The ongoing in-state feud that bubbles up between Colorado and Colorado State is usually confined to early-season, nonconference football and basketball games. Rarely does the rivalry fester all the way to the national level.
An exception will be made this weekend, when the Buffaloes and Rams will fight as favorites to win a national title at the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships in Fort Collins.
CU and CSU have a shot at holding off defending champ Stanford, perennial competitor Fort Lewis and Eastern power Vermont for the team title.
“To win the team title, you can’t just have one or two good riders,” CSU coach Ainslie MacEachran said. “You have to spend a lot time training to build up the entire team, top to bottom.”
MacEachran, a former pro cyclist, can attest to the team’s budding battle on the national stage. Before starting as CSU coach, MacEachran helmed the CU team to national titles in 2004 and ’05.
CSU is led by two national champions: Phil Mann, the defending criterium champion, won the nationals title last year in Lawrence, Kan.; and Brad Cole, a double-duty cyclist who won the Marathon Mountain Bike title last year in Breckenridge.
The Rams also have a four-time winner this season in John Peterson and women’s Rocky Mountain Conference champion Julia Manley.
The Buffs, who have excelled in time trials this season, counter with Taylor Kneuven, who took third in the conference criterium in Wyoming in April.
Competition starts today, with time trials at 8 a.m. near Interstate 25 and Owl Canyon Road. The road race Saturday will start and finish at Hughes Stadium. Sunday’s criterium will go through Old Town Fort Collins.
“Nationals are the real deal,” MacEachran said. “The athletes are totally legit.”
The credentials of Olympic gold medalist Tyler Hamilton and world-champion mountain biker Juli Furtado, both veterans of in-state collegiate cycling, should attest to the level of racing this weekend.
AROUND TOWN
Perfect weekend for net results.
The next two days will have plenty of action for local lacrosse fans to follow, including the University of Denver’s trip to the NCAA Tournament, the upcoming start of the Denver Outlaws’ Major League Lacrosse season and the culmination of the women’s collegiate club campaign.
DU on Saturday will face No. 7 seed Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Md.
The Pioneers will be looking to exact revenge after they were ousted 16-8 in the 2006 tournament by the Terrapins.
Also on Saturday, the Outlaws will host a scrimmage against the Los Angeles Riptide at Invesco Field at Mile High at 2 p.m.
After the scrimmage, the U.S. Lacrosse WDIA will crown a national champion. No. 2-seeded Colorado State will face No. 3 seed Colorado in the semifinals today, with the winner facing Cal-Santa Barbara or Cal Poly in Saturday’s title skirmish.
STAY ON THE COUCH
Pitchers worth a thousand wows.
The Rockies’ Aaron Cook (5-1, 2.40 ERA) and the Padres’ Jake Peavy (4-1, 2.22) will face each other tonight in the premier pitching matchup of the season so far. That game airs on FSN starting at 8 p.m. On Sunday, the Rox and Padres will be part of Major League Baseball’s now-annual effort to raise awareness for breast cancer. Hundreds of hitters will swing pink bats that will later be auctioned off to help the Susan G. Komen Foundation. See the color anomaly when San Diego’s Chris Young (2-3, 4.31) tosses the first pitch against Colorado’s recent minor- league call-up, Greg Reynolds, just after 2 p.m., airing on KTVD-20.
GET OFF THE COUCH
Some mother-and-run reunions.
There’s no place like Colorado to celebrate a Mother’s Day. See: the myriad fun outdoor rec runs Saturday and Sunday. From Coors Field to the Denver Zoo, spots all over town will host runners and walkers, mothers and their families, all for run fun:
Saturday
• Mamma Mia 5K; at Denver’s City Park, 8:30 a.m. (hivcarelink.org)
• Parent Pathways 5K; at Cheesman Park in Denver, 8:30 a.m. (parentpathways.org)
• Take Steps for Crohn’s & Colitis; at the Denver Zoo, 6:30 p.m. (cctakesteps.org)
Sunday
• Spring Fling 5K; at Shea Stadium in Highlands Ranch; 8 a.m. (bkbltd.com)
• Spina Bifida Mother’s Day 5K; at Washington Park in Denver; 9 a.m. (coloradospinabifida.org)
• Colorado Rockies Home Run for the Homeless with Dinger, at left; at Coors Field; 8 a.m. (coloradorockies.com)
WHAT WE’D LIKE TO SEE
Facing the Great Wall.
The Northern Colorado women’s volleyball team, perhaps not content with Big Sky Conference competition, will fly this weekend to Beijing to compete in four matches against Chinese university-level teams. China, as those who follow the international game know, is one of the world’s best teams. UNC is using the trip — the NCAA allows one international trip every four years — to bolster its chances stateside next season.
