UNMC, NHS and UMA sponsor Team Kaos, one of the driving forces in Nebraska cycling. The squad recently promoted and competed in the second annual Omaha Criterium, a two-day biking event to benefit the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center.
In a criterium race cyclists repeat laps on a closed course.
The Hanscom Park Neighborhood Association hosted the Aug. 3 races on the 0.8-mile course at Hanscom Park, 32nd and Center Sts.
Team Kaos cyclist Marco Vasquez, a perfusionist at NHS, won the Masters 30+ race, making him the 2002 Nebraska State Criterium Champion in that category. Team Kaos swept the podium in the Masters 30+ with Chris Spence, second, and Jordan Brasch, third.
In addition, Spence and teammate Marie Neville respectively won State Criterium Championships in the Pro 1,2 and Women’s categories.
At the Dave Babcook Memorial Circuit Race on Aug. 4, Neville won and Vasquez placed fourth in the Pro 1, 2 race. The 1.5-mile circuit climbed gradually for one-half mile, twisting through Elmwood Park near the University of Nebraska at Omaha campus.
Dave Babcook was a cyclist, as well as a research technologist at the Eppley Institute, the basic research arm of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center. He joined the Eppley Institute in September 1984. He died in October 2000 of pancreatic cancer.
After his death, Babcook’s parents established The Dave Babcook Memorial Fund. The fund supports faculty and student research projects at the Eppley Institute, preferably for pancreatic cancer research.
Besides competing, Team Kaos members promote races and the sport of cycling as a healthy lifestyle.
Team roster
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Marco Vasquez won the 45-minute Masters 30+ race, making him the 2002 Nebraska State Criterium Champion in that category. Vasquez, a perfusionist at NHS, edged the competition on Aug. 3 by more than a minute. |
The team roster includes racers, cycling promoters and race officials. The following Team Kaos members are associated with UNMC/NHS:
Matt DeVries
Byers Shaw, M.D.
Chris Spence
Marco Vasquez
Mark Emodi
Additional members are:
Jordan Brasch
Kevin Burke
Tyler Carmichael
Paul Chapman
Matt Gersib
Mitch Gonzales
Jeff Hansen
Scott Kuzminski
Joe McWilliams
Marie NeVille
Jesse Petersen
Photos courtesy of Bud Shaw, M.D., and Marco Vasquez