Twenty
Frazier Cycling Juniors competed in this year's USA
Cycling Junior National Road Race Championships in Bend, Oregon,
from July 28 through August 2. We represented the largest Junior
team to participate in the event. The
Bryds, Boise, Idaho, had
17 racers.
Frazier
Cycling Juniors captured seven medals: three by Zoe Frazier,
three by Abigail Aldridge, and one by Brody Hartley. This
championship was Zoe's fourth year competing in a Junior national
championship event and she is our all-time national medal leader with
nine in her career, including two national titles. This was the
first time that Abigail and Brody competed in the national
championships.
Zoe Frazier, 14,
led our team by winning her second career national title with a
thrilling sprint victory in
the Women's 13-14 (age group) road race. She won two more medals
by placing second in the Women's 13-14 12-km time trial and third in the
Women's 13-14 criterium.
Abigail Aldridge,
12, also won three national medals. She was the silver medalist in
the Women's 10-12 road race, fourth in the Women's 10-12 12-km time
trial, and and third in the Women's 10-12 criterium.
Brody Hartley,
12, collected our seventh medal with his fifth place finish in the Men's
10-12 12-km time trial.
In addition to our
medals, we had many outstanding performances. Here are a few:
-
Melissa Goodman
and Dominique Shore were solid in all of the Women's 13-14
events. Both were always near the front during the races and the
finishes. They played major roles in contributing to Zoe's medal
performances.
-
James Todd
was ninth in the Men's 10-12 12-km time trial.
-
Philip O'Donnell
had the best time trial for 13-year-olds in the Men's 13-14 12-km time
trial (10th place) and his seventh place in the Men's 13-14 criterium
was also the top 13-year-old placing.
-
Andrew Macrae
was very much in the hunt for medals in both the highly competitive
Men's 13-14 road race (7th place) and criterium (12th place).
-
David Goodman
had a super race in the Men's 15-16 criterium. He finished in the
sprint of the main field that included the event winner. Most
racers could not maintain the intense pace with a few laps over 30 mph
on the technical and difficult 1-km course.
Frazier Cycling Junior National Road Race Team
Members
Abigail Aldridge, Women's 10-12
Zoe Frazier, Women's 13-14
David Goodman, Men's 15-16
Melissa Goodman, Women's 13-14
Adi Gummadi, Men's 10-12
Nina Gummadi, Women's 15-16
Teja Gummadi, Men's 10-12
Brittney Hartley, Women's 15-16
Brody Hartley, Men's 10-12
Andrew Hodges, Men's 15-16
Fletcher Lydick, Men's 13-14
Hunter Lydick, Men's 17-18
Andrew Macrae, Men's 13-14
Rishi Mocherla, Men's 10-12
Philip O'Donnell, Men's 13-14
Dominique Shore, Women's 13-14
James Todd, Men's 10-12
Sam Tomaka, Men's 15-16
Alex Wexler, Men's 10-12
Ethan Zehr, Men's 17-18
Congratulations to all team
members!
It's
Zooooeeeeee FRAZIER!!!!!
BEND, OR - On Tuesday, July 28,
2009, Zoe Frazier won a thrilling sprint finish to become the 2009 USA
Cycling National Women's 13-14 Road Race Champion. Zoe had
teammates Melissa Goodman and Dominique Shore supporting her in the
30-km race. The race included five laps around a
on the hilly 5-km lollipop loop situated
about 2.5-km from the start/finish. I nervously stayed at the
finish with several parents and team members. Coach Kelli
stationed herself at the bottom of the loop where she gave us race
reports via her cell phone during the first four laps. Nick
Frazier was at the feed zone near the hilltop about one mile from the
beginning of the loop. He gave us race reports after the girls
topped the hill.
Katrina Howard, Vapor Racing, was the three time National Road Race
Champion of the Women's 10-12 classification. Katrina won most of
these races with a very strong sprint; however, she is not known as a
climber. Now 13 years old, she was a favorite to win this race.
Another favorite in the race was Sarah
Huang, 14, NOVA IS Corp, who was the defending national
criterium champion and another good sprinter. Sarah is an
excellent climber, too.
After the first lap around the lollipop, the field was down to ten
racers including Zoe, Melissa, Dominique, Sarah Huang, and Katrina
Howard. Over the next two laps, Zoe,
Dominique, and Sarah
Huang had made several attempts to drop the "sprinter", Katrina Howard,
on the big hill after the feed zone. With every lap, Nick reported
that Katrina was put into difficulty by Zoe and Sarah. But
by the time they reached the bottom of the loop, Coach Kelli reported
that the ten racers were back together. As the racers started
their final loop and the final climb up the hill, Coach Kelli headed
back to the finish.
Nick
gave us his last report from the feed zone where he watched
Zoe, Sarah Huang, and
Sara Youmans, Bryds, breakaway on the hill
and they dropped Katrina Howard and the rest of the field.
There was about five miles to go
and from that point until the racers
entered the final straight away, we had to rely on the race announcer's
report, which he received via radio from the officials following the
racers on the course.
A few minutes after Coach Kelli
arrived at the finish line, the race announcer updated the spectators,
"With three miles remaining, Sarah Huang, Zoe Frazier, and Sara Youmans
are in a breakaway with a sizeable gap." With this information, I
was feeling very confident that we would get a medal.
After
a few minutes, the announcer updated the crowd, "The racers have
entered the final kilometer. The officials are reporting that Katrina
Howard has made a monstrous move and she has brought the main field back
to the leaders. They should be all together and we should be
seeing them in the final straight very shortly!"
Oh no! What seemed like a sure medal became total doubt! The group
was back together - now there were more competitors to challenge for the
victory.
"Race radio reports that Sarah Huang has just attacked with less than a
kilometer to go and she has opened a gap. Now we have word that
Zoe Frazier is trying to bridge the gap." At this point, there is
nothing you can do but "hope". I was hoping that Zoe could catch
Sarah and have a chance at winning a national championship. After
a few tense seconds, which seemed like minutes, the announcer said, "Now
we are hearing that Sarah Huang is still off the front as they approach
the final turn into the straight!"
I was
standing about 70 meters from the finish and Coach Kelli was down the
straight away, around the 100 meter mark. I strained my eyes in
anticipation for the groups arrival through the final turn into the
straight away. It seemed like a long wait and then...
"It's
still Sarah Huang on the front sprinting for the stars-and-stripes!
And it's Katrina Howard leading the entire field sprinting behind her!"
As the announcer was shouting, I scanned the front - where's Zoe?
And there, near the outside barriers was that familiar tiny cyclist
dressed in our blue kit blazing up the straight away. In an
instance she blew by Katrina and she was even with Sarah... "And
it's..." "It's Zooooeeeeee FRAZIER!!!!!"
with total surprise the announcer exclaimed. When Zoe drew even
with Sarah with 60 meters to the line, Coach Kelli and I simultaneously
through our arms upward in celebration with certain victory because
there was no stopping that little freight train!
Zoe's interview on womenscyclingmag.com
Complete results at
2009 USA Cycling Junior National Road Race Championships
Results
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