GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – HSU Cycling is gearing up for the USAC Collegiate Mountain Bike Nationals October 7-11 in Grand Junction, Colorado. In only the second full season of competition as a varsity program, HSU has qualified three athletes.
 
Teams from all 11 conferences across the United States will join together at Powderhorn ski mountain to compete in various mountain bike disciplines. Different than conference action, where club and varsity schools race together, at nationals the fields will be separated. HSU will compete in the short track and cross-country disciplines, with field sizes of 60+ and 80+ in the women's and men's fields respectively.
 
Sara Shannon, who will be competing for the second straight year, is coming off a win at the MSU conference race and is poised to make a strong showing in the women's varsity division.
 
"Sara is a very talented rider who is incredibly dedicated to her craft. She works hard and is very experienced in national-level competition," Coach Andress says of her sophomore rider.
 
Sophomore Daniel Orr is proving to be a force this season as well, quickly advancing through the categories despite a broken collarbone last year. 
 
Coach Andress says, "Daniel has spent a lot of time developing his mountain biking skills, and when you couple that with his strong fitness level and competitiveness, he has proven he can compete with the best of the best in our conference. It will be exciting to see how he does at his first nationals in mountain biking."
 
To wrap up the trio of qualifiers is newcomer Ethan Jenkins. Jenkins has been competing in mountain biking for over a decade and is a highly skilled and seasoned rider, even though he will be one of the youngest riders in the field.
 
"We knew Ethan would make a strong showing right out of the gate coming into college, and he has proven he can do just that. The sky is the limit for this young man," said coach.
 
To learn more about the event or to follow along with live results, go to https://mtbnats.usacycling.org/coll-mtb
 
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