After five grueling weeks of competition, 50,000 miles, 1.6 million calories burned, and 150 days in the Expresso bike saddle, the 2017 Fall Frenzy has a champion!
The battle for the Golden Spokes trophy pitted #2 Georgia Gwinnett College against #13 SUNY – Binghamton. The Binghamton Bearcats were fresh off an upset victory over Fall Frenzy powerhouse and top seed Schoolcraft College. Did they have the firepower to bring home the championship after such an emotional win the week before or would they let their guard down? The Grizzlies from Georgia were on a hot streak of their own and poised to take advantage of any cracks in the SUNY armor.
The pace on the first day of the 48-hour championship was furious. By 7:00pm, the Grizzlies led by 120 miles. This was when Binghamton shifted into second gear. By 9:00pm, the lead had been cut to 20 miles. The Grizzlies reacted with a surge of their own and brought their lead back up to 100 miles by the time their rec center closed at midnight.
SUNY rode through the night and reversed the gap. By 6:00am, they had opened up a 100 mile lead of their own. The question was, “Could they survive?” The Grizzlies clawed their way back into the fray all day long. By 9:00pm, with just three hours to go, the match was going to be decided by just a five-mile gap. The energy necessary to get back within striking distance just wasn’t there and Georgia was gassed while the Bearcats caught a second wind. The lead opened back up and the Bearcats clinched the title. Final score:
SUNY – Binghamton: 3,332.8 Miles
Georgia Gwinnett College: 3,309.0 Miles
Hats off to both teams for their incredible efforts throughout the entire tournament and for cracking the 3,000 mile mark for the first time in a Fall Frenzy tournament!
All Tournament Riders
Riders were also competing individually. For every ten miles ridden, riders received a lottery ticket for a chance to win $500! Even if a team dropped out, riders could continue earning tickets and bragging rights.
Top rider John King from Houghton College finished in the top spot overall with a mind boggling 1270 miles. Kevin Anthony of Georgia Gwinnett rode to the very end putting in 367 miles in the final round to decisively claim the second spot with 1201 miles. Jim Seay of Schoolcraft added 100 miles in the consolation round bringing his tournament totals to 622 miles. James Snashall of SUNY Binghamton (564) and Thomas Marshall of the University of South Dakota (530) rounded out the top five riders. Sundae Gaspari improved her position overall and finished as the top female rider in the tourney with 493 miles.
Lastly, congrats to Kenan Rimamfxen of Georgia Gwinnett for winning the lottery. Kenan rode 153 miles during tournament play which was good enough to have his name pulled from a pool of 4162 tickets!
- For more information, contact Expresso Coach, Ross Stensrud .
- If you are interested in highlighting your campus or a NIRSA member’s achievements on your campus, pitch us your ideas.
Ross Stensrud is currently Chief Marketing Officer and coach at Expresso. He can be reached at rstensrud@ifholdings.com.
