Long used a quick burst out of the gate to gain an edge on Olympic teammate and defending national champion Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./Chase BMX) who had the inside position, and never relinquished the lead to be the first over the finish line. Fields was coming off last weekend's double victories at the UCI BMX Supercross World Cup in Argentina, making Long's victory all the more impressive. "It was a super long pause on the random gate and I was sitting there thinking about it and followed through and had a good start," Long commented. "I don't know if Connor messed up or he just was late, but I beat him down the first straight and moved over a little bit so he couldn't come up alongside of me and just held on for the rest of the lap."
In the juniors elite races, last year's bronze medalist, Maliek Byndloss (Cape Coral, Fla./Factory Ssquared), captured the men's gold medal with a stellar day of racing, while Shaelen Reno (Plano, Texas/Hyper Bicycles) won the women's juniors title.
2013 USA Cycling Elite BMX National Championships Chula Vista, Calif. Saturday, May 18, 2013
Elite Men:
1. Nic Long (Lakeside, Calif./Haro Bikes)
2. Connor Fields (Henderson, Nev./Chase BMX)
3. Jared Garcia (Victorville, Calif./Speedline-Supercross)
4. Barry Nobles (Wetumpka, Ala./DK Bicycles)
5. Corben Sharrah (Tuscon, Ariz./Haro Bicycles)
6. A.J. Hiatt (Fresno, Calif./AnarchyBMX.com)
7. Nick Koehler (Tustin, Calif./Speedline-Supercross)
Elite Women:
1. Alise Post (Saint Cloud, Minn./Redline)
2. Arielle Martin (Spanaway, Wash./Intense BMX)
3. Brooke Crain (Visalia, Calif./Haro Bicycles)
4. Dani George (Palmdale, Calif./Factory Supercross BMX)
5. Shelby Stacy (Bakersfield, Calif./Answer-Profile-Ssquared)
Juniors Elite Men:
1. Maliek Byndloss (Cape Coral, Fla./Factory Ssquared)
2. Aldon Volle (Penryn, Calif./Dan's Comp)
3. Hunter Pelham (Conroe, Texas/Haro-Promax)
4. Shane Harlow (Moreno Valley, Calif./Fullerton Bikes)
5. Layne Gainer (Wauconda, Ill./FBN-Supercross)
6. Sean Gaian (Santee, Calif./Factory GT)
7. Tyler Whitfield (Rockford, Ill./Factory Ssquared-Answer)
8. Cole Tesar (Huntersville, N.C./Factory Felt-SC ActionSP)
Juniors Elite Women:
1. Shealen Reno (Plano, Texas/Hyper Bicycles)
2. Shay Glynn (Norco, Calif./Profile-Monster)
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.