Swanguen and Clawson claim collegiate downhill titles

The 2012 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships continued Saturday at the Angel Fire Resort in Angel Fire, New Mexico, with the short track and downhill competitions.

Division I men downhill finals

John Swanguen (Lindsey Wilson College) earned the last starting position after qualifying with the best time (2:42.17) on Friday. He improved on that time to secure the Division I men's downhill national championship with a time of 2:38.46 on Saturday. He needed to improve his time to earn the first national championship of his career because Adam Digby (Fort Lewis College) posted a time of 2:38.65 to earn the silver medal and defending national champion, Joey Schusler (University of Colorado-Boulder), registered 2:39.73 to place third.

"This feels really great," Swanguen said. "This is my first year racing collegiate at Lindsey Wilson. I didn't know what to expect. I couldn't ask too much. I'm definitely stoked with my performance today. I put down a solid run and handled it."

Division I women downhill finals

Brittany Clawson (Fort Lewis College) was the last rider down the mountain in the women's Division I race and she posted the fastest time of 3:17.99, over 10 seconds better than runner-up Madison Pitts (Lindenwood University), who recorded a time of 3:28.85.

"It was really fast and hard," a jubilant Clawson said at the end of her run. "It's the fastest I've ever gone. We had such a solid girls team this year, it's so exciting to be a part of it. It was really cool to have five girls racing downhill. That's unbelievable. Our team is so awesome."

Division II men downhill finals

The defending collegiate dual slalom national champion, Paul Mayes (Michigan Technological University), grabbed the Division II men's downhill national title after posting a time of 2:45.60, edging out Owen Tulip (Western State Colorado University) by three seconds.

"It was a lot of fun," said Mayes of his run. "I was sliding everywhere but I held on. It was awesome."

Division II women downhill finals

Ariana Altier (California State University-Chico) registered an astounding time of 3:11.32 to win the Division II women's downhill competition. Each of the last three riders to descend the course improved the standard set by the previous contestant. Erica Zaveta (Brevard College) lowered the mark by eight seconds after registering a time of 3:46.35 to temporarily occupy the hot seat. The penultimate rider of the competition, Essence Barton (California Lutheran University), lowered the mark by 16 seconds with a seemingly unbeatable mark of 3:29.78. Altier bettered Barton's mark by 18 seconds to earn the first national championship of her career.

"This feels pretty good," Altier said of winning her first national championship. "I'm probably going to celebrate by going to the hot tub and write a paper that's due on Monday."

Omnium update after day 3 (including short track and downhill finals)

Fort Lewis tops the Division I team omnium standings with 564 points. The Skyhawks have recorded the maximum number of points in each of the six competitions through two days of competition. The University of Colorado-Boulder holds second place with 488 points. The University of Wyoming sits in third place with 359 points, while Lees-McRae College is holding fourth place, only 12 points out of third. Colorado State University rounds out the top five with 295 points.

Brevard College tops the Division II team omnium standings heading into the final day of competition. The Tornados have amassed 490 points, 60 more than the second-place Union College-Ky. Sitting in third place, 103 points behind Union College-Ky., is Western State Colorado University. Colorado Mesa University is only nine points out of third place with 318 points. The fifth-place team through three contests is Warren Wilson College with 259 points.

Rotem Ishay (Fort Lewis College) holds the top spot of the Division I men's omnium with 325 points. Joey Schusler (University of Colorado-Boulder) is in second place with 218 points, 11 points ahead of Kerry Werner (Lees-McRae College). Erik Nelson (Northern Arizona University) is currently in fourth place with 123 while his teammate, Scott Countryman, rounds out the top five with 111 points.

After three of four contests are complete, Jill Behlen (University of Wyoming) has a significant lead in the Division I women's omnium. Behlen, who reached the podium in each of the three events, thus far, has accumulated 348 points. Her teammate, Linnea Dixson (University of Wyoming), is in second place with 230 points. Emily Paxson (University of Vermont) sits in third place with 198 points. Eva Wilson (Colorado State University), who topped the Division II women's omnium in 2011, is in fourth place with 198 points. Kaila Hart (Fort Lewis College) rounds out the top five with 196 points.

After his strong performance in the Division II men's short track, Wesley Lamberson (Union College-Ky.) holds the top spot of the Division II men's omnium standings. Bobby Zidek (University of California-Chico) is in second place, trailing Lamberson by 64 points, but he also holds a slim five-point advantage on Timothy Jenkinson (Mars Hill College). Justin Graves (Humboldt State University) is in fourth place with 133 points and Daniel Ennis (Brevard College) is in fifth place with 108 points.

In the tightest individual omnium competition through three events this year, Erica Zaveta (Brevard College) holds a 12-point cushion on Essence Barton (California Lutheran University) atop the Division II women's omnium standings. Zaveta, who reached the podium in each of the three events this weekend, has 390 points while Barton, who also finished in the top five of each competition, has 378 points. Elisa Otter (Union College-Ky.) sits in third place, only 64 points behind Barton and 107 points ahead of the fourth-place rider, Allison Jones (Warren Wilson College). Otter's teammate, Kara Uhl, rounds out the top five with 201 points, only six behind Jones.

Tomorrow, the event cruises into its final day as competitors will contest the dual slalom. Additionally, the individual and team omnium winners will be awarded at the conclusion of the day's races.

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