NORBA NCS #4 - E2

Snowshoe, West Virginia, USA, June 10-13, 2004

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Stage 4 - June 13: Mountain Cross

Milan, Kintner take mountain cross crowns in Snowshoe

Kintner, Carter lead overall standings at halfway mark

By Andy Lee, USA Cycling

The 2004 NORBA National Mountain Bike Series featured mountain cross competition on Saturday as some of the world's top gravity riders descended upon the resort town of Snowshoe Mountain, W. Va. to contest the fourth of eight rounds. Competing with a World Cup event in Les Gets, France this weekend, the NORBA stop in Snowshoe still managed to attract a world-class field of top competitors.

At the end of the day, Jill Kintner (USA) and Ross Milan (USA) each captured wins, Milan's putting him on the list of future gravity riders to keep an eye on and Kintner's solidifying her lead atop the overall standings after four rounds.

Earlier in the day Kintner, Tara Llanes (USA), Michelle Dumaresque (Can), and Melissa Buhl (USA) posted the top four qualifying times respectively on their way to securing the top four seeds in the finals. As competition progressed, three of the four would make it through to the final round of four as Lisa Sher (USA) managed to ignore her 10th seed to sneak through to the end. Dumaresque however outrode her three competitors in the consolation round to take fifth place.

In the final, Kintner took the win ahead of Llanes, Buhl and Sher respectively. Kintner's win now gives her an 18 point lead in the overall standings ahead of Llanes.

In men's qualifying, Milan was well on his way to the eventual victory after posting the best time and taking the top seed. Brian Schmith (USA), Eric Carter (USA) and Rich Houseman (USA) rounded out the top four seeds based on qualifying times.

Houseman and Carter would falter in the round of eight and fail to make the finals while Milan and Schmith cruised through along with eighth-seeded Mike King (USA) and sixth-seeded John Kirkcaldie (NZl). After Carter took the consolation round for fifth place, the stage was set for the final four.

A late run crash by King that also took Kirkcaldie out of contention left Milan and Schmith alone to battle it out in the closing meters for the win. Milan took the advantage and the win, his first ever on the NORBA circuit.

Carter's fifth place finish gave him enough points to retain his lead by 51 points ahead of King in the overall standings.

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