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24 Hour of 9 Mile - US National Championships - CN
Wausau, Wisconsin, August 2-3, 2008
Eatough and Sawicki defend titles
Chris Eatough (Trek / VW) and Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) successfully defended their national titles in the men's and women's 24 hour solo division at the USA Cycling National 24 Hour Championships in Wausau, Wisconsin. Starting at 10am Saturday, the two raced 14-mile laps for nearly 24 hours, and it was the third consecutive year that the 24 hours of Nine Mile hosted the championship race.
Eatough defeated Josh Tostado (Bach Builders) in a close race that came down to the last lap, with both finishing at 20 laps. Nat Ross (Subaru / Gary Fisher) completed 19 laps for third.
"He really put me into difficulty, he and I were very evenly matched," said Eatough of Tostado. "But my pit crew has our routine dialed, and the new bike let me race even faster." Eatough was riding the newly released Top Fuel.
Eatough was down by three minutes at the 12 hour mark, but he could still see Tostado on the winding trails through the northern Wisconsin woods.
"My vision started to freeze up, and I hit the wall that I always hit at the 12-hour mark. But I know how to handle those conditions. I just ride consistently through the night and save enough for the daylight," said the experienced Eatough of his winning strategy.
By lap 15, Tostado had a 15 minute advantage, but then on the next lap, he encountered problems with his light. Eatough took the opportunity and kicked it up a notch, taking three minutes back.
On lap 17, both riders were together again, and the pair agreed lap 20 would be the final one. Some were expecting a sprint, but Eatough pulled away on the final half-lap.
"I felt awesome. I felt twice as fast as I did earlier in the day," said Eatough. He crossed the line 16 minutes ahead of Tostado to collect his fourth national title.
In the women's race, Sawicki ended up with 18 laps (255.6 miles ridden), two laps ahead of second placed Danielle Musto (Kenda-Titus-Hayes) and third placed Sarah Kaufmann (Titus/Roaring Mouse).
Sawicki earned a 13 minute lead on her first lap and continued to pull away throughout. Her first lap was the fastest female lap of the race including duo and team riders. Holding a steady pace around the course, Sawicki lapped the entire women's field by eight hours into the race.
In total, nine US National Champions were crowned.
Results - Championship Events
Laps Finish Time Elite men solo 1 Chris Eatough (Trek / VW) 20 9:28:51 2 Josh Tostado (Bach Builders) 20 9:44:24 3 Nat Ross (Subaru Gary Fisher) 19 9:41:01 4 Ernesto Marenchin 19 10:03:42 5 Scott Cole 19 10:19:15 6 Mark Hendershot (Santa Cruz Syndicate) 18 9:44:35 7 Brad Majors (World Bicycle Relief) 18 10:52:01 8 Todd Carpenter (Siren Bicycles) 18 11:03:38 9 Dave Norton (Johnny Sprokets) 17 10:09:54 10 Timothy Ingram 17 10:43:41 11 Charlie Farrow (Ski Hut/DBD) 15 9:43:51 12 Chris Strout (World Bicycle Relief Solo) 15 10:51:50 13 Brandon Draugelis 14 3:08:34 14 Chris Maltby (Terrrys Cycle) 14 9:43:18 15 Ron Sawicki (Hayes Bicycle Group) 13 8:37:37 16 Joe Alligood 13 9:25:38 17 Justin Lund (EVOMO / Rudy Project) 13 10:00:46 18 Eddie O'Dea (Vassago Cycles) 12 1:26:41 19 Matt Woodruff 12 4:08:45 20 Tim Wilkie 12 9:43:54 21 Chad Dean 12 9:59:14 22 Anthony Ippolito (Southern Brazil Adventurers) 11 5:33:56 23 Frank Benish (Team W,A.R. Wenatchee Area Racer) 11 9:46:17 24 Aaron Snyder (Scott Bikes) 10 22:52:42 25 Chris Schotz (Thunderdown) 10 23:21:42 26 Rob Lichtenwalner (visitpa.com) 9 22:22:45 27 Jeff Miller 9 22:45:00 28 David Simmons (Team Brown Bear) 7 0:16:00 29 Jim Simons 7 10:34:45 30 Rob Lichtenwalner (Panoptx/BCCFl) 6 17:51:00 31 Tom Giese (Careerbuilder.com) 5 18:05:24 32 Rick Mangan 4 9:58:13 33 Charly Tri (Velorochester - Jo Mama) 3 13:27:06 34 Levi Olsen (Cycleops/Saris) 3 14:11:09 35 Sam McElmeel 3 15:20:17 36 Steve Schwarz 1 11:08:33 Elite women solo 1 Pua Sawicki (Ellsworth) 18 10:09:40 2 Danielle Musto (Kenda-Titus-Hayes) 16 9:29:58 3 Sarah Kaufmann (Titus/Roaring Mouse) 16 10:12:04 4 Terri Wahlberg 15 10:20:20 5 Stacey La Presta 14 9:48:18 6 Sally Marchand Collins 14 10:39:19 7 Liz Baumgardt-Kays 13 9:25:35 8 Namrita O'Dea (Vassago Cycles) 11 7:09:36 9 Janis Sandlin (Tough Girl / Contessa) 9 10:53:41 10 Carol Clemens (Dirt Rag/Lupine/Hoss) 6 20:11:08 11 Gina Kenny 5 8:49:44 Juniors 1 Baraboo B.A.M.F.s 21 10:09:25 2 EXPO Racing 21 10:14:17 3 MARS is Kickin Uranus 19 10:11:27 Masters 1 Michigan Masters 23 10:45:19 2 Weak Sauce 22 10:23:35 3 Twin Six 24x4 22 10:23:44 4 Muddy Cup Racing 22 10:25:09 5 BackyardBikes.com - KM Flyers 22 10:45:00 6 Team Polska 21 9:58:23 Men's Team 1 Velo Rochester 24 11:07:06 2 Kobold Watches / Cannondale 23 10:28:19 3 Choadal Devastation 22 11:02:38 4 Muddy Cup Too 21 10:04:36 5 MTB-Life Racing Team/Soul Cycles 20 10:40:19 Women's Team 1 Ketchum If You Can / Specialized 21 11:06:00 2 Penn/Nature Valleys Women-N-Gear 21 11:20:17 3 Tough Girl / Contessa 20 11:14:41 4 extreme killjoy muddycup martian 17 10:03:02 Duo men 1 Bach Builders (Shake & Bake) 22 10:41:45 2 Two Steps Beyond Chaos 22 10:43:00 3 GrandStay Hotels/Twin Six 22 11:10:37 4 The Ambiguously Slow Duo 20 10:03:10 5 EXPO Racing - Duo 17 9:03:08 6 Pharmphresh 17 10:26:54 7 Tune Up Ski and Bike 15 4:25:01 8 Painsmokers 15 5:57:51 Duo women 1 Chipotle-Titus Mixed duo 1 Sho-Air/Niner/Wake Racing 20 9:47:35 2 Sho-air/Sonance/Rock N Road 20 10:08:07 3 Team 6th Gear 19 9:12:53 4 Team Pegasus 14 8:19:06 5 Married With Bikes 10 0:56:17
