The Berries finished the USA Cyclocross National Championships as they started, with another strong ride and a fourth-place finish for Teal Stetson-Lee in the Elite Women’s race on Sunday.

“It’s been an awesome season.” said Stetson-Lee who was happy to see her form get better as the season went on.

“I would have loved to have finish by squeaking into that third or second spot but I’m really happy with the way my form is come together towards the end of the season. It’s a big confidence booster for where I’m going to go in the future, I feel like I have quite a few years ahead of me so I’m pretty excited.”

With a second row start, Stetson-Lee found herself chasing the front of the race early on on sunny and relatively warm day in Madison, Wisconsin.

“I started behind Nicole because she’s always a fire cracker off the line which was good but really the first half of the lap, I was trying to get to where the race was happening and by the time I got up there, it was already getting strung out.” she explained.

After an overnight freeze, the icy ruts and mud were starting to thaw out in certain spots for the late morning race, making the course greasier.

“It didn’t soften up enough to be any smooth lines out there at all, so every lap you’d come through and the lines were getting mixed up and they were just shooting you all over the place.” Stetson-Lee said of the technical sections. “There was never a clear defined path to take, and it stayed hard but slightly soft the whole race so it wasn’t very easy to navigate through there but it was fun. You just had to be smart and be on your toes, be willing to put a leg down if you needed to.”

Three riders were ahead of her, eventual winner Katie Compton (Rabobank Giant) was off the front and on her way to win her eighth National Championship in a row. But, closer were teammates Nicole Duke and Kaitie Antonneau (Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com).

“I could see Kaitie and Nicole and I was just chasing them down for a long and they were just out of reach.” said Stetson-Lee who made contact with Duke more than halfway through the race while Antonneau had taken off.

“I finally passed Nicole on the climb, and I was like ‘alright I got here, I’m feeling strong’. And I was able to maintain that for that second to last lap. “ said Stetson-Lee. “Then on that final lap, my quad started cramping up on the climbs, I didn’t have enough left in the tank as I thought I would, and she did. She was super smart, she just picked me off and opened the gap right in the techie stuff where she was super strong.”

Stetson-Lee held on for fourth. Teammate Meredith Miller finished sixth.

In the final race of the 2012 National Championships, silver-medalist in the U23 category Cody Kaiser put on another strong ride to claim 14th in the elite men’s race. Justin Robinson was 31st.

Saturday was a banner day for the Berries at the USA Cyclocross National Championships in Madison, Wisconsin where the team put five riders on the podiums highlighted by Cody Kaiser and Tobin Ortenblad‘s silver medals.

After taking the holeshot in the Under23 Men’s race, Kaiser was quickly off the front with one other rider, eventual winner Zach McDonald (Rapha-Focus).

“I felt good.” Kaiser said. “I did what I could do, I put in all my work into it and, this is where Zach is at his best and I’m glad I got to race in his best conditions. That’s how you can tell if you’re really the best so he was the best.”

Unable to match the final acceleration, Kaiser raced solo for three of the laps to deliver a very strong and solid second-place.

“I figured that it was going to be a 1-2 race.” he continued. “I definitely eased up out there but it was definitely a well-fought battle I’d say, he was way ahead but I was fighting hard.”

Ortenblad also took the holeshot in the Men’s Junior 17/18 contest. The chase group shuffled again and again while eventual winner Logan Owen (Team Redline) was off the front from the first lap.

“The first lap was just the group trying to play each other and see what happens.” explained Ortenblad who moved up to second spot two laps into the race. He rode solo for two and a half laps until another rider, Cypress Gorry (Whole Athlete) made contact on the final lap.

“I saw he was close and I knew on the hill that he’s passed me so I just let him pass me. Sat on his wheel, waited for the sprint. We were just in Belgium together, doing town sprints so I knew I could get him.” he laughed.

Ortenblad won the sprint for second place. “I’m stoked. The World Championships would be amazing and I think I have a good shot at going now, that’s the next big thing.”

Later that afternoon, the men’s 35-39 contest, Justin Robinson claimed fifth place as the course was getting tackier and faster after the morning’s slippery fest.

“I got the holeshot and then started pedaling squares shortly thereafter and that was my whole race. That was it. I just didn’t have it, I couldn’t pedal today.” Robinson said. “I was pretty comfortable but just comfortable in my cruising speed. I didn’t have any attack so better luck next weekend I hope.”

Robinson will be racing at the UCI Cyclocross Masters World Championships next weekend in Louisville, Kentucky.

In the first race of the day, with the muddy ruts still frozen, James Coats and Greg Ferguson took third and fifth place into Masters Men 45-49 won by 1996 Olympian Don Myrah.