Cycling finished third overall and three riders claimed top 10 positions in the Women's Omnium standings at the USA Cycling Collegiate Track National Championships September 12-14 at the Giordana Velodrome in Rock Hill, South Carolina.

Three days of racing began on Thursday with the 200 Meter Flying Time Trials.  Marissa Carter led the Lions with a time of 13.299 as one of 18 riders to advance to the sprint tournament.  Skylar Schaetz took 28^th, Lexi Nephew 29^th, and Melissa Gomes 30^th.  In the men's event, Callum Holloway advanced in eighth place with a time of 11.321 and Franck Bock advanced in the final position of 18^th with a time of 11.906.  Austin Gomes took 26^th, Tyler Curtis 27^th, Jonah Mead-VanCort 31^st, and Jacob Slosar 34^th.

The Women's Team Pursuit, which consisted of 16 laps and four kilometers total, followed.  The Lindenwood team of Carter, Gomes, Staci McCudden, and Annika Teschke posted a time of 5:22.001 to finish third behind event winner Milligan College and the second place team from Marian University.  The Lions also claimed third in the Men's Team Pursuit.  Justin Bird, Curtis, Gomes, and Slosar combined for a time of 4:36.131.  Marian took the top spot, followed by Colorado Mesa University in second.

The Sprint Tournament began next with the 18 advancing riders in each division paired against each other in nine separate head-to-head races.  Winners advanced to the 1/8 Finals with the losers racing in groups of three for a chance to get back into the bracket in the repechage.  Carter defeated No. 10 seed Cammie Robbiano from Belmont Abbey College to move forward.  On the men's side, Holloway faced No. 11 seed Nathaniel Worcester, also from Belmont Abbey, but was topped by a margin of just 0.005 seconds.  Meanwhile, Franck Bock happened to face his older brother Peter Bock, who was the No. 1 seed from Marian, and fell to his sibling by 0.359 seconds.  In the repechage, Franck Bock finished second, which ended his tournament while Callum won his race, putting him back into the tournament on Friday.

The Sprint Tournament continued Thursday evening with the Women's 1/8 finals.  Carter advanced with a 0.028 second win against Kaeli Lixandru from Colorado Mesa University to advance.  In the Men's 1/8 finals, Holloway fell to Peter Bock and went into the repechage where he won his heat over Matthew Harrison and Cameron Riches from Marian to advance to the 1/4 finals, the quarterfinals overall, which consist of a best-of-three format against a single opponent. 

Carter swept her races against Lisa Cantu from Marian to make the women's semifinals, but Holloway lost two straight against Thomas Rotherham from Marian in the men's quarterfinals.  Holloway would ultimately finish sixth overall after the 5-8 final Friday evening.  In the women's semifinals, Carter was swept by Olivia Ray from SCAD-Savannah, which put Carter into the bronze/fourth place match-up.  She was ultimately swept by Julia Graham of Piedmont College Friday evening to take fourth place after finishing the a Points Race moments before.

The Individual Pursuit races took place Friday morning.  Curtis posted the top time for Lindenwood in the men's event at 4:57.703 to finish 18^th.  Slosar took 24^th, followed by Gomes in 25^th, Bird in 29^th, and Mead-VanCort in 47^th.  Teschke was the top Lion in the women's race in seventh with 4:07.055.  McCudden took 12^th, Carter 15^th, Gomes 29^th, and Nephew 32^nd.

The first heat of the Men's Points Race concluded the morning session with the top 12 advancing to the Major Final and all others advancing to the Minor Final.  Slosar finished sixth to advance to the Major Final, but Gomes just missed in 13^th place to settle for a spot in the Minor Final.  The second heat was rained out and pushed back to the evening where Curtis lapped the field with several other riders and made it to the Major Final in fourth place.  Bird finished 14^th for a ticket to the Minor Final.

In the first heat of the Women's Points Race, Teschke finished third and Leigh Dukeman fifth to advance to the Major Final.  In the second heat, McCudden took second and Carter seventh to advance to the Major Final.

The Men's Points Race Major Final concluded things for Friday with Curtis taking 14^th and Slosar 16^th.  The Women's Points Race Major Final started, but a major crash sent several riders to the hospital, resulting in a restart Saturday morning where the Lindenwood women put together a great race.  Tescke took fifth, Dukeman seventh, McCudden eighth, and Carter ninth.

After the Women's Points Race restart, the one-kilometer Men's Individual Time Trial was next.  Holloway was the top Lion with a time of 1:10.475 for 14^th place.  Gomes took 20^th, followed by Franck Bock in 21^st, and Curtis in 22^nd.  Slosar finished 29^th, Bird 35^th, and Mead-VanCort 47^th.   

In the 500-meter Women's Time Trial, Carter posted the best Lindenwood time at 41.717 seconds for 12^th place.  She was followed by Teschke in 13^th, Dukeman in 21^st, McCudden in 25^th, Schaetz in 27^th, Gomes in 31^st, and Nephew in 33^rd. 

The final events of the championship included the Scratch Races starting with the Men's Heat 1.   The top 12 advanced to the Major Final while all others went to the Minor Final.  Curtis lapped the field and finished third to advance while Slosar took 15^th and settled for the Minor Final.  In the second heat, Gomes took eighth to make the Major Final while Bock finished 17^th and earned a trip to the Minor Final. 

Due to the reduced big crash Friday evening, there weren't enough women available for heats, so everyone advanced to the Women's Scratch Race Final Saturday evening.  Dukeman took fifth, followed by McCudden in eighth, Teschke in 12^th, and Carter in 17^th.   

In the Men's Minor Final, Slosar won the event to finish 25^th overall.  Bock took third to finish 27^th overall.  In the Men's Major Final, Gomes finished 12^th and Curtis took 17^th. 

Full event results can be found at the USA Cycling website here while complete Omnium standings are available here. 

The cycling BMX squad returns to action at Mid-America Nationals September 20-22 in Blue Springs, Missouri.