DURANGO, Colo. - Piedmont's cycling team recently competed in Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals. The event was held over the span of four days beginning on Thursday with dual slalom qualifiers.
EMMA FROST and MARIAJOSE MONTOYA Talavera advanced from qualifiers to semifinals. Talavera kept improving during each round. As the competition dwindled down, the racing became more neck-and-neck. Talavera finished in seventh place and Frost in 32nd.
Friday morning held the cross-country race. Prior to the competition, the racing venue received a snowstorm creating muddy, snowy, slushy, and icy conditions on the course. The women's cross-country race was the first to compete. For the first lap of the women's race, the course hadn't thawed yet. By the time the women were on their second lap, the lower part of the course was all mud.
At certain spots, the mud was very thick causing most of the racers to lose traction forcing them to run their bikes. RHYLEE WITTROCK worked hard and tried to stay on her bike as much as possible. She finished the race in 22nd place. The men's cross-country race followed the women. Their course conditions were just as bad, if not worse. JADEN GRIMES experienced a mechanical due to the mud causing him to drop out of the race. QUILL MARTIN was able to push through the terrible conditions finishing 51st while CONLEY WILHELM finished 55th.
The short track race was held on Saturday. The course for short track was the lower part of the cross-country course which meant the course was all mud. Racers were off their bikes a lot to run. Grimes ran and rode his way to 40th place, Wilhelm to 56th, and Martin to 59th. Wittrock battled through the conditions earning her a 24th place finish. Frost was not too far behind her with a 38th place finish.
On Sunday, Talavera competed in the downhill. The downhill course was part of the cross-country course, meaning it required a lot of pedaling. Talavera pushed as hard as she could allowing her to walk away with a 21st place finish.
Despite the terrible racing conditions, the team still worked hard. They had a lot of fun experiencing Nationals and cheering each other on.
