John Osborne
The OSU Cycling team has returned from their third weekend of racing in the
Northwest Collegiate Cycling Conference and has earned some impressive
results. Fourteen team members traveled this past weekend to one of the
Pacific Northwest's premier vacation destinations, Walla Walla, Washington.
On Saturday, the road races and time trials were contested. Despite wind and
rain, OSU did well. In Men's C, OSU earned 16th, 27th, 31st, and 33rd in a
field that started over 45 racers. In Women's B, OSU placed 15th. In Men's
B, OSU rider Jeff Ballantine placed 4th, his third top 4 placing in three
road races. Other OSU riders placed 14th and 19th. Pam Archer, following her
dominating performance two weeks ago in Bellingham, Washington (where she
placed second in the road race and first in the crit), upgraded to Women's
A and then placed 6th. In Men's A, Dave Varoujean placed 12th.
The time trial was contested over 10.4 miles of gentle rollers that had a
tail wind on the way out and a head wind on the way back. Team compositions
were changed a little bit before going "contre la montre." Our time trial
teams can start with four people. Twelve male riders went, so that meant we
could send out 3 full teams, but only if one B team member and one C team
member moved up to the next category for the event. Kenneth Philbrick, a
time trial specialist, moved up to the A's, and along with Dave Varoujean,
Dave Kunhs and Lars Holmgren, earned second place, their best placing of the
year, coming in at 23:35.06 (an average speed of 26.5 miles per hour!).
Their previous best in a time trial this year was fourth, so Saturday's
second place finish was very satisfying. The Men's B was third place in
their category with a time of 26:03.51. The Men's C team, earned 6th in
their category, coming in at 28: 38.57. In Women's A, the duo of Pam Archer
and Eva Woodson came in 5th with a time of 31:44.35.
The criteriums were held Sunday, a warm sunny day. In Men's C, OSU took
18th, 31st, 32nd and 38th. In Women's B, Eva Woodson took 10th place. In
Men's B, Justin DeMaille, Kenneth Philbrick and Brent Matteson placed 11th,
12th and 18th. Pam Archer, in the Women's A crit, placed 5th. In Men's A,
Dave Varoujean worked with three other riders to lap the field. He took
second place in the finishing sprint. Dave Kunhs placed 18th. Lars Holmgren
finished in 21st place.
After 3 weekends of racing, Dave Varoujean is in 7th in Men's A and still
able to qualify for the national championship races, held this year in
Lawrence, Kansas, over the weekend of May 10 through 13. Pam Archer is 10th
in Women's A (and still first in Women's B!). Jeff Ballantine is fourth in
Men's B, despite crashing out of the crit on Sunday. He trails second place
by only seven points, so he still has a great chance of a podium placing.
OSU is still third in the conference, behind powerhouses Western Washington
and Whitman. We maintain a lead of about 300 points in front of Washington
and PSU.
Next weekend, the team adventures to Montana for another omnium.
For more information on OSU cycling, including more detailed race reports,
visit www.OSUCycling.com
For more information on NWCCC racing, visit the NWCCC homepage at
http://users.moscow.com/wykoff/index2.htm
John Osborne