This year the Collegiate Cyclocross Nationals Championships were contested on Kansas City. The CSU Rams brought a strong team and ended up with another podium spot at a National Championship.
A short recap courtesy of the Prez:
The women raced first at 10:00am. Everything was right on schedule with our ladies Amanda Miller, Julia Manley and Megan Robben taking the line. It was warm, around 50 and most women had just discarded their knee warmers, arm warmers and even some base layers, expecting to be hot by the time they were at the top of the climb. at 9:59:30 a wind blew in from the west and the temperature plummeted 25 degrees in 30 seconds! All the racers were on the line and had no time to put any clothing back on. The raced in 25 degrees with 25 mph winds for 45 minutes in shortsleeve jerseys and shorts! Crazy! The start was furious and our Amanda had great starting position with Julia buried in the middle of the pack and Megan towards the rear in her first National Championship. While Amanda has only one rider in front of her Julia and Megan would have to battle through the melee to secure better positions, and they did so brilliantly! Julia showed no sign of pain, just determination as she used her power to accelerate out of the tight corners and gain ground on the riders in front and put space on the riders behind. Megan rode smart, pacing herself and picking 2 riders off per lap. The final results played out with Amanda taking second in a tight finish with a rider from Lindsey Wilson College. Julia finished a strong 17th on the cold  course. Megan wasn't too far behind but rolled her tire off the wheel with 1.5 laps to go and lost all the hard earned spots as cold hands made it difficult to remount the tire. She was determine to finish, placing 22nd, ahead of 6 other 5 other riders. As the men lined up at 11:00 for a 45 minute blood-bath, they were prepared for the cold. But the wind had picked up and the shivering was not less prevalent than it was for the ladies. Our men, Caley Fretz, Jon Vivilo, Logan VonBokel, Chris Hall, and Jerome Haas, were practiced and out to prove that we could ride in the cold. The start was fast, fast as I had ever seen a start as they were probably at 35mph when the made a 90 degree right hand turn up a hill and onto the course. Caley had a misclip in the fray and slid back more spots than we would have liked and 4 of our guys came through within a few spots of each other around 20th position on the first lap. On the tight course there were mishaps and crashes all over and guys were running into the pit area for spare bikes and new wheels every lap. Caley had to pit 4 times for mechanical problems which hindered his performance as he lost a few spots each time. Logan had a great race, showing perseverance having race the day before in the U23 race. He was our lead man for the majority of the race. Jon, on a borrowed bike, was kicking it hard in his first real cross race ever and caught Logan with 2 laps to go. They worked together to the finish. Chris Hall was just barely over an illness from the weak prior and the cold air and anaerobic shock of the pace sucked out the last of his strength and he pulled out after 2 hard fought laps. Jerome, toyed with riders in the field, showing them proper form on the run ups, barriers and stair sections. The final placing for the men was Jon 24th, Logan 25th, Caley 27th, and Jerome 40th. As a team we placed 4th this year, a mere 12 points off 3rd place. Great job to all the riders who came, some deciding at mid-night the night before we left. It was a great time, great racing, and great Cyclo-cross weather. http://www.usacycling.org/results/index.php?year=2008&id=2439&info_id=15594