Wow, I have never been so proud of the Millersville cycling team. We have had three great weekends of racing so far. There has been so much growth from returning riders and some amazing finishes from our new riders. We started the season off at Rutgers University where the team did amazing. The following weekend we sent a handful of riders up to New York City to race where the results again were awesome. This past weekend we had a crew of 11 marauder cyclist racing down in Philadelphia. This was the first race weekend we had THREE lady marauders racing. All of which finished no less than top ten in there races ( two of our women took first place finishes). I know i’m very briefly covering the past race weekends, but I could write a novel about all the achievements this fine team have made in the past few weeks.
I would just like to point out some of our exceptional cyclist I have had the opportunity to either race with or ride with. I would first like to start out with Alex Reich. Alex started out in men’s intro last year with decent finishes nothing spectacular. During last year’s season we eventually forced him to upgrade to men’s D to challenge him a bit more. He struggled a bit till he began to get the hang of things. This year, Alex is one of the top riders in his category. He has taken a number of top three finishes. He will soon be upgrading to men’s C where he will be challenged but I see great things to come from this young rider in the future.
Andrew Haggerty is another shinning star. Andrew started out in men’s D last year where he did very well. He eventually upgraded to men’s C where he struggled a bit. This year Andrew has consistently pulled out outstanding finishes. In three weekends he has a hand full of top three finishes. Andrew plans to to the big step up to men’s B where i see him having no problem succeeding. With the progress Andrew has made in the time I have watched him race I don’t doubt he will be racing men’s A by the end of next season.
Rachel Yodis, where to start. She is your worst nightmare in a race. This is a women who Just started racing and is dominating. She won her first race ever, then upgraded to women’s B and won that race as well. Give it one more weekend and she will be racing women’s A. The women’s A and B fields are combined when racing then scored separately. Rachel took 4th overall in her FIRST women’s A/B race. I have no doubt she will be headed to Nationals where she will make lots of women suffer.
Emily Binder is one of our other lady marauders who just started racing this year. Emily asked me before the race if she was fast enough to race with the other girls and if they would drop her. Emily is a very modest person, especially when it comes to he cycling ability. Anyone who has ridden with her knows she is a extremely strong rider. Emily took first place in both her races this weekend. With a little more race experience Emily will be moving up to women’s C in no time, where she will dominate.
Eric Moon and I started racing together in men’s D. Eric did not have the best finishes and i frequently beat him, the following year we both upgraded to men’s C where Eric began to really developed some solid race skills. Eric has taken the big leap from men’s C to B this year where he is shinning. I don’t think I know anyone so dedicated to training and logging hours on the bike as this guy. I hope to see him racing men’s A before the season is over, better yet, see him go to nationals.
Rodney Kauffman, I just don’t know where the power comes from. I swear my 13 year old greyhound has more muscle on her legs than he does. Rodney has also work his way through the ranks. He started out in men’s C last year and made his way up to men’s B where he took 5th place in his first men’s B race. Rodney started the season out in men’s A this year where he is racing against the best up in coming racers on the east coast. Rodney has already qualified for nationals and I and extremely proud that all his hard work on the bike has payed off.
There are so many other dedicated riders i have not mentioned. Our group consist of about 15-18 racers, the largest number I have ever seen. All of these individuals are exceptional in both academics and there riding ability. Stay tuned for more updates. Below are both the links from the season results so far and photo’s i have taken from the season so far.
results:
http://www.velocityresults.net/
Photos:
https://picasaweb.google.com/gweso032
-Greg Wesolowich
