US National Track Championships - CN7-Eleven Velodrome, Colorado, USA, August 22-26, 2000Day 1 - August 22: 3000/4000m Ind. Purs. (M/W), Keirin (M)Men's 4,000m Individual PursuitMike Tillman was declared the winner if the men's 4000m individual pursuit over Adham Sbeih after the latter was disqualified in the final for a mechanical mishap. Sbeih and Tillman had started their ride, but Sbeih's chain fell off and he was not allowed a restart according to the rules. It was not the ideal way to win, as Tillman reflected afterwards: "It's the most unfortunate kind of way I can think of to win a national championship. I've trained a long time. Last year I got second at nationals, and I've gotten a lot of international experience this year. It's sort of a double-edged sword, but a national title is a national title. It would have been nice to win this title properly, but sport is sport. I rode conservative in the qualification and semifinal rounds, and I was just ready to go in the finals. Adam is a tremendous competitor." In third place was Colby Pearce, who was beaten by Adham in the semi, "I thought I was the one. I thought I had a good chance of beating him (Adham Sbeih). Adham whipped around the corner though and went crazy. It was kind of a bummer that none of the Olympic team was here. I think it would have added more of a competitive edge. I'm going to do the points race and the team pursuit. I think we could do well in those races. What happens, what happens. You just never know about these things."
Results1 Michael Tillman (L'equipe Cheval) 2 Adham Sbeih (Navigators) DSQ 3 Colby Pearce (Shaklee/Marin) 4.40.646 4 Jame Carney (Shaklee/Marin) 4.49.251 5 Stephen Prokopiw (Hammer Racing Team) 4.45.000 6 Mike Luther (Usa Cycling) 4.46.376 7 John Kelly (Kissena Cycling ) 4.47.576 8 Ryan Miller (Nutra-Fig) 4.51.189 9 Dave Bailey (Pedali Alpini) 4.51.791 10 Sheldon Bole (Fuji Racing Team) 4.53.923 Women's 3,000m Individual PursuitOlympic team member for the women's 3000m individual pursuit, Erin Veenstra-Mirabella (Timex) captured her first national elite title in that discipline after she beat Megan Troxell in the final. Veenstra-Mirabella clocked 3.49.374, and added the pursuit to her other national title, the points race in 1998. "This was my first individual pursuit victory at the nationals. It seemed as if I've won the pursuit in every other race in the states except for the nationals. This victory certainly means a lot to me. We leave for Sydney in a week and I haven't had the opportunity to race in the pursuit for a while. This was a great preparation to see where I am, try different gears, and get a good idea of what I'll need to do at the Games," she said.
Results1 Erin Veenstra-Mirabella (Timex) 3.49.374 (47.08 km/h) 2 Megan Troxell (Shaklee/Marin) 3.52.719 3 Sarah Hammer (Inland Sunset) 3.49.372 4 Annette Hanson (Saturn Of Bellevue) 3.53.444 5 Angela Vargas (Team Proteus) 3.54.238 6 Claire Olsen (Kendall-Jackson) 3.55.518 7 Ashley Kimmet (East Coast Velo) 3.59.164 8 Amyazellie Tremelling (Make A Wish) 4.01.167 9 Marjon Marik (Autotrader.Com) 4.03.484 10 Renee Eastman (Vitamin Cottage) 4.07.665 Men's KeirinMarty Nothstein of Trexlertown, Pa. captured a record 20th senior national championship after he won the men's keirin title on day one of the US track titles. Nothstein was the out and out favourite for the event, having won two keirin world titles (1994 and 1996) and he beat 1999 runner up Marcelo Arrue in the final. Nothstein's 20th title eclipsed Rebecca Twigg's record of 19 national titles and he refuses to show his age. "As long as I keep performing at this level and winning national titles, the victories will never get old. With the Games only a month away, I took a bit of a chance defending my titles (five-time national Keirin champ). It is known for being a dangerous event and a crash can happen at any moment. However competing at this year's nationals is great preparation for the Games and I wasn't willing to lock myself in a room for the next few weeks. A win is great momentum going into the Games." Arrue blamed a poor gear selection and the superior speed of Nothstein for his second consecutive silver medal in the event, but was positive about the team's chances next month, "I think the United States should know they have a good chance of medaling at the Olympics and that we are taking the best group of riders out there." Nothstein has a chance for 21 titles if he can take the men's sprint title, that begins on Thursday.
Results1 Marty Nothstein 10.721 2 Marcelo Arrue 3 Jeffrey Labauve 4 Josh Weir 5 Garth Blackburn 6 Jason Beauregard 7 Giddeon Massie 11.987 8 Josiah Ng 9 Richard Juntunen 10 Nathan Rogut 11 James Wong 12 Andy Lakatosh 13 Broc Thompson 14 Ryan Watson |