GRAND JUNCTION, COLORADO, NOV. 25-
When students think of the best teams on campus, they might mention swim and dive, baseball and softball or maybe even wrestling. However, there is one team that stands leagues above the rest. The Colorado Mesa University (CMU) cycling team has won over 73 individual national championships and 15 team championships.
The Mavericks compete not only against other Division II schools, but any collegiate member of USA Cycling, making their national championships true indicators of the best riders in the country.
Cycling is a unique sport, as it has five disciplines that go from Sept. to May, with nearly 65 team members. USA-Cycling divides collegiate cycling into track, mountain, cyclo-cross, BMX and road nationals that accumulate points toward an overall Omnium National Champion.
Some cyclists specialize in just one discipline, but the majority compete in multiple, meaning that they have to train year-round. Furthermore, around a third of the team rides professionally around the world, such as at the Pan Americans in Lima, Peru.
“I started cycling at the age of 13 [since] my high school had a pretty big program. Coming from New Zealand, I knew at a young age that I wanted to come to the United States and pursue my sport and academic career. I chose Mesa, because it gave me the chance to do both […] I’m super grateful to have been given this opportunity, making new friends and being able to have access to incredible coaches as well,” senior track/road specialist Natalie Mitchell said.
CMU’s cycling team was started in the early 2000s, but the team began to succeed the most with the iteration of the current coaching staff, consisting of Brian Flaherty and Patric “Pat” Rostel, who were hired in 2012 and 2013, respectively. The duo built the program up over time by slowly gaining name prestige and boasting several high-level athletes, which eventually enticed more notable riders to the school.
“When Brian and I took over, we tried to build through single disciplines [in the hope] that would boost up the other disciplines. Similarly, we recruited key athletes and other notable athletes eventually followed suit. I think the most successful [strategy] was being patient and taking the little steps, and not trying to get the 10 best athletes in a single year. We probably get 150 recruiting questionnaires which is a big uptick from 10-15 when we first started,” Rostel said.
The team relied on mostly international riders early on, but has since tried to recruit more homegrown talent to develop a sustainable pool for years to come.
“I think our recruiting is very good. Brian and Pat, the coaches of the team, do a very good job of looking for new riders. Every person I’ve met are really tough riders. I see a lot of people going out for rides all the time and doing everything they can to become a better cyclist. So I think what’s special about Pat and Brian is that they take their time looking for people and it pays off. I mean, the results speak for themselves,” sophomore MTB/BMX rider Matthew Sterling said.
The team’s first disciplines to start the year are track and mountain biking (MBK).
Track riders cycle on a concrete or wooden oval without brakes and just one gear. Each lap on the track is usually 250 meters (820 feet) long. The MBK discipline is subdivided further into cross country, dual slalom, short track and downhill. The goal of mountain biking is to find the quickest path down or across the mountain.
“Our training as downhill mountain bikers consists of moving a lot of heavy weight, lots of cardio and lots of stability workouts. So, that includes lots of push ups, because we go off big drops and big hits. We [train] core as well, because that keeps us stable on the bike,” Sterling said.
The Collegiate Varsity Track National Championship is held during early September. This year, the Mavericks won the Track Omnium for the first time in program history. CMU snapped Marian University’s (MU) 16-year winning streak. MU had been crowned as national champions in the event since 2006.
CMU earned the maximum number of points in the men’s events, while MU maxed out the women’s events. The Mavericks co-ed team sprint, however, secured the groundbreaking win as they finished 3.637 seconds ahead of MU on Sept. 11.
The MBK National Championships then happen in mid-October each year. CMU added yet another to the trophy case, and took home their third straight MBK championship on Oct. 16. The team excelled across the board as the Mavericks won seven of the nine national MBK titles. Senior road/track/MTB rider Torbjorn Roed claimed two wins, Sterling won two events, junior MTB/CX/Road rider Madigan Munro also won two titles and senior MTB Jazlyn Smith added another individual national championship to the program’s storied history.
The next discipline raced during the season is cyclocross. Cyclocross riders have to be prepared for anything, because the discipline combines all of the events into an offroading blend of jumps, obstacles, stairs and more.
After a short winter break, the cycling team then enters its BMX season in early Spring and its Road discipline near the end of the semester.
“We have great athletes on the team. We send athletes to World Championships every single year, and they shouldn’t be overlooked. The administration does its best to treat us appropriately and help us in anyways that they can. But sometimes, I feel like it gets under-represented by the student body. Every athlete on this campus is a really good athlete and they should all be treated in an equal manner,” Rostel said.
The team’s next major race will be Cyclocross National Championships from Dec. 6 to Dec. 11 in Hartford, Connecticut.
