The Dartmouth cycling team won its second Ivy Title in as many years this weekend during the Eastern Conference Championships at the University of New Hampshire. Dartmouth also won the Division II title, and placed third overall on the weekend, after perennial Division I powerhouses New Hampshire and Vermont.
The weekend began with the Strafford Hill Road Race. Aside from the constantly rolling terrain and mile-long uphill finish, riders in this year's competition also battled stiff winds that affected the tactics in every race.
In the Men's C field, a three-man breakaway quickly established itself, and despite the efforts of Steve Weller '05 and Tom McCoy '07, Dartmouth was unable to organize a chase. The two played their cards well in the final climb, and McCoy found himself just inside the points at 12th.
Though attacks went off throughout the race, the Men's B pack stayed together to the foot of the finishing hill. As the winds and grade splintered the field, Linden Klein '05 made an excellent move to stick with the leaders, falling to fourth position only in the final sprint. Despite a mechanical failure that forced him to climb the final pitches of the race in one of his highest gears, Matt Rossman '06 battled to 17th.
Misfortune struck the Women's A field as well, as Chrissy May '05 flatted just five miles from the finish of the 62-mile race. Her teammates had better luck. Kristina Eaton '04 stormed up to the crest of the final hill in second place, before falling to third in the sprint, while Amy Wallace '04, by her own admission not a fan of climbing finishes, battled to eighth.
"I just wish the finish had been at the top of the climb," said a pleased Eaton after her race. "The last 200 meters are downhill, so it favors the sprinters more than I'd like. Still, the team rode well. It's too bad about Chrissy's flat."
In the Men's A race, the longest of the day, graduate student Mike Barton and Bing Knight '05 broke away in a group of four. They worked together well, and with Tim Clement '05 riding at the front of the main field to slow the chase, it was soon clear that the break would be decisive. As the four leaders turned toward the finish, Barton upped the tempo, and finished alone in first. Knight cruised in for fourth, while Clement took tenth as the field sprinted home.
"It pretty much went according to plan," said Barton. "It was awesome to have a teammate in the break, and Tim and Todd [Yezefski '04] did a good job of controlling the field. It would have been a lot tougher to stay clear without them keeping a lid on things back there."
The team time trial began bright and early the next morning, a bit too early for the taste of the Men's B team, who rolled into the starting gate 18 seconds late, eventually taking sixth. Fortunately, their teammates were all more punctual, as both Women's teams and the Men's A team found their way into the points. The Women's A team of Jenna Farleigh '07, May, Eaton and Wallace rode to second, just three seconds in arrears of the winning time despite a crash on course. Barton, Yezefski, Knight and Clement rode to third in Men's A.
After a brief intermission, racing continued with the weekend's final event, the criterium. Held in Dover, N.H., the route was a fast, scenic .6-mile loop through downtown. In the Men's C race, Weller and McCoy went immediately to the front of the field, stringing it out and shaking many weaker riders. The two rode well together, with the freshman doing work for his more experienced teammate. Weller placed himself well in the finale and took fifth, but was later advanced to fourth after the disqualification of a UNH rider.
Dartmouth sent a large seven-man squad out to contest the Men's B crit. Dave Morse '03 set pace and marked dangerous riders, while Rossman and Klein slipped away from the field to score points in bonus sprints. Through the efforts of his teammates, Cosmo Catalano '04 was able to recover from a scary early crash to take 12th in the finale.
Eaton worked hard throughout the Women's A race, trying to keep the pace high and the pack together for Wallace to win in the sprint. With two laps to go, Rachel Bender '04 laid down a serious acceleration to stretch the field. As the pack rounded the final corner, Wallace was positioned with the fastest sprinters in the bunch, but found herself boxed in and was forced to coast over the line for fifth. Eaton took 12th.
Perhaps the most hotly contested race of the day was the Men's A event. UVM sent riders up the road on several occasions, but diligent marking by Knight and Brian Hendrickson '06 kept the field together. Hendrickson took a long pull before handing the lead off the Barton, who gave everything to lead out Yezefski. The senior streaked home just behind UVM's Mike Cody for second, while his lead-out man snagged fifth.
The team now has a one-month hiatus to rest up and train before heading out to Collegiate Nationals in Madison, Wisc.
