Oneill, Cronyn secure silver medals at 2015 Junior National Championships
With 17 racers, El Grupo headed to Lake Tahoe this past weekend for the USA Cycling junior national championships, tackling three demanding disciplines: Road, time trial and criterium events. Cara Oneill and Avery Cronyn showed their strength in the road race and time trial, respectively, both scoring silver medals in an incredibly competitive field. In addition, Chloe Welsh and Nick Harris delivered top 10 performances in the road and time trial races, and Harris and Tyler Stites finished top 30 in a stacked field of 17-18 junior men.
“All in all, we are so very pleased with the experience that El Grupo had here at Nationals,” Daniela Diamente, said. “Beyond the heroic efforts and personal successes of each youth rider we brought, the team as a whole was able to solidify that we belong here and that we can and do most certainly have juniors who can enjoy the competition on a national level.”
Not only does El Grupo belong, but USA Cycling has tagged Tucson’s junior program as an example of leadership in the field. “At a Junior Cycling Summit of USA Cycling leaders and the directors of all major junior development teams here, El Grupo was repeatedly used a model for others to learn from both in how we are able to engage our local community and broaden the demographics of young people who are able to enjoy the sport of cycling,” Diamente said. “As with any experience, we now have things we know we can work to improve on and memories that will last us all a lifetime.”
The future of youth cycling is great, and El Grupo is proud to be a shining star for other programs to follow.
Notable results: 2015 USA Cycling Junior National Championships
Road Race
15-16 Junior Girls
Cara O’Neill – 2nd place (silver medal)
Chloe Welch – 10th place
Isabel Hausrath – 16th place
Madison Major – 19th place
17-18 Junior Boys – (120 total riders)
Tyler Stites – 29th
Nick Harris – 30th
Leo O’Neill – 42nd
13-14 Junior Girls
Izzie Adams – 16th
Ana Quintana Bernal – 18th
Both within 30 seconds of 1st place as it was sprint finish and they were in main pack!
13-14 Junior Boys
Quinn Agnew – 20th
Kajeme Murrieta -31st
11-12 Junior Boys
Zayk Cronyn – 13th (main pack sprint finish)
Izaac Adams – 28th (first road race ever!)
Time Trial
17-18 Junior Boys – out of 93 total – Time Trial 20K
Nicholas Harris – 10th
15-16 Junior Boys – out of 63 total – Time Trial 20K
Avery Cronyn – 2nd (Silver medal!)
15-16 Junior Girls – out of 23 total – Time Trial 20K
Cara O’Neill – 9th
All riders in the TT gained PR times, regardless of results. Everyone is very proud with heads up!
Criterium
17-18 Junior Boys
Nicholas Harris – 14th
15-16 Junior Girls
Cara Oneill – 7th
Chloe Welch – 9th
13-14 Junior Boys
Quinn Agnew – 20th
You guys are amazing congrats