Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series - Bay State Cross
Jamey Driscoll, Maureen Bruno-Roy, William Dugan and Keogh Take Victories in Verge Round 7.

By Alan Atwood

STERLING, Massachusetts (December 1, 2008)
Round 7 of the 2008 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series was contested in varying conditions on a typical clean, crisp fall day in New England. While morning conditions were muddy and slick as the morning’s frost gave way to the sun of the day, the afternoon gave the elite riders a technical but fast parcours to contest their events on.

Elite Women
Although Maureen Bruno-Roy (MM Racing p/b Seven Cycles) may have preferred the morning conditions, she dominated the women’s field to take the win and show that she is coming into peak form with the national championships less than a month away. Cannondale/Cyclocrossworld’s Jamey Driscoll has won in many conditions this year, and his 6th victory of the season was a typical 2008 Driscoll effort that no one else could match for the 60 minute race.

With series Amy Drombroski not in attendance, the series leadership was open for either Bruno-Roy or Rebecca Wellons (Ridley) to snag. But Bruno-Roy’s quick start on lap 1 set the pace and no one could keep up. Within ½ lap she was clear of Wellons, Sally Annis (NEBC/Cycleloft/Devonshire Dental), Amy Wallace (Richard Sachs/RGM/Boathouse), and Anna Milkowski (Velo Bella), amongst others. Bruno-Roy would never be threatened throughout the 40 minute event, but Wellons put through a monster effort on a course that suited her power style to hold on to 2nd place and take the series lead going into the final 2 races coming up this weekend. Annis was able to pass Wallace to take the final podium spot on the day.

Elite Men
Driscoll was the favorite on the start line of the men’s race, but the start of the day went to young giant Nick Keough (Jittery Joes/Sonic), who blitzed the field from the end of the 1st row to lead most of the 1st 2 laps. Mostly due to Keough’s efforts the front group was whittled quickly to 7 riders, including Matt White (Bikereg.com/Joe’s Garage), Justin Spinelli (Richard Sachs/RGM/Boathouse), Adam Myerson (Cycle-Smart/Van Dessel), Josh Dillon (Fiordifrutta), Justine Lindine (TARGETRAINING), and Driscoll.

With Keough hammering the pace on lap 2, this group of 7 became 2, as Driscoll recognized the strength of the youngster and put it into overdrive to stay with him. But as happens with most efforts of inexperienced riders, Keough ran out of gas and Driscoll got the solo lead that he would not relinquish. White was on top of the best of the rest, but the fastest rider of the day could have been Spinelli, who twice recovered from miscues to claw his way up the field and duel with White for 2nd. White took the sprint at the end with Spinelli earning a hard-fought 3rd.

U23 Race
In the battle for the U23 race, Keough looked to have a insurmountable lead, even with him falling out of the lead group. But appearing to be suffering from illness and having some apparent leg cramp problems, with 1 lap to go his lead was lost to a perseverant Will Dugan (Richard Sachs/RGM/Boathouse) as was the leaders jersey in the very competitive U23 season series.

Masters Race
The masters race lead was fought for by a couple of familiar faces, and one not so familiar. Westwood Velo’s Roger Aspholm and Corner Cycle’s Jonny Bold waged war again, with Aspholm getting the better of Bold this time. But the final podium spot was taken by Mark Stotz (Corner Cycles), who has the best ride of his season to far to stay with the front group for the entire 45 minute race. Teammates Kevin Hines and John Mosher (Corner Cycles) went 1-2 in the 45+ race to seal the season win for Hines.

Juniors
Luke Keough (CL Noonan/Coast-to-Coast/KAM) was back from a very successful European campaign and was again not challenged in taking the junior race win and snagged back the overall series lead. Hot Tubes’ Gavin Mannion was 2nd on the day, marking the 3rd race in a row that Mannion has been on the podium. Manny Goguen (Minuteman Road Club) held off Jesse Keough (CL Noonan/Coast-to-Coast/KAM) for 3rd place on the day.

The series will conclude this coming weekend as rounds 8 and 9 will be held at Goddard Park in Warwick, RI with the NBX Grand Prix taking place. Some of the series races are all but wrapped up, but some are nail-biting close. Jamey Driscoll needs to have some major mechanical problems happen to lose his lead, with a 96 point lead over Matt White.

With her now in the jersey, Rebecca Wellons looks to be in good shape to take the overall series, as rivals Amy Dombrosky and Maureen Bruno-Roy are not expected to be in attendance for the series final. Jonny Bold has a stranglehold of the Masters 35+ division, while teammate Kevin Hines doesn’t even have to start to win the 45+ series. Luke Keough is back in the lead in the junior division, and if another trip to Europe doesn’t pry him away he should prevail in the season series.

The 2008 Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series is brought to you by Verge Sport, makers of fine cycling clothing and products since 1993; by Cycle-Smart, purveyors of personalized cycling coaching and solutions for riders across the country; by Cycle-Ops, makers of high-tech accessories to meet any indoor training plans; by Echappe, rent-to-own the latest in race wheels – try before you buy at Echappe; by BikeReg.com, the official online registration service of the NECCS; and by Paul Weiss Photo/Video, the official photographer of the NECCS. You can visit these sponsors and get more information on the series by going to the web at http://www.necyclocross.com.

Uci Elite Men 27 starters
Place U23 Bib Time First Name Last Name Team City State Elite U23
1 22 0:56:17 Jamey DRISCOLL Cyclocrossworld.com/Cannondale 
2 4 0:56:42 Matt WHITE BikeReg.com / Joe's Garage 
3 11 0:56:42 Justin SPINELLI RGMWatches/Richard Sachs/Boathouse inc.
4 14 0:57:05 Josh DILLON Fiordifrutta / Cannondale 
5 1 0:57:22 Adam MYERSON Cycle-Smart/Van Dessel 
6 29 0:58:29 Alec Donahue Bikereg.com/Joe's Garage 
7 13 0:58:29 Justin LINDINE TARGETRAINING 
8 30 0:59:00 Matthew Kraus Richard Sachs/RGM Watches/Boathouse Inc 
9 7 0:59:06 Nathaniel WARD BikeReg.com / Joe's Garage
10 31 0:59:11 Matthew O'Keefe CCB/VOLKSWAGEN 
11 1 24 1:00:05 William DUGAN RGMWatches/Richard Sachs/Boathouse inc.  
12 2 27 1:00:27 Eric Thompson Lees-McRae College Banner Elk NC 18 30
13 6 1:01:03 Adam SNYDER 3-D racing Westminster MA 16
14 3 28 1:01:03 Patrick Bradley Rutgers University-New Brunswick/Piscataway 
15 2 1:01:03 Rickey VISINSKI Exodus Road Racing 
16 18 1:01:22 J Gabriel LLOYD TARGETRAINING 
17 23 1:01:36 Ryan LAROCQUE Team Bicycle Alley 
18 12 1:01:36 Peter BRADSHAW Embrocation/Igleheart/Cambridge/Mad Alchemy
19 3 1:02:25 Todd WHEELDEN Portland Velo Club/KONA/661
20 5 1:03:00 Pete SMITH Embrocation/Cambridge p/b Mad Alchemy.com 
21 4 25 1:03:09 Nicholas KEOUGH Sonic/ Louis Garneau 
22 17 1:03:22 Dan VAILLANCOURT Gorham Bike and Ski
23 21 1:03:49 John BURNS Bikeman.com 
24 15 1:03:54 Peter RUBIJONO Embrocation/Cambridge/Igleheart/madAlchemy Somerville 
25 5 26 -1 lap Greg CARPENTER DEVO/NSO/Giant 

Uci Elite Women
Place Bib Time First Name Last Name Team City State Points
1 60 40:43 Maureen BRUNO ROY MM Racing p/b Seven Cycles 
2 61 41:45 Rebecca WELLONS Ridley Factory Team 
3 62 42:20 Sally ANNIS NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental 
4 59 42:36 Amy WALLACE RGMWatches/Richard Sachs/Boathouse inc.
5 57 42:42 Cris ROTHFUSS NEBC/Cycle Loft/Devonshire Dental 
6 67 44:11 Anna Milkowski Vello Bella-Kona 
7 63 44:20 Karen POTTER Zanconato 
8 53 44:36 Crystal ANTHONY 
9 51 45:00 Andrea SMITH Minuteman Road Club 
10 55 46:06 Mackenzie DICKEY Verge Sport Test Pilot 
11 66 46:07 Linnea KOONS International Bicycle/Global 
12 65 46:25 Kathy SARVARY Mid State Cycling 
13 58 46:33 Callie MCDOWELL Boston University /Scantily Plaid
14 64 48:43 Rebecca BLATT Team Kenda Tire West 
15 68 49:05 Stephanie White Vello Bella-Kona 

U19 Juniors 
Place Bib Time First Name Last Name Team City State Points
1 614 30:02 Luke Keough CL Noonan/Coast to Coast/KAM 
2 610 30:44 Gavin MANNION Hot Tubes Junior Development Team 
3 604 31:44 Manny GOGUEN Minuteman Road Club 
4 612 31:55 Jesse KEOUGH CLNoonan/KAM/Coast to Coast 
5 616 33:07 Collin Huston CL Noonan/Coast to Coast/KAM 
6 602 34:11 Joshua LEHMANN NorEast Cycling 
7 606 34:19 Ryan PACKARD QuadCycles Junior Team 
8 615 34:42 Synjen Marrocco Blue Hills Cycling Club 
9 603 36:06 Tommy GOGUEN Minuteman Road Club 
10 605 36:09 Aaron HOUSE Housatonic Wheel Club Gt.

Cat 2/3 Men
Place Bib Time First Name Last Name Team  
1 46:46 Dylan mcnicholas NorEast Cycling 
2 47:33 James Tosca Corner Cycle Cycling Club 
3 47:37 Nicholas DALE Lees-McRrae College/Raleigh All Stars 
4 111 47:50 Colin REUTER International Bike/Global/crossresults.com
5 118 47:54 Todd BURNS Nantucket Velo Nantucket MA 
6 170 48:05 Hunter PRONOVOST Scott Factory Team - CCNS 
7 159 48:09 Brian WILICHOSKI CyclocrossWorld.com 
8 172 48:22 Jeremy DUNN Embrocation / Cambridge Racing 
9 163 48:31 Donald SNOOP JR. Verge Sport/Test Pilot New 
10 109 48:38 Cary FRIDRICH Embrocation/Cambridge p/b Mad Alchemy.com 

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