Thanks to impressive finishes by its downhillers, Fort Lewis College defended its Division I collegiate mountain-bike national title during the 2007 USA Cycling collegiate national championships in Banner Elk, North Carolina.

The Skyhawks defeated Lees-McRae College, host of the championships, 730 to 635.

Taking the Division II title was the Colorado School of Mines, which edged Warren Wilson College, 636-626.

Fort Lewis took the lead in the team omnium competition after Benjamin Sonntag grabbed the win in the cross-country on Friday. But Lees-McRae answered the challenge on Saturday with a win in the short track by Mike Anderson, who held off the Fort Lewis trio of Sonntag, Rick Wetherald and Adam Snyder for the win. Lees-McRae added to its lead after Carla Swart finished third in the women’s short track behind winner Eszter Horanyi of the University of Colorado, whose impressive ride relegated reigning U23 national champ Chloe Forsman (University of Arizona) to second place.

But Fort Lewis proved the depth of its cycling program in the downhill, which was held on a foggy Saturday morning at nearby Sugar Mountain Resort. The brother-sister duo of Sage and Cody Wilderman grabbed wins in the men and women’s downhill, respectively. Fort Lewis riders Sarah Elworthy and Alisha Gibson also placed in the top five of the women’s race. The absence of any Lees-McRae riders in the top five for downhill or dual slalom secured the Skyhawks’ national title.

The Colorado School of Mines in Golden also used the consistency of its gravity riders to take home the win. CSM did not bring home a single individual victory — however, it placed at least one rider on the podium for each gravity race.

Sonntag, the reigning junior world champion in winter triathlon (run, bike and Nordic ski), took home the men’s individual omnium, thanks to his cross-country win and second-place finish in short track. Forsman, who also races for the Luna women’s pro team, didn’t sweep the cross-country events, but nevertheless took the women’s DI omnium crown.

Winning the Division II men’s crown was Colorado College’s Collin Cares, who won both the cross-country and short-track races. Cares, a native of Boulder, Colorado, rides with the national U23 cross-country team during the summer months. Warren Wilson College’s Kylie Krauss took home the Division II women’s title after winning the cross country and finishing third in the short track.

Complete results