MSU Cyclists to Host Race Weekend

The Wichita Falls and the Midwestern State University communities will have a rare chance to cheer for its hometown cycling team this weekend (April 16-17) when the MSU Cycling Team hosts the South Central Collegiate Cycling Conference (SCCCC) for the 2016 Vuelta del Viento Race Weekend.

Sunday's races will transform the MSU campus into a race track. MSU Cycling Team Director Charlie Zamastil said that Sunday's criterium races are spectator-friendly, featuring many high-speed laps. More than 125 cyclists are expected to compete. The criteriums begin at 8 a.m. with different categories and the marquee events, women's A and men's A, begin at 10:40 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. respectively. The course is an approximate 1 km loop that features tight, fast turns. "With bad weather looming, crashes are an almost certainty, adding a wrinkle of excitement to the proceedings," Zamastil said.

Saturday's races will take place near the Friberg-Thornberry-Charlie area beginning at 8 a.m. from the intersection of East McKinley (Airport Drive) and the Upper Charlie Road. Teams and individuals will compete in a 9.6-mile timed ride with the fastest time winning. At 10:30 a.m., the first wave of road races begin, with the mens' C & D races doing one lap of a 26-mile course. Mens' and womens' A races will begin at 1:45 p.m. All racing should conclude by 5 p.m.

Zamastil said that a triumph in the team standings will almost guarantee MSU cyclists first place in conference for the ninth consecutive year. They hold the top four spots in men's individual standings with freshman Josh Buchel, sophomore Bill Ash, and freshman Pablo Cruz and TC Porterfield respectively, and two of the top four in women's, including conference leader graduate student Hannah Ross with freshman Maxyna Cottam. Ross crashed in a professional race in California last weekend, breaking her hand, and will not be competing, so the conference individual title is up for grabs.

The SCCCC is a collection of cycling clubs representing colleges and universities from Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. This season MSU has traveled to races in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma, in addition to other Texas races. This fourth edition of the Vuelta del Viento is the final event before the conference championships April 30-May 1.

For more information, contact Zamastil at Zamastil@gmail.com, 815-762-5630 or 940-397-6208. Check for updates at Facebook.com/MSUCyclingTeam and twitter.com/MSUCyclingTeam.