Category: News

The team raced this past weekend at Purdue in West Lafayette, IN. After some more top finishes, the Irish sit in 2nd in the team omnium and 1st in DII . Men’s A riders Jim Snitzer and John Pratt both sit in the top 10 of the individual omnium. The next race of the season is next weekend and Lindenwood in St. Charles, MO. Here are results from ND riders at Purdue:

Team Time Trial:

Men’s D- 1^st

Men’s B- 2^nd

Women’s B/C- 2^nd

Women’s A- 4^th

Road Race:

Men’s D- David McKenna 6^th, John Cerney 24^th, David Berno 29^th

Men’s C- Connor Williams 19^th

Women’s B/C- Sarah Cullen 2^nd, Kelly Valenzi 4^th, Lillie Romeiser 5^th, Maggie Schmid 12^th, Emma-Kate Conlin 16^th, Sarah Bueter 17^th

Men’s B- Andrew Koch 12^th, Tom Frederick 14^th, James Pratt 19^th

Men’s A- Jim Snitzer 7^th, John Pratt 12^th

 Criterium:

Men’s D- John Cerney 2^nd, David McKenna 7^th, David Berno 12^th

Men’s C- Connor Williams 12th

Women’s B/C- Kelly Valenzi 4^th, Paige Handy 5^th, Sarah Cullen 7th, Emma-Kate Conlin 12^th, Maggie Schmid 13^th, Sarah Bueter 20^th

Men’s B- Tom Frederick 15^th, James Pratt 22^nd

Men’s A- John Pratt 4^th, Jim Snitzer 31^st

The Notre Dame cycling team continued its racing season this past weekend at races hosted by Michigan State and Michigan. Despite freezing temperatures in all the races (ranging from 10-30 degrees), the team remained strong, determined, and produced some great finishes.

The race weekend started off with MSU’s Get Tough Road Race characterized by its long, winding dirt roads and loose gravel. The Men’s D category was the first off and David McKenna (grad.) rode to a strong third place finish by beating out a few other riders in the final sprint. Scot Stanulis (Fr.) competed in his first collegiate cycling race and shows great promise for future racing. The Women’s B team followed shortly after and had some great results with Handy earning 2^nd, Valenzi 4^th, and Cullen 6^th after the Irish trio initiated the days winning 7-woman breakaway. Next up were the Men’s B’s, represented by Thomas Frederick (grad.) and James Pratt (So.). Both were riding strongly in the field until mechanical mishaps got in the way. The dirt roads proved unlucky for Fredrick as he flatted only 15 miles into the race. Pratt was powering on until a painful cramp prevented him from finishing. The Men’s A race was a success with Snitzer (Sr.) securing an impressive 8^th after breaking away in a chase group in the final lap. Tilmans (grad.) took second in the field sprint to earn a solid 15^th in his first race back this season.

The afternoon continued with the individual time trial that consisted of a fast 6.8 mile course. There were multiple strong finishes across the board for the team. For the Women’s B category Handy placed 1^st, Cullen 2^nd, Valenzi 5^th (despite a flat tire in the last 200 meters), and Maggie Schmid (Jr.) 6^th. Frederick rode to a strong second place in the Men’s Bs, only 13s off the winner’s time. Snitzer recorded a personal best on the course and finished 3^rd in Men’s As.

Action continued on Sunday in Michigan’s criterium held in Ann Arbor. Chilly temperatures and wind picking up throughout the day made for some exciting racing. The Men’s D’s kicked off the race day for the team with a successful 7^th place finish by McKenna who was aided by teammate John Cerney’s (grad.) work to keep him towards the front of the race. Ryan Green (Fr.) recorded his best finish of the year with a solid sprint finish. Scot Stanulis (Fr.) also showed promise for the D squad, making his racing debut. The Women’s B’s took to the crit course next. After a timid and slow first lap, Handy and a rider from Marian broke away together. The two stayed away from the main field and Handy ended up taking 2^nd. Valenzi and Cullen continued comfortably in the pack with Valenzi winning the pack sprint for 3^rd place and Cullen with 5^th place. Sarah Bueter (Fr.) and Schmid, competing in her first-ever mass start race, both rode into the top 15 as well. In the Men’s B’s, the race stayed together as a pack until the final sprint. Pratt was in good positioning for the sprint, as he was first into the final turn. He unfortunately dropped his chain coming out of the turn and fell towards the back of the pack. Luckily, Frederick finished well in the sprint, earning 7th. The Men’s A race proved exciting for all watching and competing due to the constant breakaway and chase groups forming and dissolving. Snitzer worked his way into the breakaway group of 7 that finally managed to stay away. With 4 laps to go, his group lapped the main field and the two groups merged. Tilmans helped keep Snitzer towards the front going into the final turn. In the end, Snitzer was 6^th and Tilmans 16^th in a powerful Men’s A field.

Despite the painfully cold temperatures, it was a successful second weekend of racing in the MWCCC for the Notre Dame cycling team. The team sits in second place overall in the conference, ahead of all other division II programs and only behind reigning division I national champion Marian. The team will be back in action the weekend of April 11^th and 12^th at Purdue University.

The Notre Dame Cycling Team returned to action this weekend at the first conference race of the season at Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, KY. While there was a lot of great racing over the weekend, there were also some bad crashes suffered by riders from other schools. Notre Dame Cycling sends our thoughts and prayers to all riders injured in Sunday’s road race, especially to Lindsey Wilson rider Hannah Hayduk, who was taken to the hospital in critical condition. Heal up fast and know that you have the support of the whole collegiate cycling community!

The racing kicked off with a team time trial on Saturday morning. The women’s B team of Sarah Cullen (So.), Paige Handy (Jr.), Lillie Romeiser (Grad.), and Kelly Valenzi (Fr.) rode to their second victory of the season. Their time was so fast that they beat several varsity teams and would have taken 2^nd place in the A category. The men’s D squad was plagued by a flat tire early on but still took 3^rd in their race. Mechanical difficulties also plagued the men’s A team during their ride, but they managed a 10^th place finish.

Saturday afternoon brought high-speed criterium racing to downtown Greensburg, KY. The course was new for 2015 and consisted of a small hill on the front stretch with a fast but bumpy descent on the back half of the course. The women’s B team continued on their success from the morning. Handy, Cullen, and Romeiser went 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th respectively. Unfortunately Emma-Kate Conlin (So.) and Valenzi were also poised for top finishes but removed from contention by dropped chains late in the race.

In the men’s D race, David McKenna (Grad.) impressively rode to a top 15 finish in his first-ever criterium. David Berno (Jr.) finished right behind the winner in 4^th place, beating a few opponents by a bike-throw at the line. In men’s As, an 8-man breakaway formed halfway through the race. Jim Snitzer (Sr.) attempted to bridge the gap but was caught after several laps by the main field. John Pratt (Sr.) rode steady at the front of the peloton and finished 12^th to earn some valuable points in the A race.

Sunday concluded the weekend with a very eventful day of road races. The course was the classic 25-mile, hilly loop that Lindsey Wilson has used for the past several years. However, the start-finish line was moved from a hilltop to a downhill section. Shortly after the racing began, there was a large crash in the women’s A field. A few riders suffered serious injuries, and, as a result, all races were suspended until riders could be attended to and the course cleared. After about an hour delay, the races were re-started. Connor Williams had the best finish of the day, rebounding from crashing on Saturday in the criterium to get 2^nd in the men’s C race. The women’s B team rode to several more top 10 finishes with Handy taking 3rd, Cullen 4th, Romeiser 6th, and Valenzi 9th. Tom Frederick (Grad.) and James Pratt (So.) rode strongly in the men’s B field with Frederick recording a personal best 8^th place finish after breaking away from the main field in the final miles. In the men’s A race, which was reduced by one-lap due to the re-start, Pratt was poised in the lead group with a shot at taking the victory in the final sprint. He made the mistake of starting his sprint a little to early, but still managed to finish a very impressive 7^th place.

Overall, despite some bad luck with mechanical failures, it was a successful start to the MWCCC season. The team will return to action next weekend in races at Michigan and Michigan State.