Eastern conference finds smooth TT, cobbled crit at Princeton

By Sean Whiteman

Princeton and Stevens Cycling hosted the fourth week of Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference  action, and Saturday featured an individual time trial followed by an afternoon crit.

The 4.2-mile ITT was almost a pure power course: smooth as glass with only a couple shallow rollers and two wide turnaround points that kept the speed high. The crit would prove to be tougher than it looked on paper, though, largely due to a rough road surface that was even punctuated by a few cobbles.

Individual Time Trial

After balmy temperatures at last weekend’s Philly Phlyer, the ECCC got zapped back into January this week. The mercury was hovering around 30°F when the first riders rolled off, not long after sunrise.

In the Men’s A race, Max Korus (University of Pennsylvania) put 15 seconds into his closest competition, with a dominating time of 9:46 that would stand as the only sub-10 minute ride of the day. In the Women’s A race, Elle Anderson (Dartmouth College) took the win in 11:22.

The Men’s B field saw Aaron Horvath (Princeton) cruise to victory in 10:05, distancing second place by almost 30 seconds with a time that would have put him on the podium in the Men’s A race. An uncombined field of Women’s B riders had a chance to show off their solo power and Katy Applin (Northeastern University) took full advantage, in a winning time of 11:36 that would have slotted her safely into third place in the As.

The Men’s C race saw James Bolognani (University of New Hampshire) take victory in 10:52, and in the Women’s C race Cynthia Nijenhuis (Cornell University) stopped the clock at 12:29 for the win. The Men’s D field was split into Division 1 and Division 2, with respective winners Cane Napolitano (Lafayette University) at 11:24 and William Alger (Yale University) at 11:30.

Cadwalader Park Criterium

That afternoon’s crit course appeared to be engineered for field sprints: a gently winding one-mile layout with a single short hill in the 250 meters leading up to the line.

The Men’s A race began with a volley of attacks, testing the field to see if the day held any hope for a breakaway. By the midpoint of the race that question had been answered, and a few solo attackers were left to dangle in the wind as the field began jockeying for position in preparation for the inevitable. When the dust settled, Pavel Gonda (New York University) took home first place, in a return to form after winning the Rutgers crit in the first week of the season. Patrick Bradley (Rutgers University) snagged second, and Derek Harnden (University of Vermont) took third.

(Editor’s Note: VeloNews correspondent Sean Whiteman, who had got caught behind a crash earlier in the race, crossed the Men’s A finish line first, but was later relegated after officials ruled he took more than the allowable one free lap in the pits after the crash. “I totally understand the official’s decision,” Whiteman said. “The ruling only changed the results sheet — it was still an awesome race.”)

The Women’s A/B race began with a similar flurry of action that stretched out the field at various times, eventually resulting in a break of five that at first looked like a promising move. Unwilling to cooperate, though, their advantage shrank, and not long after they were swallowed back into the pack a surging pace finally forced a field split. The lead group of 13 contained enough horsepower to steadily increase its lead, and from that bunch Jessica Kutz (Pennsylvania State University) sprinted for the win, ahead of Elle Anderson (Dartmouth) and the current women’s overall leader Martha Buckley (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).

The Men’s B race would also come down a bunch sprint, and US Naval Academy went 1-2 with Reiss Kohl and Nick Hutchinson, in a finish that was marred by a nasty pileup coming out of the final turn before the line. Charles Salzer (Franklin & Marshall College) crossed the line for third place, but behind him the remains of the crash would take almost half an hour to fully clear.

The Men’s C race was split to accommodate the 78 starters who toed the line. The C1 race looked like it was headed for a predictable finish but UNH’s Bolognani had other ideas. His gutsy attack on the bell lap went unanswered, and he scored the day’s first solo victory when he held off the field.

Antonio Petrov (Harvard University) won the race for second place, ahead of Eric Poeltl (University of Pennsylvania). In the C2 race, Harry Chen (Bucknell) took the bunch sprint, followed by Evan Murphy (Rhode Island School of Design) and Nicholas Walulik (Stevens Institute of Technology).

In the Women’s C race, the riser just before the finish proved it could be selective over the course of a race, as attrition sent a steady stream of riders off the back. From the front group, Kelly Desharnais (Bucknell) claimed the win over Susannah Hufstader (Colby College) and Cynthia Nijenhuis (Cornell University).

The Men’s D1 race played out much the same way, split apart by the power climb. Taylor Smith (University of New Hampshire) sprinted ahead of his group for first, pursued by Karl Zahn (University of Vermont) and Cane Napolitano (Lafayette University). The D2 race added another field sprint to the tally, with the win going to Kevin Rutherford (US Military Academy) over a duo of MIT riders, Adam Bry and Steven Ji.

Sean Whiteman is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania.

FILED UNDER: Collegiate / News / Race Report