Category: Race Reports

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Week 2 2013: @ Depauw

Greencastle, IN — On a frigid Saturday afternoon, through the snow glazed fields and around the frozen lakes of western Indiana, Notre Dame’s Men’s A team broke through the varsity barrier this weekend and scored its first ever mass start A victory in school history. Raising his arms in triumph at the conclusion of the 73 mile event, sophomore John Pratt accomplished what few non-scholarship athletes achieve in a collegiate cycling career, besting professional riders, national champions, and Olympians alike. Continue reading “Week 2 2013: @ Depauw”

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Week 1 2013: @ Lindsey Wilson

Columbia, KY — With 2 miles to go in the 75 mile race through south central Kentucky, the ND A-team of Joe Magro (Sr) and John Pratt (So) sat comfortably in an elite group composed of most of defending national champion Marian University’s team, as well as six riders from varsity program Lindenwood. A race which had started with a pedestrian tempo throughout the first hour was now completely shattered after 50 more miles of attack after attack through the wooded hills. Hitting the base of the final climb with 1 mile remaining, Pratt launched for the finish but was quickly overtaken by a charging field and faded to 18th by the line. Biding his time, Magro accelerated on the steepest portion of the climb and rode away from what remained of the group, finishing 9th on the day, 2 minutes behind the winning breakaway.

A promising start to a 2nd straight conference title defense, hundreds of hours of preparation were finally put to the test Continue reading “Week 1 2013: @ Lindsey Wilson”

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2013 Season Preview

2012 Review:

MWCCC

Team Ranking – 5 (1 D2)

Individual Ranking – Joseph Magro 11 (1 D2), John Pratt 29  (2 D2), Andrew O’Donnell 37 (4 D2), Douglas Ansel 43 (8 D2)

 National Championship

TTT: 11

Road Race: Nathaniel Lee 30, Joseph Magro 32, John Pratt 53

Criterium: Joseph Magro 35, John Pratt 41

Omnium: Joseph Magro 23

Key Losses: Nathaniel Lee, Brian Boyle

2013 Road

Returning Riders: Continue reading “2013 Season Preview”

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2013 Cyclocross National Championship

At 9:30 AM on Sunday, January 13, 37 riders from around the country lined up in the start grid for the Division II Collegiate Cyclocross National Championships in Verona, Wisconsin. Though unseasonably warm temperatures earlier in the week had melted the snow on the course, making it increasingly muddy as the week went on, a cold front moved in on Saturday afternoon and left riders to contend with 18 degree temperatures and frozen ruts on Sunday morning. The 2-mile course in Badger Prairie Park wound around soccer fields before ascending a hill several times, each time followed by a harrowing descent made treacherous by the frozen ground and ruts from previous races.

Notre Dame’s Douglas Ansel, a graduate student, received a call-up to the second row of the 8-wide starting grid. With a good start, he moved up to sixth position by the time the race moved from the paved start/finish straight to dirt for the first time and quickly thereafter moved up into second wheel leading into the major climb on the course. Over the next several laps, he would remain in second or third position, a few seconds behind the eventual winner. Halfway through the 5 lap / 50 minute race, Ansel was sitting comfortably in second place and making up ground on the technical sections of the course. Two more riders were ten seconds back and the rest of the field over thirty seconds in arrears when he crashed twice on increasingly slippery sections of the course. He slipped back to fourth position but remained in contact with the second and third placed riders until a dropped chain and problem with his front brake forced him to dismount twice to fix his bike and lose thirty seconds. On the final lap, Ansel was still in fourth  position but another pair of mechanical issues cost him over a minute and sent him back to 11th place at the finish.

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Blue Gold Race

South Bend — With 10 minutes remaining, Pat Handy (senior) and Tony Pratt (high school) held a fragile 20 second lead over the rest of the team. Never satisfied with 3rd place, John Pratt (sophomore) took off in pursuit of his brother, and gold teammate, and soon joined the leaders. Not far behind were Luke Tilmans (junior), Jim Snitzer (sophomore), and Joe Magro (senior) and this group of six quickly pulled over a minute clear to settle the race among themselves. Coming onto the backstretch with two laps to go, Snitzer, one of the strongest time trialists on the team, played his card for solo glory, but reaction from the remaining breakaway riders was swift. First making contact with, then launching himself up the road, J. Pratt entered the final lap seconds ahead of a charging Tilmans and recovering Snitzer. Following Tilmans across to Pratt, Snitzer pulled wide down the backstretch, separating briefly, but was again countered by Pratt. 100 meters from the line Tilmans drew even with the sophomore but was unable to close the final few inches, coming second to Pratt by half a wheel.

The third annual Blue Gold Race was held under a clear, blue, sky with a touch of Fall in the breeze. Over 20 athletes were at the start line, with many Freshman and first year Graduate students making their ND Cycling Debut. After an opening lap to preview the course, the flag dropped on ND’s 2012/2013 season and Andrew O’Donnell (phd), Brian Hurley (senior), Ryan Twardzik (freshman) and August Kunkel (junior) didn’t wait long to launch some early fliers. Rob Piscatelli (senior) even spent a lap off the front, but all were together nearly halfway through the 40 minute race. In the first serious attack of the day, Magro and Anthony Musso (freshman) pulled clear coming through the third turn and, 3 laps later, were joined by T. Pratt and Handy. Falling back to the field, Magro and Musso were overtaken by J Pratt as he bridged to the field, ultimately setting the stage for his victory. By a final tally, Gold team took the afternoon team prize by a close margin over Green, while Blue lagged behind.

It is clear ND’s sophomore class is already poised for an explosive spring road season, and some strong performances from new women Paige Handy (freshman), Emmy Kunce (freshman), and German Claudi Witzig (grad) have added a new dimension to an already dominant Midwestern power.

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USA Cycling Collegiate National Road Championships: Ogden, Utah

TTT

Friday, athletes headed across a 4 mile causeway to the desert Antelope Island for a 19 mile team time trial in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. An out and back course on the eastern edge of the island, the race started with a gradual climb before a fast decent to the coastline and then another small hill at the turnaround. Fierce headwinds coming off the lake buffeted roads from the North, making the return leg ultimately the key location where all time gaps between teams occurred. Starting early in the DII field, Notre Dame came out of the gate quickly with the team of O’Donnell, Lee, Pratt, and Magro sustaining speeds near 37 mph in the tailwind section. By the turnaround, ND had erased most of the 2 minute gap between Weber State and Montana State, who had began 4 minutes before the Irish, was also in sight. Battling the wind for the final 9 miles, the Irish overtook Montana State 14 miles in, and passed Weber State within sight of the finish. Behind the motor of O’Donnell, Lee and Magro crossed the line setting the early best time of the day and later good enough for 11th place.

 

Criterium

Starting on the front line as Midwest conference champion, Magro led the Irish into the National Championship Criterium with hopes for a high finish. In the opening laps, Magro rode near the front of the field, while O’Donnell and Pratt worked their way forward. With the strategy of sending O’Donnell into early moves, while keeping Pratt in the field for a potential lead out in the closing laps, O’Donnell bridged up to a small breakaway 15 minutes into the race and took 3rd in the first prime sprint. Caught by the pack, O’Donnell continued to ride aggressively at the front until a hard crash took him out of the race. While sprinting out of the group, O’Donnell clipped a curb and was thrown from his bike, breaking his collarbone in two places and ending a promising Nationals weekend. Back in the field, Magro also had some bad luck with a front flat leading to relegation to the rear of a 100 rider field. Taking the free lap to switch wheels, Magro was never able to completely regain his positioning as high winds and multiple crashes led to a frantic final 30 minutes. Finishing a disappointing 35th, Magro looked to the road race Sunday for better luck and a better performance.

 

Road Race

With a career performance, climber Nathaniel Lee led the Irish brigade in the DII road race. Summiting the North Ogden Divide climb only 5 miles before the finish. Lee was glued to the front of the pack as rider after rider was dropped on the climb. As the grade increased to over 15% 2km below the summit, Lee limited his losses and then was joined by Magro during the descent. Working with riders from Air Force and Duke, Lee and Magro raced across the valley floor to finish 30th and 32nd respectively. Farther back, John Pratt rode easily into the finish after highlighting the early stages of the race.

A massive crash took out nearly half the field just 3 miles into the event. With both Magro and Pratt ahead of the accident, and Lee able to chase back into the main group, ND was well represented in the flurry of attacks that followed. Richard Geng of Colorado Mesa University finally slipped free of the field, and opened a gap of nearly 3 minutes back to the peloton. To keep the field in contact with Geng, Pratt first rode tempo at the front of the field for ND, then attacked the race and rode solo for the next 10 miles. Forcing the larger teams to respond, Pratt was soon caught, but the aggressive riding brought Geng’s lead down to only 30 seconds, setting the stage for the final climb out of Ogden.

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Conference Championship 2012

Race Pictures by Mike Seelinger organized by category

Road Race Photos courtesy of Snitzer Photography

Crit Photos courtesy of Ripon Cycling

Brief Recap:

This past weekend, the top athletes in the Midwestern Collegiate Cycling Conference descended upon South Bend for the regional conference championships. Nearly 200 cyclists rolled up to compete for coveted spots at the collegiate national championships in Ogden Utah. Looking to cement their second consecutive conference championship, Notre Dame brought nearly 20 riders to build on the lead they had created all season. The first event of the weekend was the team time trial. While also organizing the race, the Irish turned in several solid performances. Both the Men’s D and Men’s C units earned wins and spots as conference champions, while the Men’s B squad earned 2nd place and Men’s A snagged important points with 5th.

After a quick turn-around, the Road Race was under way. The teams raced laps of a 15 mile course in rolling terrain south of downtown South Bend, and the races were animated all day with flurries of attacks and fast finishing sprints. In Men’s D, Junior Phil Palmon was the top finisher for the Irish in 5th. Next, Sophomore Carolyn McCann fought hard for 7th place in the Women’s B/C field. Junior Josh Corcoran continued the strong efforts from the Irish on the day with 5th in the Men’s C field, and in Men’s B three Notre Dame athletes placed in the top 10 with Junior Brian Hurley at 2nd, Sophomore Luke Tilmans in 5th and Freshman Jim Snitzer at 9th. Finally, in the ultra-competitive Men’s A field, all six Notre Dame men finished in the main field, with points coming from grad student Doug Ansel in 13th and Freshman John Pratt in 17th.

Sunday all eyes turned to the final race of the regular season in downtown South Bend. Crowds lined the streets all day to view the fast-paced action of criterium racing. In the first race of the day, sophomore August Kunkel snagged another win for Notre Dame in the men’s D sprint. In Women’s B, McCann repeated her solid performance from the day before, taking another 7th place in Women’s B/C. Another great effort came form the Men’s C riders with Corcoran earning a podium position with 3rd, and top 10’s from junior David Pratt at 6th and freshman Mike Chifala at 7th. In Men’s B Tilmans was the top finisher in 4th place. Finally, in Men’s A, junior Joe Magro who was leading the conference points standing for division II, fought his way into the winning break-away and held on to earn 7th place, while John Pratt held on in the field for 14th.

The performances form the Irish all weekend secured their back to back conference championship, and Magro and John Pratt finished 1st and 2nd in the overall DII individual standings. In two weeks Magro, Pratt, grad student Andrew O’Donnell and senior Nate Lee will represent the Irish at the national championships.

MWCCC Road Championship

 

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Week 7: Purdue Brief Recap

Team Time Trials

Men’s C- 1

Men’s B- 1

Men’s A- 3

Road Race
Men’s D: Phil Palmon- 22
Men’s C: Josh Corcoran – 6, Michael Chifala – 9, Jim Snitzer – DNF, Dave Pratt – DNF
Men’s B: Brian Hurley – 4, Luke Tilmans – 5
Women’s B: Carolyn McCann – 6
Men’s A: John Pratt – 3, Joe Magro – 6, Nate Lee – 14, Douglas Ansel – DNF, Andrew O’Donnell – DNF
Circuit Race
Men’s D: Phil Palmon- 12
Men’s C: Jim Snitzer – 1, Michael Chifala – 13, Josh Corcoran – 16, Dave Pratt – DNF
Men’s B: Luke Tilmans – 4, Brian Hurley – 5
Women’s B: Carolyn McCann – 7
Men’s A: John Pratt – 9, Joe Magro – 17, Douglas Ansel – 24, Nate Lee- DNF Andrew O’Donnell – DNS
Season Long Standings
Conference Division II – ND 1st
Conference Overall – ND 5th
Conference Men’s Individual DII – Joe Magro 1st
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Week 5 2012 Recap: MSU/ Michigan

Lansing, Ann Arbor MI– The men’s C road race kicked off the festivities Saturday morning. Featuring  5 miles of dirt roads per lap, Michigan State’s European inspired course presented unique challenges to riders all day long. After an uneventful first lap, ND rider’s David Pratt, Luke Tilmans, and Jim Snitzer hit the dirt section hard, hoping to shed down the size of the field. They formed a break of 12 going into the final lap and gapped  4 more riders before the final mile. The C leadout train allowed Pratt to dominate the sprint finish Continue reading “Week 5 2012 Recap: MSU/ Michigan”

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Week 4 2012 Recap: Ohio State

Athens, Columbus OH– On a weekend that saw Notre Dame add more conquests to an already impressive season, no riders performed better than those of the men’s C team. Mike Chifala, Josh Corcoran, David Pratt, Jim Snitzer, and Luke Tilmans were untouchable throughout the competition at Ohio State  placing four in the top 10 of Saturday’s road race while both sweeping the podium and taking five of the top ten in Sunday’s criterium. Continue reading “Week 4 2012 Recap: Ohio State”