The 2008 Warren Wilson College mountain biking team once again gained national attention after a third place finish in the Division II portion of the Collegiate National Mountain Bike Championships held this past weekend at Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, NC.

For full results and a detailed recap of the week, please click on the full story .


The collegiate mountain bike national championships started early this season. Thanks to some convenient scheduling, the race coincided with the second half of Warren Wilson's fall break, and the team was keen to use the first half to get to know the courses. A team training camp began Monday morning with a trip to host school Lees-McRae to inspect the cross country, short track, downhill and dual slalom courses. The team then spent two days at nearby Camp Rockmont, doing lots of local rides, tuning bikes, making some great food, and getting ready for the national championships.

On Wednesday the team headed back up to Lees-McRae to get moved into their condos, get registered, and take one last peak at the difficult courses they would have to race. And though the weather had been perfect sunshine for nearly two weeks, the clouds were starting to move in, promising to make already difficult courses even tougher.

The men's team woke up at 5:30am on Friday morning to get ready for the first event of the weekend, the cross country race. While they were greeted at the start line by 40 degree temperatures and rain, the Wilson men where smiling nonetheless; there is nothing wrong with the national championships being epic. The rain turned an already technical downhill into a rooty, rocky oil slick, making descending skills very important (of course, you always have to climb back up too). As he had all year, Matt Williams led the charge for the Owls. After entering the woods in third place Matt faded as far back as 7th, but he moved up to 4th by the finish thanks to a furious last lap that was among the fastest of the day. It was a fantastic finish (the best ever for Wilson in the Men's Cross Country), and it earned Matt a coveted spot on the podium. David Bishop also had an awesome ride for Wilson, overcoming the various illnesses that had plagued him all season. Despite a bad start, David was able to move up to 12th by the finish. Sophomore Linden Blaisus found some speed in his legs too, and improved nearly twenty places over his finish from last year, coming through in 16th. Dustin Schemel rounded out the top Wilson finishes in 20th.

The women's race was shortened by a lap due to the rain, but it still proved to be plenty challenging. As the men struggled to find the energy to get into dry clothes and eat some of Wilson "super fan" Aaron Malanke's fresh chili, the women lined up to race three very muddy laps. Vanessa Emery continued her breakthrough season and got faster with every lap, eventually finishing in 11th place. Lauren Parker, despite being out with mono for most of the season, has been coming on strong as of late and finished 13th. Tallulah Winquist was right behind in 14th in what was a very strong overall effort for the Wilson women.

On Saturday it was the women's turn to go first. They lined up at 8 am for a short track that featured six inch deep mud on the climb, some berms, a very technical stream crossing, and a wet field section that looked fast, but was quite torturous to ride. Tallulah was on fire all morning, and rode nearly the entire race in 5th place. She was passed with only a couple laps to go, but was still able to finish a fantastic 6th. Vanessa had another great ride and finished 12th. Nina Otter, fresh off a plane from Vermont, rounded out the scoring for Wilson, finishing in 14th.

Then it was the Men's turn. Matt, fully recovered thanks to an awesome massage and a restful team viewing of Dodgeball Friday night, was on it from the gun. He started fast and finished on the podium in 5th. Linden continued his great weekend as well. He finished on the lead lap in 14th, and David Bishop rode through in 20th.

Saturday afternoon meant it was downhill time. Riders started at the top of Sugar Mountain before plunging nearly 1100 feet over the course of 1 mile. Phil Martin said he didn't have his best day, but he still ripped the numerous drops, rock gardens, and gap jumps fast enough to finish in 12th place. He was followed by Ben "awesome science lap goggles" West in 22nd, and Matt Williams (nursing an Omnium dream) in 28th. The women fared even better. Lauren Parker rode/ran her way into 8th place. Tallulah rode through in 11th, and Hanna Waldman was 13th. With 3 of 4 races done Warren Wilson was sitting in second place in the Team Omnium. Just like last year it was going to come down to the Dual Slalom.

Just like last year the sun came out on Sunday morning to dry out the course, and while team no longer had Slalom aces Lexy Lewis, Pat Hurley and Ashley Robison, the Wilson riders were still determined to make something happen and maintain a top spot on the team podium. Phil crashed in his qualifying run, but was still able to qualify and take 30th, good enough for a few team points. Linden showed he can do more than just ride cross country by finishing 18th. And Matt, in his final collegiate race, advanced through his first head to head heat to make it to the round of 16 before being defeated by the eventual National Champion. His result: 15th.

For the women, it was senior Hanna Waldman who once again led the team. She had a great qualifying run and ultimately finished 6th, just off the podium. Vanessa had another very solid race for the Owls, finishing in 10th, while Lauren, Nina, and Ileana were 11th, 12th, and 14th respectively.

In the end, the Owls were not able to hold second, but their combined efforts were enough to get them the bronze medal in the team competition, one point ahead of conference rival Brevard. Matt also got to get up on the podium one last time on Sunday, for the Individual Omnium. His slalom finish was enough to put him in second place in the Men's Omnuim competition. It was a fantastic finish for the Owls and a rewarding one for the whole team. When you beat a rival by one point, every finish really did matter, and, to top it all off, it was a whole lot of fun.

For Full Results from the Weekend Check Out:
www.usacycling.org/news/user/story.php?id=3911

Also Check Out Mentions of Warren Wilson in these Publications:
www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2008/oct08/oct26news
www.velonews.com/article/84582/national-collegiate-cross-country-champions-crowned