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McDonald has time to celebrate. © Janet Hill

McDonald has time to celebrate. © Janet Hill

For full Cyclocross National Championships coverage and information, visit our 2010 USA Cycling National Championships Page.

Once again, Zach McDonald (U. Washington) rode up to the start line of the Men’s Collegiate Championships looking for revenge after missing the top podium spot of the U23. And, once again, he delivered, taking home his second Collegiate Jersey.

The race wasn’t his from the gun, however, as Braden Kappius (UC Boulder) took the hole shot and set the pace for the opening lap. McDonald, looking collected and focused, stayed on Kappius’ wheel. Soon, Eric Thompson (Lees-McRae) joined and the three quickly established a gap.

As the three battled at the front, Kappius’ early effort began to show and he slipped off the wheels of McDonald and Thompson. From then on, it was McDonald’s race, as his smooth technical skills kept Thompson fighting to hold on. McDonald wasn’t shaking him, however, and the race looked to remain tight to the finish before disaster struck Thompson. On the thick, tacky mud of the lower bowl, Thompson attempted to power by McDonald when the effort snapped his derailleur. It would cost Thompson the chance at gold, but he was undeterred – he shouldered the bike and began the long, half-lap run to the pits as he watched McDonald ride away.

Crashes in the straights were quite common - Rutgers shows how to do it in style. © Janet Hill

Crashes in the straights were quite common - Rutgers shows how to do it in style. © Janet Hill

“Unfortunately Eric snapped his derailleur,” said Mcdonald, “which is a bummer, no one wants to win that way. I feel really bad for him, he was riding great, sticking on my wheel the whole time. It was really going to be a fun and interesting last couple of laps, but unfortunately he had some really terrible luck. It’s a bummer to see that happen, but, it happens, you know? He didn’t hit a spectator, though [smiles].”

Behind them, Chris Hurst (UC Boulder) was riding his own race, slowly making ground on the leaders. He caught up to Bradford Perley (Lees-McRae), and the two together overtook Kappius. In a great show of strength and tenacity, Thompson clawed his way up to this group after getting his pit bike, but not before Hurst had launched his bid for second and had a clear gap.

“The U23 race yesterday really took it out of my legs,” said Hurst. “But I finally came around after a few laps. Racing with these guys is just awesome. I didn’t really know what to expect. I was tired, it was an early start. I just wanted to go out and have fun and race hard, and that’s what I did. I tried not to kill myself too early because I knew if I burned too many matches I wouldn’t have anything for the end. So I just settled in.“

With plenty of room to enjoy his victory, McDonald relaxed after his final run on the stairs and took time to clap hands with his many fans lining the finishing straight. A charging Hurst came in soon after, followed by Perley, Kappius, and then Thompson.


McDonald Happy After Securing His Second Collegiate National Title. © Cyclocross Magazine

Though McDonald made it look easy, he was quick to say otherwise. “The course is really tough. You can try to just set a tempo and motor around, and that’s all I was trying to do. It worked out. “

“I started four rows back,” said 3rd place Purley. “I knew this initial section has had some pileups, like the U23 race yesterday, and everyone was expecting a crash on the inside, I think, so they were all riding outside and the inside line was clear. I made up a few spots there. It’s pointless to try to pass on the real rough stuff, there’s only four or five distinct lines you can ride, so I just tried to stay behind people and draft on the pavement and just punch around when I could, I think there were three or four sections of the course where you could really put power down and all the rest of the time just try to ride smooth. I saw my teammate Eric Thompson riding second, I heard on the intercom he was battling with MacDonald so it was awesome to hear that, I was doing my best to get up there and help but I couldn’t quite make it. Hats off to both the CU guys, they were flying and riding real strong. I caught up to them and got off the front a little bit, and then they pulled me right back. They were working together real well, with three to go, two to go we were all together and Chris put in an attack which kinda separated us out and I was able to pull him back and Brady was starting to dangle a little bit. I pulled Hurst in with about half a lap to go, and we were riding right on each other, but I couldn’t quite get around him. It’s tough to get around people, unless you’re on the pavement, and then you’ll just lose the draft. I tried to get around him in the mud here at the bottom of the stairs and slipped up a little bit and lost some time, but he was riding real smooth.”

Photo Gallery:


Full Results:

Place Points Name City, State Time Bib Team
1 150 Zach McDonald Bainbridge Island, WA 0:41:30 151 University Of Washington-Seattl
2 135 Chris Hurst Lake Geneva, WI 41:38:00 191 University Of Colorado-Boulder
3 120 Bradford Perley Banner Elk, NC 41:43:00 173 Lees-Mcrae College
4 105 Braden Kappius Littleton, CO 42:14:00 207 University Of Colorado-Boulder
5 90 Eric Thompson Banner Elk, NC 42:19:00 184 Lees-Mcrae College
6 85 Colton Andersen Durango, CO 42:36:00 167 Fort Lewis College
7 80 Eric Emsky Fall City, WA 43:11:00 217 Fort Lewis College
8 75 Brian Sheedy Banner Elk, NC 43:20:00 206 Lees-Mcrae College
9 0 Rotem Ishay Durango, CO 43:39:00 161 Fort Lewis College
10 65 Jack Hinkens Eden Prairie, MN 44:12:00 187 Fort Lewis College
11 60 Clayton Omer Louisville, KY 44:38:00 190 Appalachian State University
12 55 Lucas Perez Durango, CO 45:02:00 287 Fort Lewis College
13 50 Brendan Shafer Durango, CO 45:08:00 211 Fort Lewis College
14 45 Chris Jackson San Luis Obispo, CA 45:17:00 202 California Polytechnic-San Luis
15 40 Adam Leibovitz Indianapolis, IN 45:22:00 200 Marian University
16 38 Alder Martz Charlotte, NC 45:28:00 178 Marian University
17 36 Christopher Hamlin Jonesville, VT 45:34:00 193 University Of Vermont
18 34 Patrick Bradley Richwood, NJ 46:02:00 176 Rutgers University-New Brunswic
19 32 Kerry Werner Banner Elk, NC 46:03:00 203 Lees-Mcrae College
20 30 Gregory Carpenter Canton, CT 46:11:00 157 Fort Lewis College
21 28 Alex Ryan Lewisville, NC 46:29:00 155 Appalachian State University
22 26 Weston Luzadder Carmel, IN 46:42:00 214 Marian University
23 24 Jordan Gillespie Banner Elk, NC 46:51:00 210 Lees-Mcrae College
24 22 Christopher Bogedin Rochester, MI 47:17:00 182 Lindsey Wilson College
25 20 Robert Dahl Berkeley, CA 47:26:00 180 University Of California-Berkel
26 Exp Stefan Swecker Maryville, TN 47:32:00 228591 154 Lindsey Wilson College
27 18 Joseph Welsh Cordova, TN 47:54:00 259649 192 Lees-Mcrae College
28 17 Kip Spaude Watertown, WI 48:24:00 199775 140 Lindsey Wilson College
29 16 Reid Beloni Boone, NC 48:31:00 221018 170 Appalachian State University
30 15 Christopher Dale Raleigh, NC 48:33:00 210339 159 Lees-Mcrae College
31 14 Charles Thompson Ewing, NJ 48:46:00 259535 216 Rutgers University-New Brunswic
32 0 Zeb King Rutherfordton, NC 48:52:00 3077516 198 Appalachian State University
33 12 Ryan Cleveland Durango, CO 48:52:00 210683 188 Fort Lewis College
34 11 Joshua Nagode Sheboygan, WI 48:53:00 174734 166 Lindsey Wilson College
35 10 John Herrick Contoocook, NH 48:59:00 296573 183 University Of Vermont
36 9 Johnathan Freter Columbus, OH 49:29:00 266654 172 Lindsey Wilson College
37 8 Matthew Dooley Yreka, CA 49:30:00 258110 196 Lindsey Wilson College
38 7 Kyle Shour Albuquerque, NM 49:30:00 234308 160 University Of New Mexico
39 6 Matthew Mainer Hinesburg, VT 50:03:00 229526 175 University Of Vermont
40 5 Joseph Kukolla Indianapolis, IN 50:24:00 187714 179 Marian University
41 4 David Stroot St. Charles, MO 50:25:00 273581 201 Lindenwood University
42 0 Blair Bronson Corvallis, OR 50:28:00 330510 199 Oregon State University
43 2 Matthew Bathe New Brunswick, NJ 50:52:00 273257 158 Rutgers University-New Brunswic
44 0 Sean Sevilla Lafayette, CA 50:54:00 238706 195 University Of California-Berkel
45 0 Evan Schmitt Roslyn, WA 51:15:00 194871 156 University Of Washington-Seattl
46 0 Daniel Williams Murphysboro, IL @1Lap 227015 177 Lindenwood University
47 0 Justin Evans Boone, NC @1Lap 267363 185 Appalachian State University
48 0 Peter Deucher Indianapolis, IN @1Lap 225739 153 Marian University
49 0 Russell Williford Corvallis, OR @1Lap 229467 152 Oregon State University
50 0 Pat Terry Mapleton, UT @1Lap 293984 205 Utah Valley University
51 0 Kendal Johnson Bend, OR @1Lap 302677 169 California Polytechnic-San Luis
52 0 Brendan Lehman Santa Cruz, CA @1Lap 285173 189 University Of California-Santa
53 0 Joseph Johnson Provo, UT @1Lap 311991 209 Utah Valley University
54 0 Jake Zimmerman Columbia, KY @1Lap 212663 171 Lindsey Wilson College
55 0 Brandon Feehery Homewood, IL @1Lap 193035 212 Lindenwood University
56 0 Adam Looney Laramie, WY @1Lap 283977 162 University Of Wyoming
57 0 Kent Newman Oakland, CA @1Lap 226111 197 University Of California-Berkel
58 0 David Yohe Willoughby, OH @1Lap 290032 164 Marian University
59 0 Benjamin Grier Clemson, SC @1Lap 275075 174 Clemson University
60 0 Taylor Ladd Paducah, KY @1Lap 246264 181 Lindsey Wilson College
61 0 Matthew Wilson Orem, UT @3Lap 301884 194 Utah Valley University
62 0 James Stout Lajolla, CA @3Lap 286392 165 University Of California-San Di
63 Exp Sean-Ross McCoy Banner Elk, NC @3Lap 274112 204 Lees-Mcrae College
64 0 Colin Smith Clemson, SC @3Lap 307414 208 Clemson University
65 0 Travis Finan Defiance, MO @3Lap 307713 186 Lindenwood University
66 0 Isaiah Newkirk Indianapolis, IN @3Lap 282064 168 Marian University
DNS 0 Justin Burstein Palo Alto, CA DNS 279706 215 Stanford University