Racing to the top

On Sept. 26, senior Amelia Bjesse-Puffin proved herself. A track cyclist for the Cycling Club, she claimed a silver and bronze medal at the U.S. Cycling National Collegiate Track Championships in Trexlertown, Pa.

Bjesse-Puffin took bronze in the 500-meter, with a time of 39.195 seconds and the silver in the 200-meter sprints, making it through seven rounds of races.

With her time improving from 13.5 seconds to 13 seconds over the day, Bjesse-Puffin won the first two rounds and continued onto the semi-finals, a best-two-out-of-three event.

Winning the first round and then losing the second, she went on to win the third to advance into the gold medal round where the top four competitors race. Bjesse-Puffin then advanced from the first gold medal round to the winner’s bracket to take second behind Colleen Hayduk of Kutztown University.

Tactical and technical perseverance as well as physical ability played a factor, according to Bjesse-Puffin.
“Track sprinting is a very hard event because it continues all day,” she said. It is difficult for sprinters to endure that amount of racing, and racers must be able to pace themselves accordingly throughout the day.

Bjesse-Puffin was very pleased with her performance. Noting that Hayduk is a very strong competitor and athlete, she added, “It was really exciting hearing that 13-point-zero time and knowing that, over the course of the day, I had dropped that much time.”

Bjesse-Puffin said sprinting is a much more technical race than the 500m. “You have to surprise them—keep the other competitors pinned,” she said.

Sprinters will often burn themselves out before the end of the sprint. “You have to remember to slow down sometimes, [to] look around and get tactical,” Bjesse-Puffin said.

According to her, sprinting was not originally her strongest event, but over the years she has greatly improved. “One of the most exciting parts of the races was really just doing well at the timed event, remembering that—even when you’re tired—to keep your head in the game for the entire day,” she said.

Because track cycling is not an official sport at Portland State, funding does not come from the athletics department.

However, when Bjesse-Puffin initially spoke with Cycling Club President Adrian Richardson about participating, he said she was more than qualified to compete at the national level. He requested funding from the school, which they approved. Bjesse-Puffin said she was extremely grateful for the assistance.

When asked about his medal-winning fellow cyclist, Richardson said, “This weekend was a great opportunity for her to represent the school and Portland. I am very excited to have her represent PSU.” He explained that she is well known on the local racing scene and is someone who is continually improving as an athlete.

Bjesse-Puffin is not only an outstanding athlete but also one that is very focused on academics and her future.
“For a whole term I had to do solo workouts,” she said. “Because if I worked out in the morning with my training group, I’d be too tired to do school work after, so I had to wake up for homework then work out on my own.”

After graduation, Bjesse-Puffin hopes to go into the medical field and continue to manage her balance of school and workouts. This weekend she competes in the Elite Nationals in Carson, Calif., and is looking to continue her climb to the top of the cycling circuit.