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The elite men and women navigated a challenging new course at Schooley Mill Cross in Highland, MD on Saturday.  The 7th race in the BikeReg.com MABRAcross series, hosted by Team BBC, was contested in crisp and clear weather, which made for some very fast racing. Despite some soggy sections on the back side of the course, courtesy of the heavy rains the area had late in the week, the undulating slalom style course favored those who could generate a steady amount of wattage.

In the women’s race Julie Kuliecza of Team Alan North America Cycling stomped up the starting straightaway to grab the hole shot by more than four bike lengths in front of the field of 17 women.  She held that gap for half a lap before the field closed in and a nice pack formed at the front.  As they hit the pavement at the end of the lap Jennifer Maxwell of Team ATAC Sportswear/Bike Rack had worked her way up to the front of the field.  Once she got there, Maxwell wasted little time before pulling away in what would end up being a solo ride to victory.  Behind her Kuliecza was fighting it out with Lenore Pipes of C3/Athletes Serving Athletes when Libbey Sheldon of T.E.A.M Fuji stormed past them to take control of second place.  Pipe’s teammate Elizabeth Harlow joined the group fighting for third and one lap later would pull away with Kuliecza to set up a sprint finish that Kuliecza would win by a bike length.  Pipes rolled in 15 seconds later to claim the last podium spot.

The talk around the park before the start of the men’s race was focused on the tight BikeReg.com MABRAcross points standings.  All the major contenders were on hand to fight it out, including Jared Nieters and Joe Dombroski of Haymarket Cycles, Adam Driscoll of Adventures for the Cure, and the Alan North American Cycling team duo of Dave Weaver and Greg Wittwer.  If any one man could win a couple of the last 3 races then he could take the overall points jersey home with him at the end of the season.

With that said, the holeshot was hotly contested and won by Dave Weaver and Adam Driscoll.  The main contenders would jostle for position at the front for the first 2 laps before Haymarket Cycles teammates Joe Dombroski and Jared Nieters would push off the front together.  Behind them Greg Wittwer solidified himself in 3rd and Wes Shempf and Jeff Bahnson teamed up to lock down 4th and 5th.  Very little changed among the top 5 until lap 4 when Joe got the gap he needed to ensure a long solo ride for the win.  Then on lap 6 Greg Wittwer caught a fading Nieters and took over 2nd place for good while the biggest mover of the day, Tom Jeffrey of Team Natures Path/3Sports, reeled in and passed the duo of Shempf and Bahnson to claim 3rd.  Shempf eventually shook Bahnson loose and they both finished just off the podium in 4th and 5th respectively.

Elite Women Results

PLACE BIB LAST NAME FIRST NAME TEAM
1 101 MAXWELL JENNIFER ATAC Sportswear p/b Bike Rack DC
2 115 Sheldon Libbey Team Fuji
3 104 Kuliecza Julie Alan North America Cycling
4 103 Harlow Elizabeth C3 Athletes Serving Athletes
5 102 Pipes Lenore C3 Athletes Serving Athletes
6 110 dowidchuk katrina Deep Blue
7 114 Hanlon Laura Team Fuji
8 113 Schumacher Kathrin Guy’s Racing
9 109 Adams Kristina NVRC/Cardio Sports Lab
10 105 Spanogle Terri NCVC/Inova Health System
11 106 Woodrow Jean Squadra Coppi/IM Saab
12 108 Grim Diane C3 – Athletes Serving Athletes
13 107 Lea Tracy T.E.A.M. FUJI
14 116 Johnson Cythia Artemis
15 112 Zadnik Newell Mary Sublime Athletics Velo
DNF 117 Briseno Christina Cycle Life
DNS 111 von Teitenberg Heidi C3-Athletes Serving Athletes

Elite Men Results

PLACE BIB LAST NAME FIRST NAME TEAM
1 4 Dombrowski Joseph Haymarket Bicycles/Home Visit
2 5 Wittwer Greg ALAN North America Cycling Team
3 1 Nieters Jared Haymarket Bicycles/HomeVisit
4 13 Jeffrey Tom Team Natures Path/3Sports
5 6 Schempf Weston C3-Athletes Serving Athletes
6 18 Bahnson Jeffrey Thule / Van Dessel
7 17 Langlois Dan Embrocation Cycling Journal
8 8 cummings stephen Indiana Regional Medical Center
9 24 Becker Collin Waltworks
10 2 Driscoll Adam Adventures For the Cure
11 3 Weaver Dave ALAN North America Cycling Team
12 19 Newell Chris Sublime Athletics Velo
13 12 Mayhew Chris JBV Coaching
14 15 Gdowik Jonathan Trek Racing Co-Op
15 11 Kahlenberg Jordan Breakawaybikes.com/Giant Bicycles
16 22 Escobar Gonzalo Haymarket Home Visit
17 20 Rothmeyer Brett Kraynicks
18 16 Lindstrom Gregory Gung Ho/Spring House
19 7 Fouche Brian Team Latitude/ABRT
20 10 Ingram Callum
21 9 Tille Dan Fulcrum Coaching
DNF 21 Brown Timothy The Bike Rack
DNF 23 Downs Jay WVU Healthcare
DNS 14 Mathias Ian Team BBC