Mariske had an intense battle with Rebecca Gross (University of Denver) on an extremely muddy track. On the last lap Mariske was still only a few second behind Gross, but she had a bike change and started to chase down Gross on a "squeaky" clean bike. She caught up to Gross, who had a slight wipe out at the tech zone and Mariske took the gap and in her trademark fashion put the hammer down to the finish line.
She won the race on a very muddy, slippery course in 47 minutes, 22 seconds. Gross crossed the finish line 13 seconds later.
"It was a game of cat and mouse between us! I had some good training time in South Africa before coming here. It was my first race and I really didn't know what to expect, but it was a great track and I really enjoyed the racing," said Mariske.
