Tufts' club cycling team is coming off two key races in the final week of March. Injuries proved detrimental for one of the races, but the team nonetheless emerged satisfied with its performance.
At the Tufts/Harvard Criterium Cycling Race on March 23, things did not go exactly according to plan after junior Sam Dangremond had a pre-race accident which knocked him out of competition. Top racers Robert Thompson and Jeff Marois, both graduate students, were also involved in a serious crash that took them out of the race.
Fortunately for the team, two young competitors were able to step into the leading role. Freshman James Gronek finished fifth out of 40 in his race, while sophomore Carolyn Whitten finished fifth out of 25 in hers.
Dangremond, the team's captain, was pleased with the young talent. "Though some members on our team, like Carolyn, have never raced before this year, their enthusiasm has provided the team with a spark from which to build on," he said.
The race, held in the streets of Tufts' Medford campus, was a Criterium race that involves a short loop. Competitors must excel in technical aspects of riding, such as cornering and working in a pack, in order to finish well.
The second race took place the following day, as the team competed in the Boston University/Northeastern University Individual Time Trial.
A time trial is a race against the clock without the effects of other cyclists on the track. The highlight for Tufts at that meet was graduate student Rebecca Rudy's second place finish.
This year, Tufts rang in the cycling season with a group of only 12 members. Of those 12, only Dangremond had raced for the Jumbos before. Having a small, inexperienced group damages the collective team results, since they do not have enough racers to compete in the six racing groups - A to D for men, and A and B for women.
"Even though we do not have the depth to do better than around 15th as a team at a meet, we are excited by many of the individual efforts," Dangremond said. "If we keep finishing well then next year we might get a larger turnout with which to build on this year's momentum."
Tufts competes in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference, which consists of all schools with a cycling team in the northeast, from Maine to Pennsylvania. Two years ago the women and men had strong teams, with the women going all the way to the ECCC Division II National Championships.
Since then, though, the team has suffered setbacks, losing talented members to graduation and suffering from internal disorganization. This year, Dangremond and former cyclist and current coach Mark Abramson have helped steer the team back on course.
The inexperienced team has also benefited from alumni, who still live and ride in the area, and frequently stop by team practices to help.
"Though we are an inexperienced team, having such a wealth of knowledge at our practices helps us to train better and improve quickly," sophomore Carolyn Whitten said.
The ECCC season started March 2 with a race at Rutgers University. In that race, the top finishers were Dangremond in the C group with an eighth place finish and Marois with a sixth place finish in the D group.
From there, the team went to Penn State, where Dangremond, Marois, and Gronek all finished in the top ten in their respective races.
The ECCC championships are approaching quickly, taking place on April 27 in Pennsylvania.
Before that happen, the team has seven races over the next three weeks in order to fine-tune itself for the championships. Races will be held at the University of New Hampshire, University of Connecticut, and at West Point.
