UW Student Captures National Collegiate Mountain Bike Championship

October 31, 2011
Woman mountain biking
Jill Behlen

University of Wyoming Cycling Club member Jill Behlen won the women's overall Division 1 individual title Sunday at the 2011 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships in Angel Fire, N.M.

Behlen, a UW molecular biology senior from Boulder, Colo., topped the women's individual omnium after earning a spot on the podium in three of four competitions, which included two third-place finishes and a fourth-place result in the downhill.

She scored a total of 462 points in the three days of competition, topping a pair of University of Colorado-Boulder riders. Deidre York was the runner-up to Behlen with 400 overall points, while teammate Claire Bensard was third with 380. Rounding out the top five were Brittany Clawson of Fort Lewis College (Durango, Colo.) with 373 points and fifth went to Lees-McRae College's (Banner Elk, N.C.) Erica Zaveta with 303 points.

Behlen has starred the past two years for the UW Cycling Club, which competes in the Rocky Mountain Collegiate Cycling Conference.

This past summer she competed at the Union Cycliste Internationale Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships in Switzerland. Earlier, she won the 2011 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross-Country National Championships.

USA Cycling is the official cycling organization recognized by the International Olympic Committee, the United States Olympic Committee and the International Cycling Union, and is responsible for identifying, training and selecting cyclists to represent the U.S. in international competition.

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