By Loren Eggenschwiler
The MSU Cycling Team headed South to Baton Rouge for the South Central Collegiate Cycling Conference Championships.
The team left Friday morning for an 11-hour drive with two vans and a trailer full of bikes. Races began on a cold Saturday morning with the road race in a beautiful slowly rolling area. It was a very successful morning with Caden Burross taking 9th for the men’s C and Bailey Hess taking 6th for the women’s B. The men’s B did well with Fidel Goytia taking 3rd and brother Erick taking 8th. The women’s A were able to get two off the front with Jessi Prinner taking 1st and Claire Routledge in 2nd. Teammates Loren Eggenschwiler and Ashley Weaver came in 4th and 5th. The men’s A finished off with Jason Short taking 1st followed by Tony Baca in 4th. Danny Robertson, Alexi Martinez and Sean Brown took 7th, 8th and 9th, respectively.
After a nice break for lunch and some relaxation, the team headed out to the levy for Team Time Trials. The men’s B Team, Fidel Goytia, Erick Goytia, Aldo Curiel and Burross took 4th. The women’s A team, Prinner, Routledge, Weaver and Eggenschwiler, took 1st. The men’s A team, Short, Martinez, Ricky Randall and Evan Bybee, came in 2nd.
Sunday the team headed to the Louisiana State Capitol building for the criterium. The morning started with Roy Richeson taking 10th for the men’s D category. Then Burross took 3rd for the men’s C category. The women’s A were able to have a tactically sound race, getting all four riders off the front taking the top four spots with Eggenschwiler, 1st, Weaver, 2nd, Prinner, 3rd and Routledge 4th. Routledge and Eggenschwiler also joined the men’s B race to try and help Fidel Goytia take conference champ. At the start of the race he was tied with a member of the TCU Cycling Team, making it a challenging race. With the help of his teammates, Fidel Goytia was able to take 6th just behind Erick Goytia in 5th. The men’s A category had a challenging race as well, but were able to take 2nd, Bybee, 4th, Short, and 5th, Brown.
Conference Champions and awards were presented on the steps to the capital. Burross took 3rd for the men’s C category. Fidel Goytia was able to earn enough points in the days race to take 1st for the men’s B. MSU A women swept the podium with Routledge taking the leaders jersey, followed by Eggenschwiler, Prinner, and Weaver. Short took 1st for his 3rd year in the mens A. Teammate Bybee took 2nd.
The MSU Cycling team took the overall Conference Championship as a team. MSU will be able to send a full men’s and women’s team to Nationals in Utah May 3-5 to compete against the nation’s top collegiate athletes.