Conference Championship Race Report

It is remarkable to believe that the collegiate race season has already come to a close. We went off to Moscow, ID and Pullman, WA as usual to compete in the last race weekend of the season. Met with beautiful weather, the team was in high spirits and ready to let it all loose in the races.

We had strong overall performances by everyone on the team with multiple podium finishes on both the men’s and women’s side demonstrating the amount of growth and improvement that was seen on the team this year. Overall Whitman was a strong contender in the conference again this year and some of the young riders cannot wait for next season.

We would like to thank our chaperone Justin for not only helping us before racing but also competing in the Team Time Trial and coming in 3rd! Additionally we would like to thank the Priebe’s for again hosting the team and coming to support our riders. We have enjoyed racing against all the other schools in the conference and thank them for yet another fun filled season!

Conference Championships
April 12-13

Road Race

Women’s A

• Dessie Weigel (freshman): 2nd 
• Mackinzie Stanley (sophomore): 6th 
• Rachel Geiter (senior): 7th 

Men’s A

• Luke Ogden (senior): 2nd 

Women’s B

• Becca Mellema (sophomore): 3rd 
• Fiona Bennitt (freshman): 5th 
• Kristin Nesbit (sophomore): 8th 
• McKenzie Momany (senior): 12th 
• Kristin Nesbit (sophomore): 11th 

Men’s C

• Nick Davies (senior): 26th 

TTT

Women’ A: 1st 

Men’s A: 4th

Women’s B: 3rd

Men’s C: 3rd (with Justin)



Crit

Women’s A

• Dessie Weigel (freshman): 1st 
• Rachel Geiter (senior): 4th 

Men’s A

• Luke Ogden (senior): 16th 

Women’s B

• Fiona Bennitt (freshman): 1st 
• Kristin Nesbit (sophomore): 7th 
• McKenzie Momany (senior): 14th 

Men’s B

• Kevin Wallin (sophomore): 4th 
• Zander Guzy-Sprague (freshman): 27th 

Men’s C

• Nick Davies (senior): 25th 

Team Standings

RR: 2nd (behind UW)

TTT: 4th (behind UW, WWU, and PSU)

Crit: 3rd (behind UW and PSU)

Whitman is 4th overall in the conference after week seven and 2nd overall for DII

• Rachel Geiter finished 1st overall in DII women and 2nd in Women’s A
• Fiona Bennitt finished 2nd overall in Women’s B
• Luke Ogden finished 3rd overall in DII men

Becca's Home Race Report

I had an idea. A crazy idea, but an idea nonetheless.

It came to me as we were reaching the top of the first hill. The girls were powering up the hill at a ridiculous speed.  I sat behind Fiona’s wheel, who seemed unfazed by the pace and incline. Leading the entire group up the slope was Talia, aka “The Beast.”  I swear, that girl doesn’t have “slow” in her vocabulary.

As we crested the top, I bit down hard. This could either work beautifully, or fail miserably, I thought.  But hey, that’s a 50/50 chance, right?  Statistically speaking, those weren’t terrible odds.  So, as we crested over the hill, I stood up and did what I have never done before.

I attacked.

As I pedaled furiously between the riders, all I could think was, You are crazy. This is insane. You are going to burn yourself out.  At the bottom of the hill I glanced behind me to see how the peloton had held up, but to my surprise, I saw Talia, Mckenzie, and Fiona with a few other girls amongst them. We had lost the main peloton with four of our own teammates.

And in looking back, I had slowed down significantly. Oops.  But dang it all, I had attacked, and it had worked! I felt like doing a little jig until I remembered I was clipped into a bike, so I had to refrain.

In the Women’s B, a special thanks to Fiona and Talia for being the best tag-team ever,  McKenzie M. and Kristin for beasting it in the TTT, Sam for always smiling (seriously, when are you never beaming?), Ellie for being able to laugh off an epic fall and for having a spectacular TTT prior to that, and Rose for having her best road race yet, and for being the best, joyful corner-marshal buddy ever!

-Becca

Missionary Omnium Race Report

Home Race Weekends are something special and as in past years we had the opportunity to host the conference out in beautiful Walla Walla for another fast-paced weekend of racing.  Unlike in past years, our race director had something special planned by deciding to host the criterium on campus, something new that had never been done before!

Although under some extra stress, we pulled off another incredible race weekend with many riders commenting on how much they enjoyed the crit course.  We already can’t wait for next season!

A big thank you to our race director Alberto Santos-Davidson for the months of hard work that went into this race.  Additional thanks to all the community members who volunteered their time to make this weekend possible!  It is times like these that remind us how lucky we are to have such a supportive community!

Missionary Omnium

April 5-6

Road Race

Women’s A 

• Dessie Weigel (freshman): 3rd 
• Rachel Geiter (senior): 5th 

Women’s B

• Talia Rudee (senior): 4th 
• Becca Mellema (sophomore): 5th 
• Fiona Bennitt (freshman): 6th 
• McKenzie Momany (senior): 9th 
• Kristin Nesbit (sophomore): 11th 
• Rose Baunach (sophomore): 17th 
• Sam Fata (freshman): 23rd 

Men’s B

• Zander Guzy-Sprague (freshman): 9th 

Men’s C

• Alex Ihle (freshman): 13th 
• Ari Appel (freshman): 14th 
• Forrest Watkins (senior): 26th 

TTT

Women’ A: 1st

Men’s A: 1st

Women’s B: 1st

Men’s B: 3rd



Crit


Women’s A

• Rachel Geiter (senior): 3rd 
• Dessie Weigel (freshman): 5th 
• Mackinzie Stanley (sophomore): 6th 

Men’s A

• Luke Ogden (senior): 8th 
• Alberto Santos-Davidson (junior): 14th 

Women’s B

• Talia Rudee (senior): 2nd [super close photo finish!!!]
• Fiona Bennitt (freshman): 3rd 
• Kristin Nesbit (sophomore): 5th 
• Becca Mellema (sophomore): 8th 
• McKenzie Momany (senior): 12th 
• Rose Baunach (sophomore): 16th 
• Sam Fata (freshman): 25th 

Men’s B

• Kevin Wallin (sophomore): 3rd 
• Zander Guzy-Sprague (freshman): 13th 

Men’s D

• Ari Appel (freshman): 7th 
• Nick Davies (senior): 12th 
• Adam Dawson (sophomore): 14th 
• Alex Ihle (freshman): 17th 

Team Standings

RR: 4th (behind PSU, UW, and WWU)

TTT: 2nd (behind UW)

Crit: 1st

Whitman is 4th overall in the conference after week six and 2nd overall for DII