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Results and Reports for April 6-7, 2002
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Lincoln Plating Spring Classics – Criterium #2
Mahoney Park, Lincoln, Nebraska, April 7, 2002
Criterium Victory for Merritt
By John Lefler, Jr
Mark Merritt of the Runza Cycling Team made the most of his trip from Grand Island with a commanding first place overall finish in the Cat. 1/2/3 Lincoln Plating "Spring Classics" criterium event sunday afternoon. Recently upgraded to Cat. 3, Merritt opened a 20 second gap on the field 20 minutes into the race and eventually lapped the somewhat uninspired field. In fact, Cat. 1/2 winner Chris Spence of NHS/UNMC/Kaos was surprised by the result.
"I had no idea that happpened," a bewildered Spence exclaimed. "I mean, I knew he attacked, but I thought we pulled him in. That guy is just so strong!"
Despite the surprise attack from Merritt, Spence was able to flex his own cycling muscle with a mid-race attack. While the jump was met with some resistance, Spence and CCB/Volkswagen rider Jay Thomas were able to work their way off the front of the group with a solid 30 second lead. Without any real organization from the chase group, Spence raced to a first place Cat. 1/2 finish, just edging Thomas.
The win puts Spence in second place in the overall points standings with 209 points. Joe McWilliams of NHS/UNMC/Kaos is in first place in the points competition with 212 points.
Results
Cat. 1/2 1 Chris Spence (NHS/UNMC/Kaos) 2 Jay Thomas (CCB/Volkswagen) 3 Joe McWilliams (NHS/UNMC/Kaos) 4 Kevin Burke (NHS/UNMC/Kaos) 5 Christian Davenport (RCRC) Cat 3 1 Mark Merritt (Runza Cycling) 2 Marc Walter (CCRT) 3 Darin Schlake (SNORT) 4 Kevin Wilkins (NHS/UNMC/Kaos) 5 Stephen Jarrett (OBCR) 6 Scott Stevens (Runza Cycling) 7 Cody McCullough (Independent Fabrication) 8 Jonathon Nelson (unattached) Cat 4 1 Chris French (BBC) 2 David Kosark (Runza Cycling) 3 Greg Shimonek (BBC) 4 Jeffrey Hemmer (GCC) 5 Rick McGee (CCRT) 6 Chad Headlee (SNORT) 7 John Lefler, Jr (NHS/UNMC/Kaos) 8 David Jablonski (HRC) 9 Christoph Rothmund (TSG) 10 Robert Greigg (AJC) 11 Jeffrey Reimer (unattached) 12 Jim Adams (Lincoln Velo) 13 David Soflin (Runza Cycling) Cat 5 1 Brian Biggerstaff 2 Kelly Soden 3 Barry Johnson 4 Seth Sarakaitis 5 Jeffrey Hudgens 6 Gary Sampson 7 Dan Hansen 8 Brian Hamm 9 Marc Plagman Masters 30+ 1 Chris Spence (NHS/UNMC/Kaos) 2 Joe McWilliams (NHS/UNMC/Kaos) 3 Marc Walter (CCRT) 4 Kevin Burke (NHS/UNMC/Kaos) 5 Craid Schmidt (CCRT) 6 Robert Helton (unattached) 7 Rick McGee (CCRT) 8 Micheal Alfieri (unattached Masters 40+ 1 Mike Swanson 2 Andrew Baker (AJC) Masters 50+ 1 Robert Sack 2 Jim DeCamp (Runza Cycling) Women (Open) 1 Dawn Clements (Runza Cycling) 2 Marie Neville (NHS/UNMC/Kaos) 3 Renee Carter (OBCR)
