(B)Running Down a Dream: Eric Brunner Leads a Colorado-Boulder Stampede in Collegiate Club – Report

The 2018 U.S. Cyclocross Nationals in Reno kicked off in style with an impressive Men’s Collegiate Club field. Among the riders who took to the start line were several young men expected to compete for the podium in Sunday’s U23 race. With the collegiate call-up rules placing some of the biggest names in the race toward the back, it was bound to be an interesting start to the week of championship racing.

Eric Brunner (Colorado-Boulder) was one of the big names who started near the back. Brunner has been on a tear since the middle of the season and took home second in the U23 race at the Pan-American Championships. He enters Sunday’s race in Reno as one of the favorites in the same category.

Brunner had little trouble getting to the front and once there, he decided to stir things up on the first leg of the course where riders were buffeted by a brisk headwind. With riders still feeling each other out, Brunner attacked. None of the other strong riders were able to follow him, and Brunner did what any confident rider does with a gap: he stayed on the gas.

After getting early separation, Brunner wsa not be challenged the rest of the race. He stayed head down into the win and slowly built his lead each lap en route to a convincing championship ride.

Brunner’s win capped a memorable day for the Buffaloes of Colorado. Grant Ellwood (Colorado-Boulder) took second and defending champion Maxx Chance (Colorado-Boulder) took fourth.

Brunner said he benefitted from having his teammates behind him, “I know that everyone’s on the same side as me and working for the CU win.”

Brunning Away With It

Unlike his teammate Brunner who was stuck in the back of the 33-rider field, Chance got a prime front row call-up and made the most of it by taking the holeshot. Once off the starting straight, the riders embarked on a trip down a false flat straight that headed right into a headwind that was whipping early in the morning. The benefit of the straight was riders like Brunner could sort out their position by making a strong move in the windy power section.

Brunner quickly got to the front and then deemed the pace too slow for his tastes. He attacked to see who would come with.

“I just moved up to the front and the pace wasn’t super high, so I decided to put in an attack and see if anyone could follow,” he said about his early lap one move. With the strong field, Brunner was a bit surprised that the attack worked better than expected. “I planned to move as soon as possible, but I didn’t really expect to get away that soon,” he added.

Once off the front, Brunner committed to the move. By the time he passed pit two halfway through the first lap, he had a ten-second lead solo off the front. Cooper Willsey (Furman) was the first rider to take up the chase, while Chance followed behind him. It was early and the chasers already had a lot of chasing to do.

Brunner was not challenged the rest of the race. His lead was 19 seconds after two laps and grew from there. He stayed focused on pedaling through the wind and handling the technical climb and descent.

In the process, he sent a message the other U23 riders in Sunday’s field could not help but ignore. Brunner will be ready come Sunday.

A Buffalo Stampede in Reno

Behind the winner, there was a lot of Colorado-Boulder black and gold occupying the front of the race. After a slow start, Grant Ellwood slowly found his legs as the race progressed and did the work of bringing back Willsey. After two laps, Ellwood was within striking distance, and in the third lap, he made the catch. Ellwood and Willsey rode together for a lap before Ellwood got a gap in the sandpit and extended it for the duration of the 50-minute affair.

“I moved up pretty quickly, but then I started feeling kind of bad, so I kind of had to manage my effort a little bit and ease off,” Ellwood said. That’s when Maxx and Cooper kind of got away. I toned it down a little bit and caught my breath and started to work my way back up. Once I was up to [Willsey], I sat on for a little bit to get some rest and then in the sandpit I got a bit of a gap and just went from there.”

Like Brunner, Ellwood said he has benefitted from having so many talented riders around him in Boulder. “It’s amazing,” he said about his Boulder squad. “Everyone’s in high spirits and always amped to go ride. We just feed off each other and grow with each other. We had a fantastic road season last year, and I think a lot of it was just how much fun we had.

Willsey hung on to take third, and last year’s winner Chance took fourth.

Yale’s Michael Landry showed the fight of a bulldog in the second half of the race to finish fifth and take the coveted not-a-Buffalo-nor-named-Cooper position.

Full results are below the video interviews.

For more from Reno, see our continuing coverage of the 2018 Reno Cyclocross Nationals on our dedicated Nationals page.

Men Collegiate Club Results: 2018 Reno Cyclocross Nationals

Place	Bib	Name	Time	Team
1	123	Eric BRUNNER	48:31	University of Colorado Boulder
2	120	Grant ELLWOOD	49:05	University of Colorado Boulder
3	106	Cooper WILLSEY	49:33	Furman University
4	118	Maxx CHANCE	50:41	University of Colorado Boulder
5	122	Michael LANDRY	50:45	Yale University
6	133	Ross ELLWOOD	51:11	University of Colorado Boulder
7	103	Garrett GERCHAR	52:27	University of Colorado Boulder
8	124	Jack TANNER	52:40	University of Colorado Boulder
9	115	David GREIF	53:20	University of Arizona
10	131	Andrew BORDEN	53:23	Castelton University
11	104	Zachary CURTIS	54:51	Bridgewater State University
12	112	Nevin WHITTEMORE	55:33	University of Colorado Boulder
13	117	Daniel WILLETT	56:12	US Air Force Academy
14	108	Ethan CALL	LAP	Dartmouth College
15	107	Matthew OWENS	LAP	University of Vermont
16	127	Simon LYNN	LAP	US Air Force Academy
17	109	Samuel HEDLUND	LAP	University of Vermont
18	119	William HAWKINS	LAP	Colorado State University
19	116	Donald SEIB	LAP	University of Vermont
20	126	Rhys LOUIS	LAP	Arizona State University
21	125	Garrett CLARK	LAP	Appalachian State University
22	111	Zacharey ELZI	LAP	University of Colorado Boulder
23	102	Jordan CHAPMAN	LAP	University of Idaho
24	129	Kenneth ENGLERT	LAP	US Military Academy
25	128	Miles FRANK	LAP	Saint Marys College-California
26	114	Sebastian STURGES	LAP	University of Denver
27	121	Wheeler DAVIS	LAP	Appalachian State University
28	101	Charles MANDEL	LAP	University of Vermont
29	110	Christopher ZAHASKY	LAP	Stanford University
30	113	Gabriel PEREZ	LAP	Arizona State University
31	130	Andrew MERGEN	LAP	US Military Academy
32	105	Abdulgader ALALLI	LAP	Stanford University
33	132	Dylan ALLEN	LAP	US Military Academy