12 National Titles Awarded on Day 2 of Cross-Country Mountain Bike Nationals at Bear Creek

July 7, 2023

Masters Cross-Country and Junior Short Track National Championships were crowned at Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Macungie, Penn.

MACUNGIE, Penn. /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ – It was a hot, humid, and beautiful day for racing at the 2023 USA Cycling Cross-Country Mountain Bike National Championships. Riders competed in the Master’s Cross-Country, Junior Short Track, e-Bike, and Non-Championship races. This is the event’s first time back on the east coast since 2018 when it was at Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia.

Masters Cross-Country

Timothy Zimmerman (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.; Z-Boys Racing) won the Men’s 55-59 class setting the fastest time of the morning, completing four laps in 1 hour and 45 minutes. Multi-time Olympian, World Champion, and National Champion Tinker Juarez (Whittier, Calif.; Floyds of Leadville Racing Team) added another title to his trophy case, crushing the Men’s 60-64 class, winning by over 3 minutes. Dennis Barber (North Vernon, Ind.; Bicycle Station) won the Men’s 65-69 category by almost 3 minutes. In the Men’s 70-74, William Simmons (Superior, Colo.; Boulder Orthopedics) took the win, racing three laps in 1 hour and 40 minutes. At racing age 75 years old, Robert Ogren (Bloomington, Minn.; NorthStar Development) took the win in the oldest category of the event, the Men’s 75-79.

In the Master Women’s events, multi-time National Champion Cassie Smith (Kingwood, W.V.; Pathfinder of WV) took another win in the 50-54 class by almost 10 minutes. Elizabeth Sheldon (Washington, D.C.; CX Hairs Devo/ Trek Bikes) absolutely crushed the Women’s 55-59 class winning by 19 minutes. Laurie Brandt (Montrose, Colo.; Bicycle Outfitters) was victorious in the Women’s 60-64 category. In the 65-69 race, Ellen White (Tuxedo Park, N.Y.; Tenafly Bicycle Workshop) took the win. The oldest female competitor of the weekend at 71 years old, Nancy Waddell (New Castle, Del.), took the win in a class of the Masters Women’s 70+ category.

Junior Short Track

The Juniors ages 11-14 took center stage today for their Short Track events. The women’s race went off first, and they were charging the starting climb. After the first lap, five riders were off the front, but it was all Aida Linton (Missoula, Mont.; Team Stampede) for the win. It came down to a sprint for silver, and Raina Logar (Davis, W.V.; The Gravity Academy) would cross the line first, beating Laura Carlin (Highlands Ranch, Colo.; Donovan Racing Development).

The Junior Men were up next with a field of 38 riders. After a crash on the starting climb, the group spread out fairly quickly. After the first lap, there was a strong group of three out in front with Preston Ronck (Rogers, Ark.; Oz Development), Oliver Waldron (Littleton, Colo.; Donovan Racing Development), and Rylan Zacharek (Sheboygan, Wis.; Broken Spoke Development). Noah Scholnick (Williamsport, Penn.) started on the last row but made his way through the group after four laps of racing to fight for the win. It came down to a sprint finish between Ronck and Scholnick, with Ronck taking the title. Waldren took the bronze.

Cross-Country Qualifiers

With the explosive growth of the Junior fields in recent years, qualifiers were added to the schedule. 172 riders took to the line for the two Junior 15-16 Qualifying races to narrow the field down to 120 riders for the Championship race on Friday. Maddex Thiel (Leander, Texas; Orange Seal) and River Valdez (Sedona, Ariz; Team Santini USA p/b Murphy Capital Advisors) took the wins in their respective heat races.

E-MTB

USA Cycling held the inaugural E-MTB National Championships today. The UCI has held the E-MTB discipline at the World Championships since 2019. In the men’s class, Nick Mackie (West Palm Beach, Fla.; Specialized) took the first-ever e-bike National Title after riding most of the race with silver medalist Cypress Gorry (Pisgah Forest, N.C.; Rouler Coaching). On the women’s side, Kelly Lalima (Palm Coast, Fla.; Nox Cycles) took the win by almost 2-minutes over Ashley Hendershot (Ashland, Ohio; Ashland Bike Company).

Non-Championship

Over the past two days, we’ve had non-championship races for our younger riders and Cat 2/ Novice racers.

Next Up

Tomorrow is another action-packed day on the mountain at Bear Creek. Spectators will see more Cross-Country races for the Juniors, Masters, Single Speed, and Non-Binary racers., as well as the Junior Men 17-18 qualifying heats.

Full Results

Full Schedule

Event Page

How to Watch

Visit USACycling.org for more information on the athletes, events, and membership programs, and follow @USACycling across all channels for the latest on Team USA.

For more information, contact Angelina Palermo at apalermo@usacycling.org.

ABOUT USA CYCLING (usacycling.org)

USA Cycling is the national governing body for the sport of cycling and oversees the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclocross, and BMX. USA Cycling’s mission is to grow participation and engagement with the sport of bicycle racing and achieve sustained international success across all cycling disciplines. USA Cycling supports cyclists of all levels and abilities, from those just beginning in the sport to international caliber athletes. The organization identifies, develops, and selects cyclists to represent the United States in international competition through the support of youth and interscholastic programs, amateur and grassroots bike racing events, athlete development programs, and operational support for cycling clubs, racing teams, and event organizers. USA Cycling has a membership of 80,000, sanctions over 2,500 events annually, and is a member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC).