Bobcat cyclists

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From staff reports

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — For the second year in a row Lees-McRae has claimed the USA Collegiate Cyclo-Cross National Championship in a repeat performance of last year.

The Bobcats, led by senior Kacey Manderfield, who grabbed another individual national title, beat perennial powerhouse Fort Lewis College (Colo.), who had beat out the Bobcats for the Mountain Bike National Title back in October of 2007.

The Bobcats, in just their second year of Division I competition have placed themselves on the podium in all three national championships held so far this year. They took fifth as a team at Track Nationals and second at the Mountain Bike Nationals, which was hosted by Lees-McRae, in the first ever championships held on a college campus.

Fourteen cylco-cross cyclists represented Lees-McRae in the Cyclo-Cross National Championships held Dec. 14-16.

Training in Banner Elk, where cold temperatures and snow are not unusual, yielded an advantage for the Bobcats when cold, wintry conditions hit Kansas City during the championships and the cyclists buckled down to compete not only against other opponents but also against the weather conditions.

For the women, Manderfield pedaled her way to another individual title, outpacing her nearest competitor by 1:30 in the half-hour race to claim the gold. Manderfield also saw five of her teammates place in the top 21 of the field.

Ally Stacher, a junior, finished in the top ten, claiming eighth while sophomore Carla Swart, junior Krisit Henne, and senior Olivia Maurey finished 13th, 15th, 19th respectively.

Jo Markham, a junior, raced to a respectable 21st place finish.

For the men, senior Aaron Bradford once again setting the pace for the Bobcats racing to the bronze medal a mere two seconds behind Fort Lewis’ Joey Thompson, who took second.

The Lees-McRae men had a strong showing with five riders finishing in the top twenty in the national competition. In addition to the third place finish by Bradford, freshman Mike Anderson grabbed fifth place with classmate Eric Thompson trailing closely to claim sixth.

Junior Scott Stewart raced to an 11th place position while senior Chris Consorto also placed in the top 20, claiming the 16th spot.

Also competing in the race for the Bobcats were freshman Brad Perley and sophomore Scott Jackson who finished 27th and 28th respectively.