Notre Dame’s John Pratt and Jim Snitzer represented the Irish at the Collegiate National Championships in Asheville, NC on May 8-10. As the top 2 DII riders from the MWCCC, the two seniors went into the weekend confident and ready to take on the nation’s best collegiate cyclists.

The 3-lap, 75-mile road race took place on Friday afternoon in Marshall, NC, just north of Asheville. There were 4 significant climbs in the first half of the course before a flat last 10 miles along the French Broad River into the finish. By the time the race started, it was extremely humid and temperatures had reached the upper 80s. The conditions made staying hydrated and fueling properly especially important. Both Notre Dame riders stayed near the front of the race during the first lap. Pratt found himself in a small breakaway group that got away for a few miles before being caught at the beginning of lap 2. Snitzer responded to numerous attacks on the next couple climbs and found himself in a select group of 12 that was chasing a few small breakaway groups. With about 20 miles to go, Snitzer made his own attack in an effort to bridge to riders up the road. After being away for about 5 miles with a rider from Mars Hill, the two were caught by the group behind. As they came to the finish, sprinting for 8^th place, Snitzer suffered from cramps in his legs, but still managed to finish 16^th overall. Pratt also experienced cramping during the last lap from dehydration and lack of electrolytes and ended up 46^th.

Saturday’s criterium course in downtown Asheville included a large climb and fast descent with a sharp corner at the bottom of the hill. The race was certainly not a traditional criterium. With over half of the field being pulled from the race, it came down to which riders could consistently match the pace up the climb each lap. Another day of hot temperatures made the race even more difficult. Pratt and Snitzer found their way into the second group on the road, only behind the 10 leaders. With about 15 minutes remaining in the race, Pratt put in acceleration on the hill to bridge his way to riders falling back from the leaders. Racing for 11^th place the, Pratt slid out on the last turn in the final lap. He quickly remounted and finished 14^th, while Snitzer finished shortly thereafter for 20^th.

Racing returned to Marshall on Sunday for the final race of the weekend, the individual time trial. Pratt posted the early best time of the day, riding the 20km course in 28:40. By the time Snitzer finished with a time of 28:31, the two were sitting in 2^nd and 3^rd. After all riders had finished, Snitzer was 7^th and Pratt 10^th overall. Both of them were less than 25 seconds off the podium.

It was the final race and proud end to a successful season for Notre Dame Cycling. Thank you to all our sponsors and supporters for a fantastic year. We are already looking forward to the 2016 road season!

Notre Dame Cycling hosted the Midwest Collegiate Cycling Conference (MWCCC) for the regional championships and the last race of the 2015 regular season this past weekend, April 25-26. On Saturday, the team time trials and road races were held 12 miles north of campus in Niles, MI. Sunday’s criterium was took place just south of the Eddy St. Commons, winding through the newly built Triangle Neighborhood.

Saturday morning, both the women’s B and men’s D teams continued their season-long dominance of the TTT to win their respective categories. The men’s B team held on for 4^th place, despite being short 2 riders. The men’s A team delivered a 3^rd place podium finish only 1 second behind the 2^nd placed Lindenwood team and less than a minute behind the winners from Marian.

As the rain picked up throughout the day and the temperatures stayed in the mid-40s, riders were forced to battle rough conditions during the afternoon’s road races. D riders John Cerney (Grad.) and David McKenna (Grad.) continued the morning’s success with Cerney winning the race in a field sprint and McKenna taking 4^th. In the women’s B race, the Irish scored 4 top 15 finishes. Sarah Cullen (So.) narrowly missed the win, taking 2^nd place, while Kelly Valenzi (Fr.) was 4^th, Maggie Schmid 9^th, and Emma-Kate Conlin 13^th. The men’s B squad had a run of bad luck with James Pratt (So.) suffering a flat tire after making the day’s winning breakaway and Tom Frederick (Grad.) crashing out. In the hotly contested 75-mile men’s A race, Jim Snitzer (Sr.) found his way into a chase group midway through the race. His group gained a substantial lead over the main field and he was 7^th at the line. John Pratt (Sr.) and Luke Tilmans (Grad.) stayed near the front of the peloton throughout the race and finished 10^th and 13^th respectively after the field sprint.

On Sunday, riders returned for more fast-paced action in the criterium. In the first race of the day, Cerney rode solo off the front for a majority of the D race. Despite being nearly caught by a few riders in the final laps, he sprinted in front of them to take his 3^rd win of the weekend. The women’s B squad followed up that performance in the next race, utilizing excellent team tactics to allow Valenzi to break off the front solo. She stayed away with a comfortable lead and notched her first career win. The rest of the team came in near the front of the field with Lillie Romeiser (Grad.) grabbing 4^th, Cullen 5^th, Schmid 7^th, and Conlin 11^th. In the men’s B race, Frederick rebounded after the previous day’s crash to take 12^th, while Andrew Koch (Grad.) finished shortly behind him in 16^th. In the last race of the weekend, the men’s A race, John Pratt made the early winning breakaway of 4 riders. The high-powered group lapped the field before the finish and Pratt sprinted to 3^rd place. Tilmans remained in the peloton and luckily avoided a large crash in the final lap to finish 16^th.

The home race marked the end of a demanding MWCCC season that included spring break training camp and 6 full race weekends. The team finished in 2^nd place overall in the final standings, beating out several powerhouse club and varsity teams and only behind reigning national champion Marian. They handily won the title amongst DII teams ahead of Case Western. In the men’s DII individual omnium, Snitzer and Pratt finished 1^st and 2^nd respectively. The two seniors will represent the Irish at collegiate nationals in Asheville, NC on May 8-10.

Notre Dame Cycling made the trip to Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO on April 18-19 for the final away race weekend of the 2015 MWCCC season. In Saturday morning’s 13-mile team time trial, the women’s B squad continued their undefeated streak this season while the men’s B squad took 3^rd.

The afternoon brought racers to what is probably the toughest road race course in the conference. The loop consisted of 4 significant climbs before a fast, slightly downhill finish. Graduate student David McKenna was the lone D rider for the team this weekend. He took 2^nd place, just inches short of the win in the final sprint out of his 3-man breakaway. Sophomore Connor Williams also secured a position on the podium with his 3^rd place in the C road race after leading over the climbs for a majority of the race. The Notre Dame women’s B riders stayed near the front of the race during the climbs. In the end, Paige Handy (Jr.) was 5^th, Sarah Cullen (So.) 7^th, Emma-Kate Conlin (So.) 10^th, and Maggie Schmid (Jr.) 12^th to earn the team more valuable points towards the season-long team omnium.

In the 66-mile men’s B race, Andrew Koch (Grad.) and James Pratt (So.) worked together to stay near the front of a very strong group. They earned 11^th and 14^th, respectively, in a race that saw over half of its riders drop out due to its difficulty. In the last race of the day, the men’s A field tackled the climbs faster each lap in their 88-mile race. Senior Jim Snitzer worked his way into a select lead group of 8 riders going into the final miles. After his and others’ attacks failed to break up the group, Snitzer finished 4^th in the breakaway’s sprint to the line.

On Sunday, the action was brought to downtown historic St. Charles for the criterium. The triangle-shaped course included a sharp final turn and a finishing stretch on a brick road. Tight corners and rain pouring down all day made for a nervous day of racing. McKenna rebounded after a crash to rejoin the D field and earn 3^rd, his second podium placing on the weekend. In women’s B’s, Schmid also recovered from a crash to take 5^th, a career best. Cullen also rode a strong race and sprinted to 4^th. Unfortunately, Conlin suffered a mechanical in the final laps and Handy suffered a hard crash that took her out of the race. She is now recovering from a heavily bruised shoulder and fighting to get back on the bike very soon!      Graduate student Thomas Frederick was the B squad’s best finisher in the criterium. He attacked with just a few laps remaining but was eventually chased down by the field. In the end, he still sprinted to an impressive 8^th place. In the men’s A’s, John Pratt (Sr.) made the early breakaway. However, over-inflated and tread-less tires did not allow him to handle the turns as quickly as other riders. After a promising start to the race, he was forced to drop out of the race for his safety. He finished 24^th, while Snitzer was 30^th.

The Cycling Irish will host the MWCCC regional championships this upcoming weekend on April 25-26. The team goes in leading the conference in the DII team Omnium and vying with Lindenwood for 2^nd place amongst all teams, only behind Marian. Men’s A riders Jim Snitzer and John Pratt are 1^st and 2^nd respectively in the DII individual Omnium.