ASU Crit and McDowell Circuit Race Recap

Last weekend was the third set of races for the SWCCC. The ASU crit kicked off the weekend on Saturday with their traditional course around the tech park in Tempe. The Men's A/B took to the course for 30 minutes and the racing was aggressive from the start. ASU was out numbered 5 to 8, however, they played the aggressive card and made UA and NAU chase hard in the early parts of the race. UA rallied the troops midway through and started turning the screws on ASU by forcing ASU to chase down attack after attack. In the end, it came down to a bunch sprint with UA's Max Rich taking first, David Greif in 2nd (first for the B's), and David Carlson 3rd.

The Men's C race was much more open and ASU was the dominate team taking the win over NAU and a visiting rider from Adams State. The Women's A/B race, possibly the largest women's race of the day, was a little more tempered at the start but after the first prime things quickly broke apart. ASU's Lindsay Ryder took the win again over a hard charging Alexis Gannis (GCU) and Allison Alterman (UA).

On Sunday the conference traveled to the McDowell Mountain Park on the northeast side of Phoenix for a difficult circuit race. Field sizes were smaller than usual which made for tactical racing. In the women's B, UA went 1-2 unopposed. The Men's C field was slightly larger at 11 riders and was extremely fast from the start- nearly catching the Cat 4 field that started a minute ahead of them. No break would stick and it came down to a sprint with UA's Ryan Brown taking the win. In the Women's A, ASU worked their numerical advantage and placed Lindsey Ryder up the road forcing UA to chase. Ryder held on to take the win over UA's Allison Alterman. The Men's A race was a show of force by UA with 4 riders- Max Rich, Joey Iuliano, Andrew Keller, and David Carlson- lapping the field. Not content to just ride across the line, the 4 sprinted it out with Carlson taking the win over Keller. The final race of the day, the Men's B, was slightly more laid back than the A race. The only aggressive move came for the final sprint which was won by NAU's Alex Kaufman.

The conference takes a 2 week break now and the action resumes in Las Cruces with the Trifecta Omnium- a fun ITT, crit, and road race!

UA Recap

What an exciting weekend of racing put on by the UA Team! A full slate of events with a crit, TTT, and road race!

The crit took place at the UA BioPark- exactly the same as 2013. New, however, were the expanded collegiate categories with the Men's C, B, and A each getting their own field that met the minimum distance requirement- no 30 minute combined crit here! Field sizes remained strong, especially the Men's C and the Women's A/B. UA put on a show of force in the Men's A, B, and Women's A/B field taking first in both men's races and third in the women's. NAU dominated the Men's C crit with Alex Kaufman lapping the field solo.

The next day the riders were greeted with chilly but sunny conditions in Oracle for the inaugural Oracle Road Race. The 20 mile loop featured a long, fast descent and then over 1,000 feet of climbing per lap. The action was fierce from the start with UA's Quinn Keogh taking another victory in the Men's A, David Greif winning the Men's B, and Alex Alvarez winning the Men's C. NAU's Reamy Winton won the women's B and Amy Chando's won the Women's A.

This weekend the conference has the weekend off but the action will resume at ASU on February 15-16 with the ASU Crit and McDowell Circuit Race. The team omnium is a tight competition between UA and ASU with UA having a slight lead. The Men's A individual omnium is extremely close: 7 points separate the top five riders. Big points are on the line at ASU with a crit and road race, so expect to see another shuffle at the top of the leader board!