On Saturday, March 4, Jesuit Dallas Cycling competed in the Midwestern State University Annual Race in Wichita Falls, Texas. This event is a collegiate-level race with four divisions. The Rangers raced in both Time Trials and a Road Race event. Jesuit Dallas, with Jack Webb ’24 racing the Varsity Division (Collegiate A), and Nicholas Archer ’23, Richard Stanford ’24, Nico Martinelli ’24, and Lucas Peiffer ’26 competing in the JV Division (Collegiate D). Overall, these cyclists dominated the competition.
MSU Time Trial
The time trial race consisted of a 9.6-mile loop-shaped course, in which cyclists would individually race against the clock to achieve the fastest time. Jack Webb ’24 accepted the challenge of competing against the top collegiate cyclists in the race. He performed stunningly, attaining 6th place out of 17 racers in the Varsity Division. Nico Martinelli ’24 and Nicholas Archer ’23 also produced for the Rangers, obtaining 2nd and 4th place respectively. Following the Midwestern State University Time Trial Race, the road race would begin a few hours later, after a lunch break for the athletes
“It was a great race weekend for the team as a whole and for each team member individually. It was great to see everyone digging deep, working together as a team, and doing well against the college kids. It bodes well for the rest of the season!” – Coach Armstrong
MSU Road Race
For the Varsity Division, the road race was 61.5 miles of intense riding around a 23-mile course (three loops). After his previous success in this division, Jack Webb ’24 continued his hard work, achieving 8th place out of 18 racers. His success in the best division of the race was an impressive feat, driving the Jesuit Dallas JV racers to follow his effort and dominate the competition.
“The colligate races are always a bit weird when it comes to tactics and this year was a similar play out to last years. After a frustrating and hard hour and a half a small group ended up up the road. I got in a chase group that ended up blowing apart and I was left riding solo for the last hour. Performance on the bike was pretty good for where my fitness is in the season this year and a 6th place and 8th place in the “A” category isn’t too bad.” – Jack Webb ’24
In the JV division, Nico Martinelli ’24 placed first, Nicholas Archer ’23 placed second, Richard Stanford ’24 placed fourth, and Lucas Peiffer ’26 placed eleventh. The JV Division’s course consisted of the same loop as the Varsity, but the cyclists only raced one loop.
After The Break
After Spring Break, the Jesuit Dallas Cycling Team will continue to compete in other races after the outstanding performance of the Rangers in the Midwestern State University Race. Races after the week off include weekly local criterium races, which are kind of like Formula-1 but on bicycles.
Stay tuned to the Roundup for more cycling coverage for this season!
