Shannon in Switzerland

I've known Shannon Koch since she was 14 years old and started racing for Team LaS'port as a junior. Now she's, what, 22 and is racing in Switzerland this summer! The photo above shows her finishing a race this past weekend over in Germany where they combined the women and the junor men in a race called a "rundstreckenrennen", something close to an American-style criterium race. She finished second among the women racers despite dealing with a stomach-ache toward the end of the race. In the picture one of the junior men racers just barely nips Shannon (at left in the white uniform) at the line but supposedly was very upset afterwards that he almost got beat by a girl. Shannon said that if she had 5 more meters she would have beat him to the line. That doesn't surprise me. All these experiences will make her a better racer when she gets back home to Dallas.