Milligan’s Cycling team competed in Mountain Bike Nationals in Big Bear Lake, California over the weekend. The team took seven women and six men to compete at the national event. Five out of the seven ladies competing were freshman.
“Our team is so young,” said junior Madeline Bemis who has previously competed at nationals. “It’s so exciting!”
On day one, Bemis placed 8th overall with Megan Jastrab just three spots behind her in the female varsity cross country race. The other members of the women’s team finished with Meade Plum in 18th, Hailey Barrick in 19th, Genevieve Plum in 23rd, Alyssa Barrick in 29th and Gracie Pendalton in 31st.
For the men’s varsity cross country race, Jonah Sanchez was the first Buff to finish with an overall place of 21st. After him, Ruben Bacon placed 48th and Blake Howard placed 50th.
On day two, the team competed in the collegiate short track event, a 20-minute race. For the men, Bacon came in 27th and Howard was 47th. On the women’s side, Bemis placed 4th overall with Jastrab in 11th, Alyssa Barrack in 19th, Genevieve Plum in 22nd, Hailey Barrick in 26th and Meade Plum in 35th.
Bemis and Sanchez also competed in the dual slalom event on day two finishing in 23rd and 43rd, respectively.
The last event of day two was the Downhill Seeding where racers are placed in line based on times, with the slowest times at the front and the fastest in the back. Sanchez placed 38th for the men and Bemis placed 3rd for the women.
The last race of the weekend was the team relay, and it consisted of Madeline Bemis, Megan Jastrab, Jonah Sanchez and Hunter Connell. The Buffs came in 4th place overall. “We were pretty excited,” said Bemis. ”We didn’t even come close to podium before. The highest we had ever placed is 8th.”
The selection for the national teams comes after racers complete three specific races and qualify, according to Bemis.
The next discipline that the cycling team will compete in is cyclocross, a multiple terrain course event. Bemis said she will not be competing in this discipline for the first time in her collegiate career.
“I had an unexpectedly long road season this summer, so I need to take some time off.”
The racers for this event have not been decided yet, but the first race will be Nov. 2 at the University of Georgia in Athens. Nationals will be Dec. 11-15.
Headline photo: From left to right, Sanchez, Bemis, Connell and Jastrab. Photo from USA Cycling.