The Warren Wilson College mountain bike team competed last weekend in Tallahassee, FL, at the Florida State University competition.  The women were lead by Nina Otter's first place finishes in the XC, STXC, and the ITT.  She also claimed fifth place in the Dual Slalom.  The men were once again lead by Linden Blaisus as he claimed 3rd place in the ITT and XC and 4th place in the STXCF.

It was somewhere around hour 5 five in the smelly warren Wilson bus, legs cramping  and muscles sore, when we realized just how well we as a team had done.  a vague happy sticky feeling ( might have been the fact that the AC didn't really work)was settling over everyone. We had driven twenty hours with one goal in mind…. Domination.  Now as we sat festering (I mean reflecting) we all knew that our goal had been accomplished.

This weekend the Warren Wilson mountain bike team rocked out. As a team we are now first for the southeast conference. With multiple personal bests this weekend everyone is happy.

Nina Otter came barreling out of nowhere in a blaze of glory that carried her on to win the short track, time trial and cross country. Linden Blaisus placed a whopping third place in the ever competitive men's cross country and short track and time trial races.  Arlo Blaisus the other crucial piece in the formidable Blaisus duo won  them men's B cross country race. Aubrey Delone our committed, bruised and smiling up and comer placed third in her women's B cross country race and won the women's B time trial. In dual slalom we all realized how truly poor our gate starts were as we watched the  win slip from beneath the tires of our gravity darling, Becca Parish. Becca came back in the second round to place fourth. Other people were fouled by the inability to clip in , Alec Hamilton  (7), Phil Martin(9)  and Tallulah Winquist (6) among them. Not bad places considering the handicap they endured.  The afternoon short track was plagued with typical Florida heat and sweltering humidity.  In the womwn's race Nina Otter took first, followed by Tallulah in third, Becca in forth and Ileana in sixth place. The mens race was a staggeringly dramatic expose` of  masculinity. Josh cooper got knocked to the ground fighting for position, and Aaron Peet was told to " bring it" by a terrifying , orange clad competitor.  Linden Blaisus led the group by pushing his way to fourth place while  Josh 7th, Alec  8th  Aaron 12th  Phil 15th and Moses 20th followed him on the path to Total domination.

Sunday dawned clear and hot. The race course was a tight rooty maze of handle bar catching turns, with very little place  to accelerate or pause to drink. The men's start was crowded and dangerous as the course bottle necked into the woods about 300 feet from the start line. The men dealt with the pressure well, letting out a chorus or much needed BRaaappppp noises and  thus keeping their wits about them. Linden came blasting through the finish line in 3  followed by Alec in 7th, Phil in 9th josh in 11th Aaron Peet in 14, and Moses in 20th.

The women's race was dominated by Nina Otter who was closely followed by Becca in third, Tallulah in 4th and  Ileana in 6th. 

After a much needed drink ,  and an awkward ,clothed ,community shower, we loaded on the bus with Pat Hurley at the helm , headed home to the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina.