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Garmin scores team pursuit title at nationals
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Garmin-Chipotle and Metro VW Cycling earned national titles in the team pursuit, as at the U.S. elite track national championships at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, Thursday.
Meanwhile Proman’s Cari Higgins narrowly edged Liz Reap-Carlson to take the national jersey in the women’s 500-meter time trial.
In the men’s 4000-meter event, Taylor Phinney claimed his second national title of the week when he teamed up with Garmin-Chipotle teammates David Koesel, Daniel Holloway and Colby Pearce to clock a winning time of 4:21.047. A day earlier, Phinney earned the national title in the men’s kilometer time trial.
The time underscores the cost and complexity of fielding a team pursuit squad. The U.S., once an international contender, no longer enters riders in the event at the world championships or the Olympics. Great Britain, which has a well-financed track program, won the gold medal and set a world record of 3:53 at the Beijing Olympics.
In the women’s 3000-meter pursuit, the Metro VW Cycling Team of Kimberly Geist, Alison Powers and Shannon Koch rode a 3:43.959, beating Proman Racing (Shelley Olds, Christen King, Megan Guarnier) by two seconds.
Higgins (Proman-Paradigm) won the elite women’s 500-meter time trial national title with a winning mark of 36.781 seconds, besting runner-up Reap-Carlson (Verducci Breakaway) by a scant 7/100ths of a second.
As the highest-placed U23 in the standings in sixth, Cristin Walker was awarded the U23 national title in the 500-meter time trial after posting a time of 37.745.
In other competition on Thursday, Jimmy Watkins (Momentum), Lanell Rockmore (Gotham Cycling), Stephen Hill (East Point Track Club) and Michael Blatchford (Cypress, Calif.) all advanced to the semifinals of the men’s sprint. Watkins and Rockmore will square off on Friday in a best-of-three head-to-head format for a spot in the finals while Hill and Blatchford will do the same.
On Friday, national titles will be awarded in the men’s elite and U23 match sprint, the men’s and women’s elite and U23 individual pursuit, the women’s keirin, and the men’s and women’s scratch race.
2008 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships
Carson, Calif. Oct. 1-5
| Men’s Team Pursuit 1. Garmin-Chipotle (David Koesel, Taylor Phinney, Daniel Holloway, Colby Pearce) 4:21.047 2. First Rate Mortgage (Kenny Williams, Roman Kilun, James Stangeland, Daniel Harm) 4:30.163 3. Team Colorado (Zach Watson, Daniel Lionberg, Ian Burnett, Julian Kyer) 4:34.384 Women’s Team Pursuit 1. Metro VW Cycling (Kimberly Geist, Alison Powers, Shannon Koch) 3:43.959 2. Proman Racing (Shelley Olds, Christen King, Megan Guarnier) 3:45.370 3. Southbay Wheelmen (Kelli Jones, Morgan Kapp, Jennifer Reither) 3:51.976 Women’s 500-Meter Time Trial 1. Cari Higgins (Boulder, Colo.) 36.781 2. Liz Reap-Carslon (Jim Thorpe, Pa.) 36.858 3. Anna Lang (La Jolla, Calif.) 37.066 6. Cristin Walker (Houston, Texas) 37.745* *U23 National Champion |
