The Queen's University Cycling Team made another great impression this past weekend at the MIT X-Pot. The Eastern Collegiate Conference Race was hosted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where Queen's placed 6th overall in the weekend rankings finishing above schools including Penn State and Harvard.

The first day of racing included an uphill 8km individual time trial (ITT) and a criterium. Etienne Moreau of Men's A had a lot of courage in the criterium and sprinted to an 8th place finish. The women's C category also saw good results with Jennifer Campbell taking 7th place (23:51) and Jennifer MacMillan also placing in the top 15. The Men's D category came alive with two top 10 finishes in the ITT. Graeme Giltrow placed 4th (21:01) and Charlie Ashbourne was not far behind coming in at 8th. The best results of the day came from Cameron McPhaden in Men's B. He blew the competition out of the water in the time trial (16:59) with a 40 second gap over 2nd place and won the criterium after attacking the breakaway on the penultimate climb to seal his second victory of the day.

The second day of racing included a 17km Team Time Trial (TTT) and a road race through “Purgatory Chasm” in Sutton, MA. The Gaels had a very successful morning in the TTT. Men's A, Etienne Moreau, Jon Slaughter and James Clarke, took an 8th place finish. Men's B, Cameron McPhaden, Adam Beaudoin and Drew Steeves, placed 2nd after being forced to lose a team member due to sickness. Men's C, Jason LeBlanc, Jeff Waters and Connor Matheson, rode hard placing 4th. Women's C, Jennifer Campbell, Jennifer MacMillan, Amanda Schevers and Robin Vornweg, took home the victory with a 16 second gap over second place. Men's D, Graeme Giltrow, Liam Steers, Charlie Ashbourne and Percy Chan also were victorious in the TTT with a gap of 28 seconds over the nearest competitor.

In the road race, Jason Leblanc had a top ten finish in Men's C in a field of 80 starters. Jennifer MacMillan and Jennifer Campbell placed 4th and 5th respectively in Women's C. The Men's D riders showed great team tactics; when Graeme Giltrow had a crash, Percy Chan was able to wait up and pull Graeme back into the peleton where he eventually finished 5th overall. Charlie Ashbourne also finished in the top ten. In Men's B, Cameron McPhaden was victorious once again. He used his teammate, Adam Beaudoin, who launched a planned attack to break up the peleton to make a breakaway of about 10 riders. After making a 3 minute gap over the peleton in his 95km race, Cameron waited for the opportune timing and outsprinted his opponents to the line to take his third victory of the weekend, his 6th win this season.

The cycling team will be racing next weekend in the mountainous region of Shippensburg, PA where the team will encounter a many massive climbs to finish off their ECCC races for the season.