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Southeastern Collegiate Race - Tallahassee, Florida
Posted by: Matt Williams
|September 27, 2011 1:53 AM
 Southeastern Collegiate Cycling Conference - Tallahassee, Florida Florida and Union Dominate Opening Weekend of Racing Written by: Matt Williams Riders from the Southeastern Collegiate Cycling Conference
(SECCC) traveled to Tallahassee, FL this weekend for round two of the
collegiate mountain bike season. With little in the way of hills and no place
to run a downhill race, the weekend focused on endurance events—racers competed
in a time trial, short track, dual slalom, and cross county. Victor Alber
(Florida) and Elisa Otter (Union) dominated their respective fields all
weekend, with Alber taking three wins in four races.
Saturday’s racing featured an individual time trial, dual slalom, and a short track. Alber kicked things off with a dominant win in the time trial. The afternoon’s short track played out in a similar way. Despite initial attacks from Union College’s Wesley Lamberson and Zach Winn, Alber was able to control the race—ultimately lapping the entire field. The Women’s short track saw an exiting two-way battle between Elisa Otter (Union) and Eva Wilson (Warren Wilson). Otter and Wilson traded pulls as they distanced the rest of the field, but it was Otter who led to duo onto the singletrack on the final lap. In the sprint finish Wilson couldn’t quite make it around, coming up half a bike length short.
With tropical storm Lee hovering off the Gulf Coast, Sunday’s cross-country race had the potential to be a rain-soaked affair. Ultimately though, overnight rains simply helped to firm up the many loose, sandy corners on the course, leaving it in good condition as riders left the line early Sunday. Union’s Zach Winn launched an early flyer just as he had in the short track, but by lap two Alber was firmly in control. The Florida rider stretched his lead throughout the race, comfortably winning the five-lap affair. Winn came through in second, and Brad Nelson (Union) rounded out the top three. On the women’s side Eva Wilson chose not to start in order to rest some nagging injuries. Otter started slow, but by lap two she had moved to the front. A blistering last lapped gave her a comfortable margin by the finish.
The SECCC series moves to Conyers Georgia for the Georgia Tech race this weekend.
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