 18.669
3. Kelyn Akuna (Long Beach, Calif./Veritas Cycling Team) 19.003
4. Daniel Walker (Houston, Texas/Momentum Coaching) 19.036
5. Kevin Mansker (Portland, Ore.) 19.171