From USA Cycling

Kelli Emmett (Colorado Springs, Colo./Giant Mountain Bike Team), who was second place in the 2011 Super D, took the next step up the podium on Sunday at the 2012 USA Cycling Mountain Bike Cross Country National Championships.

Emmett covered the course in 24:33.02 to win her third Super D national title. Emmett's time was 18 seconds faster than Elizabeth English (Whitefish, Mont.), who earned the silver medal.

The defending national champion, Lea Davison (Jericho, Vt./Specialized Factory Racing), rode away with the bronze medal this year, finishing ahead of Heather Irmiger (Boulder, Colo./Subaru-Trek) and Katherine Sherwin (Heber City, Utah/Stan's NoTubes Elite Women's Team).

"I had a pretty clean run out there," Emmett said. "I really went for it on the climb. It was a pretty long Super D, it was almost 25 minutes. There was probably an eight-minute climb in there. I just really went for it. I tried to ride a smooth race on the descents. It was good, it was fun."