Collegiate D1 Women’s Race a Prelude to Sunday’s U23 Contest?

Kaitlin Antonneau cruised to the division one collegiate women’s national title for cycling powerhouse Marion College, besting her teammate — and roommate — Coryn Rivera.

In what appeared to be a prelude to the next day’s U23 match, defending U23 champion Antonneu and favorite Rivera, took off from the gun, working together to distance themselves from the rest of the field.

“I just started behind Coryn and I was just gonna play it by ear,” 19-year-old Antonneau, originally from nearby Racine, Wisconsin, said afterward. “Then [Rivera] made a mistake and I took the lead and then just rolled.”

Antonneau had a lead of twelve seconds by the end of lap one, and extended her lead to about a minute before easing up and conserving herself for the next day’s big race.

“Tomorrow is the day I want to have a really good race, but I’m glad I raced today ’cause it got a lot of the nerves out of the way and I learned the course,” Antonneau said.

Her teammate was happy for her.

“As long as Marion was up there I was fine with it,” Rivera said.

“I did the best I could do today without really over-extending myself before tomorrow.”

“Hopefully I’ve got a lot of luck on my side,” Rivera said when asked how she can beat her extremely talented roommate the next day to unseat her as U23 queen. “I’m gonna need a lot of it, put it that way,” she said.

Emily Shields (Lees-McRae) took third place. Sarah Sturm (Fort Lewis College) was fourth. And Lees-McRae’s Katherine Shields claimed the final podium spot in fifth.

Note: Watch live streaming video of the women’s and men’s elite races from the USAC Cyclocross National Championships beginning at 11:50 am (Central time) on Sunday, January 8 on VeloNews.com. Go to VeloNews.com/live!