Bears Cycling Battles in the 'Boro

By Adam Hunt
Senior Reporter / Columnist

Mercer’s cycling team continued their impressive start to their inaugural season with a solid showing at the 2010 ‘Battle of the ‘Boro’ race in Statesboro, Ga.

The event was hosted by local rivals Georgia Southern and representatives poured in from 17 colleges and universities around the southeast to participate.

The Bears were in search of vital SECCC qualifying points and faced some tough conditions with low temperatures and blustery winds.

The weekend’s racing began with a time-trial in Rocky Ford, a rural town 30 minutes from Statesboro itself. Mercer’s first team of Gabe Denes, Andrew Lockwood and Kevin Roberts finished first in the ‘C’ category and 10th overall with a 20km time of 33:02. The Bear’s second team consisted of Jason Glow, Paul Rush and AJ Sholly who came in third in the ‘C’ category with a 12th place finish.

After the morning team time-trial effort, the weary cyclists moved to Georgia Southern’s campus for the criterium races. The venue, which featured eight hairpin turns, proved to be a speedy course for the riders but also whipped up winds as cyclists sped down the second straightaway.

College of Charleston’s Brooks Bostick and Brian Arne jumped out to an early advantage in front of a sizable chasing group. The field of 44 then quickly narrowed midway through the race as riders began to fade. Mercer’s Kevin Roberts, however, did attempt to bridge the gap between himself and the top riders. Having been briefly successful, Roberts dropped back a lap later to work with Andrew Lockwood in shuffling through the chasing group.

Late in the race, lap traffic became a problem as Bostick and Arne would easily claim the first and second positions. The rest of the field all finished closely as the chasing pack finished in the middle of the lapped peloton.

Unofficially, Lockwood clinched fourth while Roberts hung onto fifth despite much competition in the closing stages of the race. Sholly managed to grind out a mid-pack finish followed by Glow, Denes and Rush.

The final road race also proved to be highly controversial as the 22 mile course quickly morphed into a 27 mile course for the ‘C’ category riders. Rider confusion and poor race organization led to a combined peloton of ‘B’ and ‘C’ riders despite more than a five minute staggered time around the 22 mile Rocky Ford loop.

All of Mercer’s riders hung on with the peloton until the pace truck unexpectedly pulled over to the side of the road after missing a turn. After the confusion had settled, Lockwood, Roberts, and Denes found themselves locked in a duel with the leaders from King College, College of Charleston and ETSU until the final sprint.

In the end, Roberts pushed too early in his sprint, falling back to finish 18th as Lockwood garnered third place behind Bostick and Georgia Southern's Matt Gentry. Denes rebounded from a slow start to take 14th while Glow (24th), Rush (25th) and Sholly (33rd) rounded out the results for the Bears.