Cycling team goes to nationals, but misses out on trophy

The Harvard Cycling Team came back from Colorado trophy-less but energized by their first-ever trip to the National Collegiate Road Cycling Championships in Colorado Springs.

The championships, which took place from May 19 to 21, consisted of three races over three days: a short, fast criterium, a long road race, and a team time trial in which a team races together against the clock.

Seven of the team’s 40 regular participants made the trip, four men and three women. They are Jacob Proctor, Abe Stroock, and Tamara Metz, all students at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences; medical student Chad Connor; Business School student Peter Everett; School of Public Health student Kathy Putnam; and sophomore Julia Oh, the lone undergraduate of the group.

In the team time trial, run May 21, Strook, Connor, Proctor, and Everett placed 16th out of 24 teams, with a time of 23:18.5 on the 10.4-mile course. The women’s team of Putnam, Oh, and Metz placed 15th out of 22, with a time of 31:49.7

In the road race, which took place May 20, Connor placed 26th and Strook 40th in the men’s race, eight laps on a 9-mile course. In the women’s race, Putnam placed 33rd, Metz 36th, and Oh 60th. The women’s team didn’t race in the criterium, held on May 19. Riders for the men’s team didn’t finish the criterium.

Given that it was their first trip to the national championships, Metz said she was satisfied with how the team performed.

“My feeling is I’m completely happy with our results. There were some really, really great teams out there,” Metz said.