Haley Umayam won the 46-mile road race in the Women’s C category on Sunday. The field broke apart early on but she continued to pedal smoothly and gain time on the other riders despite the brutal headwind and sustained climb toward the finish. “It was the fastest and slowest race I’ve ever had,” said Umayam. The out-and-back course in the High Sierras made for a strong tailwind in the first half of the race and an unforgiving headwind on the returning 23 miles. This was only her second road race in her collegiate career.
Luke Ramseth had an outstanding performance in the Men’s A category 72-mile road race, finishing an impressive third place in a field of some of the strongest collegiate cyclists in the country. About halfway in the race, three riders broke off the front the pack, but Ramseth and five other riders attacked and chased down all but one guy in the break. For most of the race, Ramseth was riding with the top group (a solid six-pack with one rider from UNR, one from Stanford and two from UC Davis). With their teammate up front, the riders from Davis wouldn’t work in the chase, leaving Ramseth, UNR and Stanford to fight the headwinds. Then with less than two miles to the finish, the UNR rider attacked Ramseth’s group and got away for second place. Ramseth stayed with the chase and it was a cat and mouse sprint to the end where Ramseth came flying out in front on the uphill finish to get third place.
Other results from Sunday’s road race:
David Garcia finished in third place and Justin Graves finished eighth in the Men’s C 46-mile road race.
In the Men’s B road race, Miguel Henderson finished eighth in a tough field dominated by UC Davis.
HSU scored some needed team points in the Men’s D road race. Jorge Ramirez finished in fourth place, Evan Gibbs in eleventh followed by teammate Shaun Summa in twelfth. Kevin Cage and Steve Allen finished together in seventeenth and eighteenth place. The team points push HSU high up in the overall team standings in the Western Collegiate Cycling Conference.
Criterium Results
On Saturday, high winds played a role in the criterium out by Reno’s International Airport. Again, HSU had impressive race finishes.
Ramseth took sixth in the Men’s A crit, which was fast and furious. Despite a flat tire, Ramseth rode in the lead pack and won the chase sprint. He also scored points in prime sprints.
Kaydee Raths finished third in the Women’s C crit and picked up several points in all four sprints for primes. Umayam finished sixth in the same category and also picked up points in a prime sprint.
Garcia finished fifth and Graves seventh in the Men’s C crit. Graves won the first prime sprint in a rocket burst of power to the line. See him in action in this video.
HSU had five riders in the Men’s D crit race, and again the guys scored a load of points for the team. Ramirez got in a break and finished sixth in the lead pack sprint. Evans finished thirteenth, Allen finished seventeenth, Cage finished twenty-second, and Summa scored extra points with a third place prime finish.
“Humboldt is making an impressive showing at the races,” said Vicky Sama, faculty adviser and coach. “Our men and women are getting stronger each week. I can’t wait to watch them race at the regional championships in Santa Cruz.”
The Western Collegiate Regional Championships are on April 24 and 25. Collegiate Road National Championships are in Madison, Wisc., May 7 through 9.