Seeking their 22nd national title, the Fort Lewis College Cycling team will head to Austin, Texas this weekend to contest the 2015 USA Cycling Collegiate National Championships of Cyclocross (CX). The Skyhawks will compete in the Collegiate Team Relay on Friday at 4:50pm CST. On Saturday, the women will race the rest of the Division I teams in the country at 12:30pm CST and the men toe the line at 2:20pm CST. The main objective: the Team Omnium title where each collegiate race is scored then totaled to determine the overall team points leader. The Skyhawks have several riders that can compete for the win and that goes a long way for Team Omnium points.  Fort Lewis has won two CX national championships in the past, 18xD1 Mountain Bike, 1xD2 Road title and had many individual National Champions in all disciplines.

Sofia Gomez Villafane returns as the Skyhawks top CX racer. She finished second  in the 2014 Collegiate D1 race and is looking to move up one step on the podium. Local Austinite and Skyhawk Mountain Bike competitor Payson McElveen has picked up cyclocross this year then won the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference Championship which gave him a front row call up, had top results in Dallas last weekend and has something to prove to his hometown crowd. Freshman Ian McPhearson is a very experience cyclocross racer from Boulder and has a good chance to get on the podium.

The complete Fort Lewis College Cycling Cyclocross Nationals Team.
Men:
Kolben Preble – Jr.
Skyler Trujillo  - Jr.
Payson McElveen – Jr.
Cody Cupp – Jr.
Ryan Standish – Jr.
Ian McPhearson – Fr.
Spencer Downing – Fr.
Jon Anderson – Fr.
Women:
Sofia Gomez Villafane – Jr.
Maddie Chaves – So.
McCauley Smith – Fr.
Cara Woods – Fr.
 
The team will be coached by Elke Brutsaert and Ian Burnett with Dave Hagen as Director. Team Staff will include mechanics Jon Bailey, Garrett Alexander and Allie Burnett.
 
We welcome Greg Thomas as he covers the Skyhawks through the weekend with word and photos on http://cycling.fortlewis.edu. Keep tabs on Facebook @FLC Cycling Team and on Instagram @flccycling and on Twitter @flccycling.? Go Skyhawks!
 
There'll also be many other Durango locals racing down in Austin in Age-group categories and Lite fields..
 
For more info on 2015 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships: https://www.usacycling.org/2015/cyclo-cross-nationals
 
Contact:
FLC Cycling Director – Dave Hagen – 970-403-4842, hagen_d@fortlewis.edu