Carney and Murfet win first Madison of the season

Friday night was truly a night for the young and the old.

Clay Murfet and Jame Carney comprised just one component of the young and the old when they teamed to win the Mike Walter Madison Challenge at the Valley Preferred Cycling Center on Friday night.

Carney, at racing age 42, is twice the age of Murfet, but showed off the snap in his legs in front of more than 1.700 people at the velodrome. The pair combined to win 10 of 14 sprints in the 40-lap and 100-lap Madisons to put their name on the Mike Walter Madison trophy.

"The idea was to line up Jame for the sprint because he's the fastest guy here," said Murfet, a 21-year-old from the Australian island of Tasmania. "He's also the oldest, but he's still the fastest."

The evening also featured the always-fun All-Star Finals of the Red Robin/Marty Nothstein Bicycle Racing League also took center stage on Friday night. Season-long standings and awards were announced before the racing action, and additional awards were up for grabs in age-group racing categories for age groups 9-11, 12-14, and 12-17.

But the feature event truly belonged to Carney, the old man of the track who is originally from Annandale, N.J. and grew up racing in Trexlertown.

"My strategy was just to get Clay in at the right time," Carney said of the sprint and chase mode that makes Madison racing so crafty and dangerous. "I knew I could position Clay properly, and he's fast enough to compete with these guys."

Carney and Murfet won all but the final sprint in the evening's finale, the 100-lap Madison.

"I wanted to win it," Murfet said, "but it was nice to be able to salute the crowd at the end."

Courtney Krasley competed in BRL for the second straight year and found out she like it so much that her family is purchasing a Fuji track bike so she can continue racing now the BRL has concluded for the summer. In fact, Krasley, who will attend middle school in the Parkland School District, plans on racing junior nationals when they come to the Valley Preferred Cycling Center next month.

Krasley started out in the 9-11 age group of the grassroots program that produced two junior national road champions in Bend, Ore. this week, but moved up to the 12-17 age group to further test the waters.

"It's a lot of fun and it's something I want to continue to do, said Krasley, who raced for Team Knowledge. The BRL team names come from Red Robin's four core values: Honor, Integrity, Knowledge and Fun.

Fun was certainly evident for 11-year-old Parker Jones. The New Tripoli resident had a smile bigger than the moon when he came out of Turn 4, in the lead of the boys 9-11 3-lap scratch race. Jones' smile got bigger and bigger as he sprinted to the finish line for his win, cheered on by the professional racers and the Friday night crowd.

Jones has been racing at the velodrome in various developmental programs since he was seven, and has participated in BRL the past three years.

In women's racing, defending Rider of the Year Laura McCaughey of Australia won the women's 15-lap scratch race and the super sprint elimination to show off her racing chops for the second straight week and season.

"My coach was giving me a hard time," she said, "because I said I feel tired. We had hard training this morning. He said, 'You should always feel tired!' We've got more fire power in the field tonight, and we're trying to get even more riders from New Zealand to come over."

Junior nationals weighing in: Kutztown's Zack Noonan, racing for Young Medallists/Dual Temp, placed fourth in the junior men's 17-18 time trial at the USA Cycling Road Nationals in Bend, Ore. Bailey Semian of Mertztown, riding for Chester County Cycling, placed fifth in the women's 15-16 time trial.

Mike Walter Madison and Red Robin/Marty Nothstein Bicycle Racing League All-Star Finals

40-lap Madison: 1. Myron Simpson/ Paddy Bevin 16 points; 2. Clay Murfet/ Jame Carney 13; 3. Lanell Rockmore/Matt Baranoski 8; 4. Bobby Lea/ Jackie Simes 6; 5. Nik Reinert/ Barry Miller 1.

Men's 100-lap Madison: 1. Murfet/Carney 56 points; 2. Simpson/Bevin 38; 3. Lea/Simes 28; 4. Rockmore/Baranoski 21; 5. Adair/Kurwowski 9.

Men's 10-lap scratch race final: 1. Giddeon Massie; 2. Clay Murfet; 3. Matt Baranoski; 4. Bobby Lea; 5. Hamish Presburg; 6. Cameron Kurwowski.

Men's win and out: 1. Matt Baranoski; 2. Cameron Kurwowski; 3. Chad Adair; 4. Jackie Simes; 5. Paddy Bevin.

Women's omnium: 1. Laura McCaughey 17; 2. Kim Geist 12; 3. Mary Costelloe 7; 4. Colleen Hayduk 6; 5. Jamie Nielsen 5; 6. Colleen Gulick 3.

Women's 15-lap scratch race: 1. Laura McCaughey; 2. Kimberly Geist; 3. Colleen Hayduk; 4. Colleen Gulick; 5. Elspeth Heuyett.

Women's Super Sprint Elimination: 1. Laura McCaughey; 2. Mary Costelloe; 3. Lauren Ellis; 4. Colleen Gulick.

Boys 9-11 A 3-lap scratch race: 1. Parker Jones; 2. Andres Weller; 3. Travis Pozzi; 4. Thomas Gerdahl; 5. Noah Thomas; 6. Jim Dailey.

Boys 9-11 B 3-lap scratch race: 1. Brandon Krasley; 3. Alex Dailey; 3. Noah Speight; 4. Callum Smith; 5. Philip Wetzel.

Boys 15-17 3-lap scratch race: 1. Mason Buskirk; 2. Zach Probosnyak; 3. Jan Klienguenther; 4. Alec Ratzell; 5. Anthonay Garramone.

Girls 9-11 3-lap scratch race: 1. Allyson Wasielewski; 2. Samantha Hribich; 3. Kiley Krasley; 4. Marcy Bardman; 5. Sydney Baumbach.

Girls 12-17 4-lap scratch race: 1. Devon Nothstein; 2. Rachel Sladovnik; 3. Dylan Lafferty; 4. Nina Kontir; 5. Courtney Krasley.


gary.blockus@mcall.com