This past weekend, the Ripon College Cycling team headed up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for the MidWest Collegiate Cycling Conference (MWCCC) Championships.

Saturday's Cross Country Race was held in Copper Harbor, Mich. The course was the most technical course the team has competed on this season, featuring bridges, rocks, single-track, and cliff top trails. The additional rain and snow over the weekend made all of these features exceedingly difficult. Ripon's Ralph Rufo and Elliot Holt, as well as many other racers throughout the day, suffered mechanical failures that hindered their race.

Noah Reckers - Fifth Place
Elliot Holt - Sixth Place
Ralph Rufo - DNF

Sunday's Short Track Course was in Houghton, Mich. at Michigan Tech's Trail head. The course featured a long downhill pump track and followed by a long gradual climb back to the start finish. The wet and grassy ground made for a very slow pedaling climb.

Reckers attacked off the gun for the Men's C short track, establishing a gap on the first lap up the climb. While Marian University and UW-Madison chased relentlessly, they were unable to catch Reckers, who rode nearly the entire duration of the race off for the win.

The team's performance this season was enough to land a third place finish for the MWCCC Varsity Team omnium. In total, the team had 17 top-five finishes, 11 podiums, and six victories over the course of the season.

Rufo has qualified for USAC Collegiate Nationals and will be competing in the Men's Varsity Cross Country race on October 19 at 8:30 a.m. and the Men's Varsity Short Track Cross Country race the following day at 2 p.m. in Missoula, Mont.