Kiesanowski, Meredith Miller finding success off road during the “off season.”

November 25, 2009

Los Altos, CA – Team TIBCO’s Joanne Kiesanowski, who finished third in the USA Cycling NRC individual points competition, and 2009 U.S. National Road Race Champion Meredith Miller have used their off seasons to find success off road.

Kiesanowski returned to the boards this fall and has continued her winning ways on the track. Despite an eight-year period away from regular track training and racing, she took out two gold medals at the recent Oceana Games. She used her strength and experience to win the Scratch and Points Races. Her stellar performances earned Kiesanowski a spot on her native New Zealand’s team the Melbourne track world cup races earlier this month, where she narrowly missed out on a medal with a 4th place finish in the Scratch Race.

“I’ve really enjoyed my return to the track,” Kiesanowski said. “My first goal was to make the Melbourne World Cup team, and I was so close to a medal there. We have another training camp to set teams for the Los Angeles and Beijing World Cups. I’m hoping to make those squads and do well enough to make the New Zealand team for the World Championships in Copenhagen in late March.”

Once her track campaign ends, she’ll return to the road full time with Team TIBCO.

Miller gets ‘crossed up

Meredith Miller went straight from her stellar road campaign into cyclocross this fall and has rarely found herself outside the top five in races against some of the top female cross racers in the world, including U.S. National Cross Champion Katie Compton. She earned podium spots with two 3rd places at the Mercer Cup races in New Jersey in mid-November.

“This is only my second full season racing cross,” the U.S. National Road Champion said. “Last year I didn’t really do a full season, either. A lot of doing well is just a matter of improving your technical skills and doing the right training. (Former U.S. National Champion) Tim Johnson has helped me a lot with a high-intensity training program.”

She’s looking ahead to Nationals in Bend in December. “I’m hoping to earn enough points to get a good start position,” she said. “That can be pretty key to getting a good result.”

Miller heads to Iowa this weekend for a pair of UCI-rated cross races this weekend.