Cyclocross Verge NECCS # 12 - Bay State Day 2
Mary McConneloug and Jeremy Powers Dominate and Double Second Day in Sterling, Massachusetts - Young Gun's Luke Keough and Jerome Townsend continue war of wheels with Townsend closing in on the U23 title after the win

Verge New England Cyclo-Cross Series #12
Bay State Cyclocross 11/29/2009
By Jeff Bramhall

For a second day, Mary McConneloug (Kenda/Seven/NoTubes) and Jeremy Powers (Cannondale/cyclocrossworld.com) were on top of the podiums for Verge NECCS round twelve. With perfect late-fall New England weather and an exciting new spin on a classic course, racers and spectators left Sterling today with an appreciation for the hard work and passion that goes into making an elite level event.

Today’s course took riders through a never before-seen woods section and up a freshly built set of stairs; taking full advantage of the many different elevations and smooth grass across the grounds of Chocksett Middle School.

Mary McConneloug showed the elite women that she means business and has her eyes on a Verge series victory. Just as yesterday, she was able to take advantage of a fast start, create space between her and the competition and use her combination of fantastic power and finesse that have given her much success on the mountain biking World Cup circuit. Behind her, today’s more technical course suited series leader Maureen Bruno Roy better than yesterday’s windy power course and she was able to make the selection riding in second position in front of a trio of Minuteman Road Club riders in Andrea Smith, Anna Barensfeld and Ann D’Ambrusio.

A rolled tubular well away from the pit followed by a second mechanical dropped Smith from contention, leaving Barensfeld and D’Ambrusio to work together and hold onto the final podium spot. On the finishing straight, though, there was no teamwork as the two sprinted for third place; Barensfeld narrowly got the best of D’Ambrusio for her first series podium.

Elite Men & U23
Jeremy Powers’s victory yesterday was certainly impressive, but today his victory was nothing short of dominant. By the end of the first lap, through a combination of a strong start, deft handling and massive strength, Powers was alone on the front and there he stayed until raising his hands in victory.

Behind him, once again, was series leader Dan Timmerman (Richard Sachs/RGM/Radix), seemingly ready to take another second place behind the Cannondale/cyclocrossworld.com racer. Timmerman’s hopes were dashed as Justin Lindine (bikereg.com/Joe’s Garage/IF) made a break out of his chase group, made contact with Timmerman and subsequently left the series leader in the dust.

Once again, Lindine rode his bike with absolute ferocity and with his second place, matched his previous best result in a Verge race. For his part, Timmerman held on for a comfortable third and the assurance that, as long as he shows up to NBX next weekend in Warwick, Rhode Island, he will win the series title. The U-23 victory went, to bikereg.com/Joe’s Garage/IF racer, and future attendee of Euro Cross Camp, Jerome Townsend. Second in the U-23 was series leader Luke Keough (Champion System) whose lead over Townsend has narrowed to a mere fifteen points.

Elite Masters
The Masters 35+ field was a show of force from Johnny Bold (Corner Cycle). After losing to Westwood Velo’s Roger Aspholm in a sprint yesterday, Bold was determined to show Aspholm that he would not roll over and cede the series. Launching off of the lead group early in the race, Bold was able to maintain a gap over Aspholm and Bold’s teammate, Kevin Hines. Aspholm, unable to drag the weight of an unmotivated chaser up to Bold, resigned himself to a sprint with Hines that he took with relative ease. His hold on the jersey going into the last weekend of the series is a scant ten points.

Juniors -  U19
For the fourth race in a row, Evan McNeely (EMD Serono/Specialized) showed that he is the strongest U-19 cross racer in New England, despite living in Canada. The race quickly became a race for second that Jesse Keough (CL Noonan/KAM/Coast to Coast) won, out sprinting third-place finisher Joshua Lehmann (Sunapee) and fourth place finisher Nate Morse (Clif Bar Development Cyclocross Team). Lehmann was confirmed for attendance at Euro Cross Camp this December.

U15
The U-15 Juniors saw a resumption of the battle between Austin Vincent (CL Noonan/KAM/Coast to Coast) and Peter Goguen (Minuteman Road Club). Today, once again, Goguen took the victory with Vincent in second, nearly a minute back and still recovering from sickness. Third place went to My Way’s Nicholas Catlin. Though unable to race the U-15 Juniors, a great performance was put on by 12-year old Emma White (Capital Bicycle Racing Club) with a second place in the Cat 3/4 women’s field to go with her third from yesterday.

With the conclusion of the Bay State Cyclocross weekend, the Verge NECCS gears up for a final weekend of intense action in Warwick, Rhode Island with the NBX GP of Cross on December 5 and 6. Details can be found here.

The Verge New England Championship Cyclo-Cross Series is contested over 7 weekends in 2009, the series finale in Warwick RI on Dec 5. This year series is generously supported 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 BikeReg.com, the official online registration service of the NECCS; by Paul Weiss Photo/Video, the official photographer of the NECCS, by October Handmade Bicycles, and by Ryders Eyewear. You can visit these sponsors and get more information on the series by going to the web at http://www.cycle-smart.com/neccs.

UCI Elite Women
First Name Last Name Team Time Carried Points Scored Points
1 Mary Mcconneloug KENDA-Seven-NoTubes 0:36:38 Cat 1-1st 276 285
2 Maureen Bruno roy MM Racing p/b Seven Cycles 0:37:07 Cat 1-2nd 285 297
3 Anna Barensfeld Minuteman Road Club 0:37:34 Cat 2-1st 375 309
4 Ann D'ambruoso Minuteman Road Club 0:37:34 Cat 3-1st 396 322
5 Rebecca Wellons Team Plan C 0:37:56 Cat 1-3rd 344 334
6 Amanda Carey Kenda/Trainwitheric.com 0:39:01 Cat 1-4th 333 347
7 Anna Milkowski BikeReg.com / Joe's Garage / IF 0:39:17 Cat 1-5th 394 359
8 Rebecca Blatt US Army/ Central Wheel 0:39:17 Cat 3-2nd 419 371
9 Perri Mertens Embrocation Cycling Journal / Mad A 0:39:17 Cat 2-2nd 421 384
10 Arielli Filiberti Dartmouth College 0:31:29 Cat ?-1st 440 396
11 Christina Tamilio Minuteman Road Club 0:39:38 Cat 2-3rd 444 409
12 Marilyn Ruseckas Seven Cycles 0:39:53 Cat 1-6th 476 421
13 Emma Bast Cycle-Smart / NCC 0:40:00 Cat 2-4th 449 433
14 Crystal Anthony Minuteman Road Club 0:40:08 Cat 3-3rd 386 446
15 Natalia Gardiol Cambridge Bicycle/ Igleheart Frames 0:40:19 Cat 2-5th 477 458
16 Frances Morrison Cycle-Smart/NCC 0:40:19 Cat 2-6th 429 471
17 Sally Annis Hub Racing 0:40:57 Cat 1-7th 390 483
18 Clara Kelly NEBC/Devonshire Dental 0:41:21 Cat 3-4th 471 495
19 Michelle Kersbergen Joe's Garage 0:41:56 Cat 3-5th 471 508
20 Anna Mcloon Harvard 0:42:08 Cat 3-6th 454 520
21 Allison Snooks Minuteman Road Club 0:42:16 Cat 3-7th 498 533
22 Andrea Smith Minuteman Road Club 0:42:24 Cat 2-7th 331 545
23 Beth Mason Verge Test Pilot 0:42:50 Cat 1-8th 478 557

UCI Elite/U23 Men
First Name Last Name Team Time Carried Points Scored Points
1 Jeremy Powers Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld 0:58:50 Cat 1-1st 150 158
2 Justin Lindine BikeReg.com / Joe's Garage / IF 0:59:15 Cat 1-2nd 195 165
3 Dan Timmerman Richard Sachs/RGM Watches/Radix0:59:43 Cat 1-3rd 172 171
4 Jerome Townsend BikeReg.com/Joe's Garage/IF 0:59:52 Cat 2-1st 206 U23
5 Josh Dillon Richard Sachs/RGM Watches/Radix0:59:52 Cat 1-4th 191 184
6 Adam Myerson Cycle-Smart 1:00:25 Cat 1-5th 194 191
7 William Dugan Richard Sachs/RGM Watches/Radix1:00:30 Cat 1-6th 196 197
8 Luke Keough Team Champion System 1:00:56 Cat 3-1st  203 U23
9 Dylan Mcnicholas CCB Racing 1:01:05 Cat 1-7th 214 210
10 Peter Bradshaw Embrocation Cycling Journal 1:02:17 Cat 2-2nd 246 216
11 Brian Wilichoski CyclocrossWorld.com 1:02:39 Cat 2-3rd 273 223
12 Michael Broderick KENDA-Seven-NoTubes 1:03:08 Cat 1-8th 213 229
13 Alec Donahue Cycle-Smart / NCC 1:03:28 Cat 1-9th 217 236
14 Kevin Wolfson Bikereg.com / Joe's Garage / IF 1:03:28 Cat 1-10th 255 242
15 David Wilcox Geekhouse Bikes / Boston Rock Gym 1:03:28 Cat 2-4th 255 248
18 3 820 1:08:05 Manny Goguen Bikereg/Joe's Garage/IF Hopedale 45 U23

Complete Results All Categories.pdf

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