Millar claims second collegiate National Championship

TRUCKEE, Calif. — For the second consecutive year, Sandpoint’s Emma Millar has claimed a National Championship at the U.S. Collegiate Mountain Bike Championships, held recently in Truckee, California.

Last year, Millar won the downhill and finished second in four cross (where competitors race in packs of four, with the winners advancing each heat until the finals), while this year it was the exact opposite as she won the four cross and finished more than six seconds behind her teammate in the downhill.

Millar, whose father Alan is the pricipal at Sandpoint Charter School, rides on racing bikes built by Larry Baggett, owner of Competitive Instincts in Sandpoint. She is a sophomore at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado, and was nice enough to share some of her experiences with the Daily Bee.

Q: How does it feel to be a National Champion?

A: It’s definitely an interesting experience knowing that I’m National Champ. However, it doesn’t really change anything and when I think about the race, the whole experience seems a little unreal.

Q: What are you studying at Fort Lewis College?

A: Right now, I’m undecided. I’m thinking about an environmental biology degree with a minor in math, but I’m not really sure. I came to Fort Lewis to ride bikes, and so far that has been where most of my energy goes.

Q: What was the biggest highlight for you from both races at Truckee?

A: In the mountain cross, obviously, it was winning. I made a really good pass on the first corner of the last race that put me in front and in first. Also, after my first heat (the races go off in heats of four people) I realized that I had a good chance of winning, which wasn’t something I’d even considered before that moment. Mountain cross isn’t an event I do often, so it was a totally new experience.

Downhill is the event that I tend to focus on more, and the course was a lot of fun. It wasn’t very technical, but it was fast and involved a lot of pedaling. I had a lot of trouble in practice with flat tires, but luckily I had no mechanical problems during my qualifying or race runs. After qualifying, I was in first by 15 seconds, which was a great confidence boost for me, because national events are always a little scary. However, during my race and crashed and made a few mistakes, which cost me enough time that I missed the top step of the podium and ended up second to Sage Wilderman, my teammate. However, if anyone is going to beat me, it might as well be my own teammate! This is the third year Fort Lewis College girls have dominated the downhill podium, so hopefully next year we can take it away again. Additionally, it was Fort Lewis College’s fourth mountain bike national championship in a row, which is very exciting and a new record.

Q: If you had to pick one thing, what do you love most about mountain biking?

A: Most of all, I love the community. There is a huge cycling community in Durango and it makes this a great place to live. I currently work for Durango DEVO, a local cycling development program, and I really enjoy teaching kids how to ride bikes. It makes me realize that cycling isn’t all about competition or winning, but about riding and having fun.