UW Mountain Bike Club Team Places Fifth at National Championships

January 23, 2013

University of Wyoming mountain bike club team member Jill Behlen of Boulder, Colo., reached the podium in each of the four events to claim the top spot of the Division I women's individual omnium at the recent USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships.

Overall, the combined UW men’s and women’s teams scored enough points to place fifth in the national championships held at the Angel Fire Resort in Angel Fire, N.M.

Behlen earned a bronze medal in the dual slalom event after placing fourth in each of the first three contests at the national meet. In all, Behlen amassed 478 points toward the individual omnium. Behlen's teammate, Linnea Dixson from Steamboat Springs, Colo., finished second with 292 points.

Fort Lewis College (Durango, Colo.), with 701 points, won the Division I team omnium by 76 points over the University of Colorado-Boulder. Marian University (Oldenburg, Ind.) finished third with 445 points; Lees-McRae College (Banner Elk, N.C.) was only six points behind Marian with 439 points in fourth; and UW took fifth with 434 points.

UW’s Adam Looney, from Anchorage, Alaska, finished eighth overall in the men’s individual omnium.

Other UW team members competing at the national championships were Sarah Dixson, Steamboat Springs, Colo.; Tyler Kjornstad, Duluth, Minn.; and brothers Logan and Weston Walker of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Both the women’s and men’s individual results are combined for overall team scores.

"It's really fun to do all of the events because they are so different," Behlen says about her individual title. "You get to compete with everybody and it is fun to podium in all four events."

After the national meet, Linnea Dixson was awarded one of two Joshua Kuck Memorial Scholarships. The scholarship, which has been given since 2008, is awarded annually to two student-athletes who excel in the areas of cycling safety, advocacy and education. The scholarship honors Kuck, a member of the University of South Florida cycling team who was killed by a truck while training with teammates.

Dixson, a physiology/ kinesiology sophomore, maintains a 3.87 grade point average this semester. She was recognized as an outstanding student at the 2012 Keith and Thyra Thompson Arts and Sciences Convocation while earning a spot on the Dean’s Honor Roll.

Dixson follows teammate Behlen as a scholarship recipient. Behlen received the Stenner Memorial Scholarship last year.

Find us on Instagram (Link opens a new window)Find us on Facebook (Link opens a new window)Find us on Twitter (Link opens a new window)Find us on LinkedIn (Link opens a new window)Find us on YouTube (Link opens a new window)