WILLIAMSBURG, VA — This weekend the riders in the ACCC found themselves in Williamsburg, VA for William and Mary’s race in Freedom Park. Unfortunately VCU’s portion of the weekend on Saturday was canceled so all of the action took place on Sunday.
Racing started off with the cross-country early in the morning. To reach the trail, riders raced down a long wide fire road with patches of ground the consistency of peanut butter. Once on the trail conditions were tight and twisty with a surprising amount of climbing. Connor Bell (James Madison University) and John Michael Gorum (Appalachian State University) were the leaders the whole way in the Men’s A field. Over the ~26 miles Bell held a pretty consistent gap over Gorum. Occasionally Bell would lose some time but he always found places to make it back up. Katy Applin (Wake Forest) beat Lauren Macdonald (Appalachian State University) to win the Women’s A race.
The second race of the day was a fast short track. Without many technical sections and a long fire road to cruise on racers were able to hold their speed well. Men’s B was an exciting race with a three man group of two NC State riders and one from University of Virginia pulling away from the start. After many laps it was down to just one UVA and State rider. Richard O’Briant of NC State would hold on from that first lap to take the win. The A race would be dominated by Stephen Vogel (Wake Forest). Gorum (ASU) and Bill Lucy (Virginia Tech) put in strong efforts to chase him down but it wasn’t enough. Significant gaps formed between the three leaders as they began to work their way through the back of the field lapping riders. Vogel, Gorum, and Lucy went 1, 2, 3.
Next weekend the racing will take place in West Virginia for West Virginia University’s home event!
Story & Photo Credits
Written by Charles Ramsbotham, photo by usacycling.org, and originally posted on usacycling.org. Read more about all the USA Cycling conferences in USA Cycling’s Weekly Collegiate Race Recap.
Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Conference
The Atlantic Collegiate Cycling Conference (ACCC) is a collection of cycling clubs representing colleges and universities from Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and North Carolina. We are one of eleven conferences that make up the collegiate program of USA Cycling, the national governing body of cycling in the United States. Our athletes compete in road, mountain, and cyclocross racing throughout the academic year at the conference level with hopes of qualifying for the USA Cycling Collegiate National Championships. For more information, please check out the ACCC website.
