Candi Murray
Monday, May 28, 2001 | Clear, 74=B0F
16-year-old shows why she's a cyclist to watch
Thom Gabrukiewicz
Record Searchlight
At 16 years old, Larssyn Staley is just old enough to drive a car, but she=
=20
certainly fits the Team Saturn cycling motto, "Driven 2 Ride."
While most high school sophomores are thinking about final exams and what=20
summer vacation holds =97 along with liberating the keys to the family sedan=
=20
=97 Staley was in Redding this week to prove she is one of the most=
promising=20
women cyclists in the United States. She was competing in the U.S. Cycling=
=20
Federation's Elite Time Trials and Road Race Championships Thursday and=20
Saturday, respectively.
Thursday, the Beaverton, Ore., resident won the silver medal in the=20
Under-23 time trial category; Saturday, she won the gold =97 and a coveted=
=20
"Stars and Stripes" jersey =97 in the Under-23 road race championship.
"I came here just thinking of going into survival mode," Staley said=20
shortly after winning the Under-23 crown in a time of 3 hours, 19 minutes=20
and 33 seconds, good for 24th overall in the field of 75 riders. "I was=20
just thinking of just getting it over with."
There was one person in the crowd who had no doubts that Staley was on the=
=20
verge of something grand.
"That's my niece, she's my niece!" Arlie Adam shouted as Staley crossed the=
=20
finish line. "She's driven, there's no question about it."
Staley, who joined the Saturn developmental team this year, has been=20
Oregon's woman cyclist of the year the past two years and was the state's=20
top women's junior cyclist of the year before that. Three times, Adam said,=
=20
Staley has held championships in road cycling, velo cycling and cyclocross=
=20
=97 all at the same time.
This year, she's strung together an impressive list of second-place=20
finishes at every cycling event she's entered. Until Saturday.
"I though, 'geez, I have to get over that hump and win something,' " she=20
said. "And now, the national championship. I'm just really happy."
Not too shabby for the dark-haired, 16-year-old, who first jumped on a bike=
=20
at age 13.
"She first started out swimming, but decided it just wasn't for her," Adam=
=20
said. "Her brother swims and she just followed him."
That would be Trent Staley, who is completing his freshman year at the=20
University of Southern California on a swimming scholarship. Last year, he=
=20
competed in the U.S. Olympic trials, finishing 10th in the 200-meter=20
backstroke.
"We're both really competitive, so I'm glad we're not in the same sport,"=20
Staley said. "Although we do have a really great relationship. I talked to=
=20
him on the phone yesterday for a really long time and he's really helped=
me."
Staley said she is helped further by being on Saturn's developmental team.
"They let me go out to certain races in the summer so I won't get blown=20
out," she said. "There's no pressure at all."
And the fact isn't lost on her that she has a very long, and very bright,=20
cycling future ahead of her. Most of the elite women riders on Team Saturn=
=20
are in their early 30s.
"I'm really an aggressive person," she said. "I don't see myself quitting=20
anytime soon."