Ageless

Continuing our run-up to the US Cyclocross Nationals, the US National Cyclocross Press Office has released the names of the elite field who will be contending for the stars and stripes.

What immediately caught my eye wasn’t the Trebons, Pages, Goulds, or Comptons in the field, but the Overends, namely Ned Overend. The mountain bike hall-of-famer and former XTerra World Champion, the man known as “Deadly Nedly” and “The Lung,” will be down in KC contesting the Men’s 50-54 category. Wha, 50-54?!

Aside from Steve Tilford, who is contesting the 45-49 category, Overend and his athletic feats seem ageless. To paraphrase Matthew McConaughey’s character, Wooderson, in the quintessential 70’s movie, Dazed and Confused, “…that’s what I love about Ned Overend, I get older…Ned stays the same age.” Or so it seems!

From the US National Cyclocross Press Office:
Kansas City, Kan. (Dec. 11, 2007) - Defending Elite Men's champion Ryan Trebon and Women's Elite champion Katie Compton are among the nation's best athletes ready to line up at this week's USA Cycling National Cyclocross Championships in Kansas City, Kan.

Compton, of Colorado Springs, Colo., has won the past three Women's Elite titles and was the silver medalist at the 2007 UCI Cyclocross World Championships. The 29-year-old is currently the No. 2-ranked female cyclocross racer in the world, according to the latest UCI ratings. Her strongest competition in the 98-rider Elite Women's field is expected to come from Georgia Gould (Ketchum, Idaho) and Kerry Barnholt (Boulder, Colo.).

Gould took four of six races and the overall series title at the 2007 U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross presented by Crank Brothers, and currently holds the 2007 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Champion title. The 27-year-old finished second to Compton last year. Barnholt, 24, finished third last year at nationals and was 15th at the World Championships.

Trebon, a resident of Corvallis, Ore., won the 2007 overall series title of the U.S. Gran Prix of Cyclocross presented by Crank Brothers. The 26-year-old is expected to be strongly challenged by a host of contenders that includes three-time national cyclocross champion Jonathan Page (Tilton, N.H.), USGP series runner-up Tim Johnson (Middleton, Mass.), 2003 collegiate cyclocross champion Barry Wicks (Santa Cruz, Calif.), seven-time Junior and Under 23 cyclocross champion Jesse Anthony (Beverly, Mass.), and 2006 U.S. Cyclocross World Championship team member Jeremy Powers (Niantic, Conn.).

A record total of 2,045 entries have been received for the nearly 40 races between Thursday and Sunday at Kansas City's Wyandotte County Park. The complete event schedule is available at http://www.kccrossnationals.com/.

In addition to Trebon and Compton, 13 others are defending their national titles in their category:
Junior Women 13-14: Elizabeth White (Bedford, N.H.)
Junior Women 15-16: Coryn Rivera (Tustin, Calif.)
Junior Women 17-18: Danielle Haulman (Denver, Colo.)
Under 23 Female: Amy Dombroski (Boulder, Colo.)
Masters Men 35-39: Richard Feldman (Ketchum, Idaho)
Masters Men 45-49: Steve Tilford (Topeka, Kan.)
Masters Men 50-54: Ned Overend (Durango, Colo.)
Masters Men 55-59: Fred Wittwer (Charlottesville, Va.)
Masters Men 65-69: Rob Lea (Taneytown, Md.)
Masters Women 40-44: Sami Fournier (Bend, Ore.)
Masters Women 45-49: Catherine Walberg (Topeka, Kan.)
Masters Women 50-54: Kathy Sarvary (Lunenburg, Mass.)
Masters Women 60-64: Julie Lockhart (Dunstable, Mass.)

Tilford and Walberg are two "local" favorites who will be racing on what can be considered their "home turf." Tilford, 47, is a four-time cyclocross national champion who won the 2007 Oklahoma State Cyclocross Championship race Sunday. Walberg, 44, is a four-time Kansas State Cyclocross champion.

Several 2006 champions have moved up in category since last year:
Junior Women 10-12: Sarah Huang (Kenosha, Wisc.) to Junior Women 13-14
Junior Men 10-12: Logan Owen (Bremerton, Wash.) to Junior Men 13-14
Junior Men 13-14: Yannick Eckmann (Boulder, Colo.) to Junior Men 15-16
Junior Men 15-16: Luke Keough (Sandwich, Mass.) to Junior Men 17-18
Elite Junior Men: Danny Summerhill (Centennial, Colo.) to Under 23 Men
Under 23 Men: Jesse Anthony (Beverly, Mass.) to Men's Elite
Masters Men 40-44: Mark Noble (Oxnard, Calif.) to Masters Men 45-49

Daily race results, a comprehensive press release and photos for publication will be available at the official website, http://www.kccrossnationals.com/, as well as http://www.usacycling.org/ and http://www.kccrossnationals.blogspot.com/.

The opportunity to purchase official race apparel, as well as download course maps, parking maps and a map of the vendor exposition is available at http://www.kccrossnationals.com/.