2017 might be the most successful season in the teams history-at least if you consider the end of the season. With some retirements and some injuries taking a toll on the elite team, there was still plenty to be happy about. At the Reno nationals the team came away with a total of six medals and probably could have had more if the USAC points structure had not gotten in the way. Lots of our top riders had poor starting positions which made for a very hard slog through the field to get to the front.
Some of our riders overcame the pecking order and made it to the podium. The first two were Eric Brown and Aaron Bradford in 4th and 3rd in the men's 30-34 race. Both riders had to pass the bulk of the small field to get to the medals but they rode extremely well. Michael Landry rode to a medal in the collegiate race in 5th.
The next to get to the podium was Sarah Jordan in the women's 40-44 race. With a showing of technical skills Sarah rode virtually an error free race to get 5th.
In the single speed women's race Caroline Nolan rode to 5th in her debut as a single speeder at the nationals. She was always near the front of the race. Amanda Schaper followed in 10th with a brave ride from the back row and Campbell Steers came in 12th. First timer Ivy Young rode to 25th with Mary Maroon coming in 24th and Sarah Jordan at 30th.
In the men's single speed race we literally had a mob. Max Judelson was at the front of the race much of the time-even with some crashes he wound up 3rd. Aaron Bradford rode to 21st from the back of the 140+ field with Brendan Lehman at 27th, Ian Stowe 40th, Alex Work 41st, Ben Dodge 58th, Chris Seymour 70th, Ariel Brown 74th, Kyle Taylor 84th, Carter Chappelle 89th, Eric Nelson 120th and Rick Ortenblad 122nd..
In between the trips to the course there were a few team dinners at the rental houses. Nobody went away hungry thanks to our many sponsors and the labors of the team in the kitchen.
Some good finishes were Amanda Schaper 6th in the women's 35-39 race and Greg Foy 12th in the men's 55-59. Chris Seymour did well to finish 16th in the industry race. Alex Work rode from the back to 25th in the men's 40-44 race and Ben Dodge rode to 36th in the men's 35-39 race.
In the elite races we had solid results from Max Judelson at 27th, Brendan Lehman at 29th and Michael Landry at 34th after nearly a 1/4 lap run to the pits for a bike change. In the women's elite race Caroline Nolan rode to a solid 13th . Campbell Steers had a good start but DNF'd .
The juniors were in force with at lest 12 riders making the trip to Reno. Shantalle Tupaz overcame a double flat and two bike changes to finish 9th in the girls 11-12 race. Ciara Wing finished 14th in the girls 14-16 race.
The boys 11-12 race had a huge field. We had three riders with Mack Tomkins coming in 26th, Ayden Uusitalo 30th and Cullen Keefe at 31st.
In the boys 13-14 race Nathan Vahlberg came in 16th with Dan English at 18th.
Our solo rider in the boys 15-16 race Josh Poshard came in 71st.
We had a mob in the boys 17-18 race with Noah Hayes 14th, Max McFadden 19th, Josh Vahlberg 22nd, Dylan Gong 27th and Brian Kalcic 35th.
Other masters finishers were John Vahlberg 95th after breaking a collarbone in the men's 45-49 race, Rick Ortenblad coming in 31st in the men's 60-64 race followed by me in 36th.
Next December the nationals will be in Louisville , Ky. - looks like everyone is fired up to try to equal or improve on what we did in Reno.
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