Reed, Hammer complete sweep at nationals
Carson, Calif. (October 8, 2006)—The 2006 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships concluded Saturday after
Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash./Spike) and
Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif./Ouch) added more stars-and-stripes jerseys to their closets. Reed claimed two more national titles to sweep the women’s sprint events with four victories and Hammer won the women’s 15-kilometer scratch race to score a hat trick in the endurance events.
After successfully defending her sprint and 500-meter time trial victories earlier in the week, Reed won the keirin and teamed up with Liz Carlson (Jim Thorpe, Pa./East Coast Velo) to win the women’s team sprint Saturday.
Hammer, already the individual pursuit champion and points race winner, claimed the scratch race after pulling back a late race breakaway and holding off Becky Quinn (Quakertown, Pa./Spike) for the win.
Together, Hammer and Reed were the most dominant competitors in the four-day event as one or the other stood on the top step of all six individual event podiums.
In the keirin, Reed easily sailed into the finals with wins in each of her two preliminary rounds. There she squared off against Michelle Bono (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii/Eddie B. Cycling), Kacey Manderfield (Davisburg, Mich./Wolverine-Lees McRae), Anna Lang (La Jolla, Calif./Big City Velo), Catherine Fiedler (Long Beach, Calif./The Home Depot Center) and Cari Higgins (Boulder, Colo./Hammer Racing). In the six-woman mass-start event, Reed held the front position when the pace bike peeled off the track and kept everyone at bay to hang on for her third individual title of the week.
Earlier in the evening, Reed and Carlson paired up to post a 36.19-second mark in their qualifying round to earn the top seed in the women's team sprint. In the gold-medal final, Reed and Carlson beat the second-seeded squad comprised of Martha Dunne (Coronado, Calif./Jelly Belly) and Lang for the national title.
In the bronze-medal ride, Hammer and
Shelby Allen (Cerittos, Calif./Major Motion) beat Higgins and
Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Spike). Not necessarily known for her sprinting ability, Hammer’s team sprint medal was her fourth of the week.
In the women’s 15-kilometer scratch race, Hammer and Quinn entered as the favorites, but when a late-race breakaway of Miranda Duff (Beaverton, Ore./CPT-Colnago), Kimberly Geist (Emmaus, Pa./Victory Brewing), Christen King (Huntington Beach, Calif./Young’s Training Group) and Kori Seehafer (Louisville, Colo./Team Lipton) escaped, it looked as though an underdog would score the upset. Ultimately though, the foursome didn’t have enough horsepower to fend off the Hammer-led chase from behind. The break was caught with two laps of the 40-lap race remaining and Hammer continued to lead out the sprint with Quinn on her wheel. The reigning individual pursuit world champion showed why she’s one of the top endurance riders in the world, keeping the pace high enough at the front to prevent anyone from sprinting around her at the line.
In the men’s team sprint event, Giddeon Massie (Colorado Springs, Colo./Spike) claimed his second national title of the week with the help of Michael Blatchford (Cypress, Calif./Spike) and Kevin Selker (Colorado Springs, Colo./Spike). The top-seeded trio bested the second-seeded threesome of Ben Barczewski (Breiginsville, Pa./Spike), Adam Duvendeck (Santa Barbara, Calif./Echelon Santa Barbara), and Andy Lakatosh (Trexlertown, Pa./Spike).
In the bronze medal match, Eduardo Cocina (Miami, Fla.), Ryan Nelman (Taylor Lake Village, Texas/CKR Racing) and Mike Friedman (Pittsburgh, Pa./TIAA-CREF) won to take third place ahead of Tim Luther (Vancouver, Wash./Northwest All Stars), Stephen McLaughry (Washougal, Wash./Bike Central), and Zachary Copeland (Vancouver, Wash./Northwest All Stars).
In the final team event of the competition, TIAA-CREF added a second team victory to its list with a win in the men’s madison. Friedman and Brad Huff (Fair Grove, Mo.) joined forces to score 22 points and win the gold medal over a second TIAA-CREF team of Chad Hartley (Boulder, Colo.) and Rahsaan Bahati (Los Angeles, Calif.).
Huff and Friedman joined with Will Frischkorn (Boulder, Colo.) and Michael Creed (Colorado Springs, Colo.) to give TIAA-CREF a win in the team pursuit Friday.
2006 USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships
Carson, Calif.
Oct. 5-8
Day Four Results
Women’s Keirin
1. Jennie Reed (Kirkland, Wash.)
2. Anna Lang (La Jolla, Calif.)
3. Michelle Bono (Kailua-Kona, Hawaii)
4. Catherine Fiedler (Long Beach, Calif.)
5. Kacey Manderfield (Davisburg, Mich.)
Women’s Scratch Race
1. Sarah Hammer (Temecula, Calif.)
2. Becky Quinn (Quakertown, Pa.)
3. Theresa Clif-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich.)
4. Catherine Fiedler (Long Beach, Calif.)
5. Anna Webb (San Diego, Calif.)
Men’s Team Sprint
1. Giddeon Massie, Michael Blatchford, Kevin Selker
2. Ben Barczewski, Adam Duvendeck, Andy Lakatosh
3. Eduardo Cocina, Ryan Nelman, Mike Friedman
4. Tim Luther, Stephen McLaughry, Zachary Copeland
Women’s Team Sprint
1. Jennie Reed, Liz Carlson
2. Martha Dunne, Anna Lang
3. Sarah Hammer, Shelby Allen
4. Cari Higgins, Katie Compton
Madison
1. Brad Huff, Mike Friedman
2. Rahsaan Bahati, Chad Hartley
3. Dan Vogt, Austin Carroll
4. Kevin Suhr, Ryan Luttrell
5. Scott Zwizanski, Cody O’Reilly