Statesville, Cyclocross

30-01-2013 05:56:02

November 2012. The fifteen-race North Carolina state cyclocross series approached the half-way point in Statesville. This was the last race before the state champions are crowned in Charlotte. Kerry Warner (u23 BMC Development MTB Team) took the win. This was his third race of the series and his third win. For the championship title, he’ll battle the also undefeated and the incumbent state champion, Travis Livermon (Mock Orange Racing).

Warner worked his way to the front early and ran away with the race on Stateville’s quasi-technical, fitness oriented course.

“I didn’t get the whole-shot, I was behind some people up until probably a quarter of the way through the course, and then I kind of got ahead with somebody else, then he bobbled a corner and I went around him and I just decided to go.” Joe Welsh (Mock Orange Bikes) was putting in similar lap times, but started far back from the gun.

Erica Zaveta (Brevard College Tornados), most known for World Cup mountain biking, won the women’s race. This was Zaveta’s first cyclocross race this season. Zaveta marked Katherine Shields (Mock Orange Bikes) for most of the race and made the winning move in the last lap. “I’m pretty excited for the State Championship race in Charlotte, the Brevard College Team is going to go down and race – yeah, we have a ‘cross team this year!” Regarding the Charlotte course and the big run-up ‘wall’, Zaveta added, “That might be a little tricky – I might go home and run up steep hills for a while.”

Weldon Weaver