The Colby Echo

Issue date: 4/30/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Courtesy of Delia Massey

Over the weekend of April 26-27, the Colby men's and women's cycling teams competed in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Championships, held this year at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. The races of the weekend consisted of time trials, road races, and criterium, which are short courses (usually less than five kilometers) held on closed off city streets. On Saturday morning, the women's team raced in the B team time trial, entering a team of Delia Massey '09, Lauren Tracy '11 and Andy Notopolous '11. Although the team had never practiced together, it fared well on the 10-mile course, finishing fourth out of 10 teams. Later in the afternoon, Massey, Tracy, and Notopolous competed in the women's B criterium, held on Dartmouth's frat row. The course was a technical three-quarter mile loop with six turns, with the cyclists lapping the course several times before finishing at after 35 minutes of racing. "The pace was very fast and overall it was a tough, painful race, but I managed to finish right behind the first group in thirteenth place," Massey said. "Lauren and Andy finished not far behind in twentieth and twenty-fourth places respectively, out of a total of 43 riders."

On the men's side, Christian Crannell '08 and Matt Appleby '11 also competed in the C criterium on Saturday afternoon, racing for 35 minutes on the frat row course. Crannell had an excellent race, placing second out of 43 riders to secure an excellent sendoff to his collegiate cycling career. Josh Jamner '09 then competed in the A criterium, racing for an hour on the same course. Even with a highly competitive field, Jamner placed a respectable twenty-fifth out of 52 riders.

On Sunday, the clouds moved in and rain came down all day, ensuring not only uncomfortable riding conditions but also dangerous riding. The women's team competed in the road race, composed of three laps on a rolling 12-mile loop, and at the beginning of the second lap there was a nasty crash in the pack. However, the Colby team not only stayed up all race, but placed the top two finishers out of 47 riders, with Tracy taking first and Massey taking second. "It was cold and raining, but coming from Colby, this didn't bother us at all," Massey said. "Lauren and I stayed with the front group and in the last 200 yards, she went for the sprint and I followed behind her. It was really exciting to have such a strong end to our season, and we're looking forward to an even better one next year."

The men's road race on Sunday was a 51-mile loop that featured a challenging 5-mile climb ascending 1,600 vertical feet in elevation. Crannell and Appleby took 17th and 56th, respectively, out of 77 total riders. Jamner undertook the same loop twice for his race, but stopped after 65 miles due to illness. The tough 102-mile course was the longest race of the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference.

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