Team Pursuit Gold at Nationals

Elite Team Pursuit

Gold - UCI CTW Virginia’s Blue Ridge TWENTY28 Bethany Ingram (Columbia, S.C.; UCI CTW: Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28), Anna Hicks (Boulder, Colo.; UCI CTW: Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28), Olivia Cummins (Fort Collins, Colo.; UCI CTW: Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28), Ella Sabo (Redlands, Calif.; Virginia's Blue Ridge TWENTY28)

Silver - Reagen Pattishall (Breinigsville, Pa.; Turbo Velo Pickle Juice), Morgan James (Costa Mesa, Calif.; Velo Club La Grange), LaurelRathbun (Encinitas, Calif.; Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing), Chloe Patrick (Carson, Calif.; Caldera Medical x Aurea Racing)

Bronze - Victoria Park (Seattle, Wash.; Waterline Racing), Kat Kendall (Manhattan Beach, Calif.; Ironfly), Elanor Finlayson (Atlanta, Ga.), Cara O'Neill (Tucson, Ariz.; Team S&M CX)

Track racing is very individual, but the beauty of Team Pursuit is that it is completely about the team. Four riders, one effort, precision, trust, communication and commitment to the riders around you. Three of our four had plenty of Team Pursuit experience and have spent significant time working together with the national team, while Ella was the newcomer, soaking up tips and quickly finding her place in the line.

Qualifying went smoothly, with the team posting the fastest time. In the gold medal final, they lifted the pace considerably and went much closer to full gas, committing to the catch and finishing the job together. A great example of what makes Team Pursuit such a special event.

"I love team pursuit, but there are not many chances through the year to actually race a full 4km. We don't often get to race team pursuit as a trade team either. Nationals is the one opportunity to both of those things, and I am glad we were able to take advantage of it! We have all trained or raced team pursuit together at some point this year, so it was easy to come together as a team and put forward a solid effort. I am looking forward to continuing to refine my team pursuit abilities over the rest of the year!" - Bethany Ingram

"Nationals was a really rewarding experience this year. I was a little disappointed not to defend my Omnium title, but I was still proud to come away with a bronze medal. I stepped away from track this year to focus more on road racing, so I hadn’t been on the track since February heading into Nationals, which made the result feel especially meaningful. I was also really proud of our Team Pursuit win and defending our national title. It was a great week of racing and a fun opportunity to get back on the track and race with my teammates" - Olivia Cummins

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