After four days of grueling competition in Southern California, the Elite Track National Championships came to a close on Sunday afternoon. The event took place at the VELO Sports Center, part of the 125-acre Home Depot Center complex in Carson, CA.
The fourth and final day was perhaps the most thrilling, culminating with the Women’s 25K Madison and the Men’s 50K Madison. The Madison has only recently become part of the Elite Track National Championships, thought its long history has made it one of the most exciting races in indoor cycling competition.
This year’s competition, on the women’s side, was dominated by the duo of Katie Compton and Cari Higgins. Calling themselves the “Taint Slow” team, the pair pulled ahead not only in laps, but also in points, solidifying a solid Gold win for the team.
Commenting on their win, Compton said of the race, “Track suffering is different than any other suffering…. We wanted to make sure we kept the pace on, and depending on who was there throwing in Cari for the sprints more than me. And taking a lap is always in the plan just to secure a win.”
Taint Slow overshadowed a solid effort by Kate Wilson and Lauren Hall – Walshy’s Girls – who took the Silver and Neva Day and Morgan Kapp, team NOW/COG, who earned the Bronze medal.
The Men’s Madison, twice as long as the the Women’s event, was an even tighter race. The teams raced neck and neck, with points determining the positioning until the very end. The race was a daring display of bold moves – some even eliciting dangerous passing warnings. But in the end, team Pure Energy — comprised of Bobby Lea and John Simes – grabbed the gold.
After the victory, Lea noted this to be a special win. “The last two years we’ve come up a little short so this year we decided to come out of the gates hard and take the bulls by the horn,” he said.
Simes chimed in, “We wanted to pick up some points early and put the pressure on everyone else. . . The Optum guys came back and put some pressure on us at the end but we held it out.”
Pure Energy eked out the victory over Optum’s Daniel Holloway and Ian Mori, taking home the Silver; Austin Carroll and Guy East for the Bronze. Locals Collin Berry and Danny Heeley took fourth place for the HB Kraken team and Stefan Rothe and Zachary Kovalcik teamed up for Rothe Training to take the 5th spot.
With dozens of other exciting races and new champions, the Elite Track Nationals featured both new talent and seasoned veterans, closing off the third quarter of the season with a bang.
The full results of the fourth and final day are below. The day’s events included four elite and six para-cycling national titles featuring, in addition to the Madison races, time trials and team sprints. Don’t miss the photo gallery below!
All Results for Sunday, September 30th at the Elite Track National Championships:
Men’s Kilometer Time Trial
1. Matthew Baranoski (Perkasie, PA/Pure Energy Cycling-ProAirHFA) 01:03.2
2. TJ Mathieson (Redondo Beach, CA/Momentum Coaching Group p/b Atomic) 01:04.5
3. Giddeon Massie (Cypress, CA/Bike Religion) 01:04.9
4. Danny Robertson (Rolling Meadows, IL/WDT-Allvoi International Cycling Team) 01:07.1
5. Quinn Hatfield (Los Angeles, CA/Velo Club LaGrange) 01:07.6
Women’s Team Sprint
1. Broadmark Encompass: Madalyn Godby (Louisville, CO) and Tela Crane (Sammamish, WA/BROADMARK ENCOMPASS) 35.564
2. Panda Express: Dana Feiss (Telford, PA/PANDA EXPRESS) and Melissa (Missy) Erickson (Cypress, CA/PANDA EXPRESS) 36.994
3. Bike Central: Alissa Maglaty (Piedmont, CA/BIKE CENTRAL) and Jen Featheringill (Portland, OR/BIKE CENTRAL) 37.129
4. Portlandia: Erin Glover (Portland, OR/PORTLANDIA) and Anissa Cobb (Portland, OR/PORTLANDIA) 38.408
5. HWTPP Team Sprint: Emily Thurston (San Pablo, CA/HWTPP TEAM SPRINT) and Mary Glenn Carrasco (Foster City, CA/HWTPP TEAM SPRINT) 39.126
Women’s Madison
1. TAINT SLOW: Cari Higgins (Boulder, Colo.) and Katherine Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
2. WALSHY’S GIRLS: Kate Wilson (Los Angeles, CA) and Lauren Hall (Dolores, CO)
3. NOW/COG: Morgan Kapp (Claremont, CA and Neva Day (Manhattan Beach, CA)
4. THE TWINS: Shelby Reynolds (Cypress, TX) and Tara McCormick (Long Beach, CA)
5. SIZZLE SPEED: Lindsey Hamilton (Minneapolis, MN) and Erin Glover (Portland, OR)
Men’s Madison
1. Pure Energy Cycling: Bobby Lea (Mertztown, Pa.) and John (Jackie) Simes (New Tripoli, PA) 34
2. Optum Raleigh: Daniel Holloway (Morgan Hill, CA) and Ian Moir (Long Beach, CA) – 29
3. More than sport: Guy East (Unionville, IN) and Austin Carroll (Orange, CA) 20
4. HB Kraken: Collin Berry (Huntington Beach, CA) and Danny Heeley (Hermosa Beach, CA)
5. Rothe Training: Zachary Kovalcik (Portland, OR) and Stefan Rothe (Austin, TX)
Para C3 Men’s 1-km Time Trial
1. Jason Paxton (Cibolo, Texas) – 1:17.993
2. William Mitchel-Chesebro (Carmel Valley, Calif./Get Crackin’-MS Society) – 1:19.691
Para C4 Men’s 1-km Time Trial
1. Aaron Trent (Colorado Springs, CO/Speedfix Racing p/b Zubaz)
2. Jonathan Copsey (Colorado Springs, CO/Paralympic National Team)
3. Justin Widhalm (Fountain, CO/Ride 2 Recovery)
4. Jeffrey Martin (Oceanside, CA/Crank Cycling)
5. steve kelly (Draper, UT/Bountiful Mazda Cycling Team)
Para C5 Men’s 1-km Time Trial
1. Vincent Juarez (San Jose, Calif./Team Mike’s Bikes) – 1:13.048
2. Zachary Lindhart (Yukon, Ohio/GS Adams Avenue) – 1:18.310
Para BVI Men’s 1-km Time Trial
1. Team Wheel & Sprocket: Kevin Meyers (Greenfield, WI) and Robert Springer (Sturtevant, WI)
2. ColoBikeLaw.com: Karl Erickson (Boulder, CO) and Chester Triplett (Mooresville, NC)
Para C2 Women’s 500-meter Time Trial
1. Laura Sobchik –(Santa Monica, Calif./U.S. Paralympics) – 49.208
Para Women’s BVI 1-km Time Trial
1. Kara Vatthauer (Tucson, Ariz.) and Mackenzie Woodring (Belmont, Mich./Einstein Racing) – 1:16.349
2. Rachael Scdoris (Bend, Ore.) and Lisa Turnbull (Springfield, Ore.) – 1:20.078
View the NEC Ideas full gallery of photos here.
