Melissa Buhl took the win in yesterday’s US National Champs by just .1 of a second over Jamis rider Kathy Pruitt. Melissa is the highest-ranked US rider on the World Cup circuit and was also the 2008 National DH Champion. Lisa Myklak showed the other women riders how it’s done by hitting the big jumps early on in practice, but had to settle for third in the final. There was some controversy about the introduction of huge moto-style jumps into the course, and in the end Melissa won without hitting the biggest gaps.

Us National Champs podium. From left: Katie Holden, Kathy Pruitt, Melissa Buhl, Lsa Mykklak, Jacqueline Harmony.

In the mountaincross (or fourcross/4x, for the non-US readers) Jill Kintner stuck with her Intense hardtail despite the rough, challenging track and took the win convincingly. Check out her course description and pics on her blog. Melissa Buhl was second with Kathy Pruitt third – not a bad weekend for those two riders! There was a bit of controversy when the course designers introduced a new ‘drop gate’ for the pro men only – the riders literally fell out of the start when the gate dropped, falling several feet to a transtion then rolling straight into a gap jump. However, the USAC inspectors demanded this element be taken out of the race just hours before qualifying started, angering many riders and fans who were looking forward to seeing the new start. The organisers were angry that the USAC could have made this decision earlier – full drama on Littermag here. Apparently it was too different from World Champs tracks which riders are qualifying for, but watch out for drop-start 4x tracks in the future. Results could get a shake up if being able to power out of the gate is no longer a deciciding factor in 4x racing.

The Super D field was lacking in big names but had more entrants than the other gravity events. Elke Brutsaert took it out ahead of Jacqueline Harmony in second and Kelli Emmett in third.

Littermag have been doing excellent photo and video coverage of the weekend’s racing, doubtless they’ll have video of the final up soon with as much slow-mo as you can handle! They’re giving the women good coverage too. Check them out here.

In the men’s, Aaron Gwin took out the DH with aging DH legend Shaun Palmer starting his comeback with a 12th place. All the results are up already, you can check the full details and all the non-pro women’s categories on the USA Cycling site.

DH Results (Pro Women)
1 Melissa Buhl (KHS Bicycles) 02:41.1
2 Kathy Pruitt (Jamis) 02:41.2
3 Lisa Myklak (Fox Racing Shox) 02:47.8
4 Jacqueline Harmony (Vixen Racing/Loeka/All Mountain Cyclery) 02:52.6
5 Katie Holden (Specialized) 02:55.3
6 Darian Harvey (Cannondale Factory Racing) 02:59.9
7 Rachel Bauer (Banshee / Poison Spider Bikes) 03:01.1
8 Jennifer Wolf (Vixen Racing) 03:19.0
9 Jennifer Whalen (Jenxracer.com) 03:19.3
10 Stephanie Leonard (Crested Butte Mountain Sports Team) 03:21.7
11 Julie Olsen (Recycle Ski and Sport / Standard Process) 03:53.1
12 Connie Misket (Velo Bella Ellsworth) 03:58.7
13 C Michelle Rivera (Steven K Sports and Design) 04:11.9

Mountaincross (4x) Results (Pro Women)
1 Jill Kintner (Red Bull / Intense / Crankbrothers)
2 Melissa Buhl (KHS Bicycles)
3 Kathy Pruitt (Jamis)
4 Darian Harvey (Cannondale Factory Racing)
5 Jacqueline Harmony (Vixen Racing/Loeka/All Mountain Cyclery)
6 Rachel Bauer (Banshee / Poison Spider Bikes)
7 Neven Steinmetz (Team Totally Wired)

Super D Results (Pro Women)
1 Elke Brutsaert (Durango Devo) 6:48
2 Jacqueline Harmony (Vixen Racing/Loeka/All Mountain Cyclery) 6:49
3 Kelli Emmett (Giant Bicycles) 6:55
4 Krista Park (Incycle / Magura / NoTubes) 7:02
5 Kyia Anderson (Hidden Bay Sports / Cannondale) 7:08
6 Jennifer Whalen (Jenxracer.com) 7:13
7 Caroline Jarolimek (Full Cycle) 7:14
8 Danae York (Velobum.com/Turner Bikes) 7:16
9 C Michelle Rivera (Steven K Sports and Design) 7:17
10 Johanne Tuttle (Sycamore Cycles) 7:25
11 Kimber Gabryszak (Velo Bella Kona) 7:26
12 Judy Freeman (Tough Girl / SCOTT) 7:35
13 Amy Scherm 7:37
14 Willow Koerber (Subaru / Gary Fisher) 8:43