SNOWSHOE MOUNTAIN, W.V. — Competing in their second national championship event since the program's inception earlier this fall, the Piedmont College cycling teams made the trek up north this past weekend for USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals.
Held at a ski resort in Snowshoe, West Virginia, the event saw the Lions classified as D2 Varsity with Friday featuring the Short Track race as rain rolled in just in time for the start.
Forced to battle with a muddy terrain which added difficulty to the course, both Lady Lions competing were able to post strong finishes with ERICA ALLAR leading the way in 9th place while Jessica Prinner placed 23rd. For the men, Andrew Guelzo and Dylan Cantrell finished 51st and 52nd respectively.
On Saturday, it was the Cross Country race for the squad with Friday's rain turning to snow on Saturday as temperatures dropped to 28 degrees forcing the event staff to shorten the race to 10 miles on the men's side and 8 miles on the women's side.
Allar again led with a top-20 finish while Prinner was 27th as Guelzo topped on the men's side finishing 60th with Cantrell close behind in 66th.
Sunday featured a team relay with Coach Carney putting a unique order of Guelzo, Cantrell, Allar, and Prinner out for the circuit where teams comprised of four total riders with two men and two women on each competed in a relay-style against one another.
Most teams began with a male rider with both female riders up next and a male anchor, but Carney's risk paid dividends as the team grabbed eighth place of 15 D2 varsity teams, many of whom specialize in mountain bike.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2016/10/461844/lions-battle-elements-riding-at-collegiate-mountain-bike-nationals