Scherz and Gavin Win MAC Wayne Scott XROSS

From Ken Getchell at SpectaSport:

It was an unusual weekend for cross racing in the Mid-Atlantic region: crisp and cold, but sunny and dry. This made for a very fast course at the Maryland’s Fair Hill Natural Resource Area’s fairground for First State Velo Sport’s annual Wayne Scott Memorial Xross, round seven of the 2009 MAC Series.

A rare race without mud saw last week’s winner, Valentin Scherz (Pro Cycles-Scott-Newwork) come out on top of the Elite men’s field, besting Greg Wittwer of the Alan North American Cycling Team and Ryan Dewald of Battley Harley-Davidson for podium positions. The sand-filled horse dressage ring did not slow down the elite men as they wound through the lines laid down by the earlier races of the day. With the change to standard time, things were barely wrapping up before dark. The win gives the young Swiss racer the MAC Points lead.

Last year’s race at Fair Hill saw a first-time MAC winner in the Elite Women’s race. This year, the feat was duplicated by Kristen Gavin of Human Zoom/Pabst Blue Ribbon, who edged out Dee Dee Winfield of C3-Athletes Serving Athletes for the win. Arley Kemmerer of Hub Racing rounded out the podium. The open nature of the Fair Hill course made for considerable flat out riding and drafting before diving into the switchbacks and 180s.

Perhaps the most exciting racing of the day however was offered up by the Elite Masters. A select group separated from the pack early on the in the race. Mike Yozell (VisitPA.com) essentially lead the entire race but there was lots of back and forth amongst the rest of the lead group which contained the regular cast of characters including Blair Saunders (Ben’s Performance Bikes/Ridley), Dave Weaver (Alan North America), Greg Ferguson (Beacon Cycling & Fitness) and Rob Collins (Secret Henry’s Racing Team) for the top-5 finishers.

The MAC Series travels to Long Island for the Whitmore’s Landscaping Super Cross Cup Weekend on November 21 and 22. The two-day weekend will feature all MAC classes, and the Elite Classes will be UCI sanctioned and count toward the MAC standings as well as serve as the finals of the NACT. For more information, see BikeReg.com.

Brief Results:

Men

Place  Time Bib# Name Team

1 1:02:32 1 SCHERZ Valentin PRO CYCLES-SCOTT-NEWWORK

2 1:03:11 5 WITTWER Greg ALAN North America Cycling Team

3 1:03:12 3 DEWALD Ryan Battley HARLEY-DAVIDSON

4 1:03:42 4 WULFKUHLE Andrew C3-Athletes Serving Athletes

5 1:03:50 6 NIETERS Jared Haymarket Bicycles/HomeVisit

6 1:03:52 2 SCHEMPF Weston C3 – Athletes Serving Athletes

7 1:05:07 7 CUMMINGS Stephen Indiana Regional Medical Center

8 1:05:21 10 KINCAID Stephan Champion System/Cannondale

9 1:05:42 15 Consorto Chris Secret Henry’s Team

10 1:05:49 13 Adams Zachary C3 – Athletes Serving Athletes

Women

Place Time Bib# Name Team

1 37:35 103 GAVIN Kristin Human Zoom/Pabst Blue Ribbon

2 38:11 101 WINFIELD Deidre C3 – Athletes Serving Athletes

3 38:19 104 KEMMERER Arley Hub Racing

4 38:20 102 THIEMANN Nikki Human Zoom Pabst Blue Ribbon

5 39:49 107 MAXWELL Jennifer ATAC Sportswear p/b Bike Rack DC

6 39:54 110 WEBBER Lauri Secret Henry’s Team

7 40:39 106 PIPES Lenore C3 Athletes Serving Athletes

8 40:52 108 CHURCH Kristine Human Zoom/ Pabst Blue Ribbon

9 41:25 118 DOWIDCHUK Katrina Deep Blue

10 41:28 115 HARLOW Elizabeth C3 Athletes Serving Athletes

Tags: Arley Kemmerer, cyclocross, Dee Dee Winfield, Greg Wittwer, Kristen Gavin, MAC powered by SRAM cyclocross series, Ryan Dewald, Valentin Scherz