The season of waiting for the Mountain Bike Championships to come is over.

The San Diego State men and women’s cycling teams battled in a rain-soaked environment to wrap up its 1996 mountain bike season.

Rain caused the cancellation of the hill climb at the Mountain Bike Championships Saturday and Sunday at Mission Trails.

However, the Aztecs did not let the rain ruin their weekend. The team as a whole has finished the season as the third ranked team in the conference.

“We did really well as a team,” team president John Cimbura said. “We entered the championships fifth and finished third.”

Among the top finishers for the men were Dustin Luma and team treasurer Alan Abbs. Abbs and Luma finished second and third in the cross-country event on Sunday.

Luma also finished second in the dirt competition Saturday.

“We finished third in the conference,” Abbs said. “That’s a definite improvement from tenth last year.”

For the women, Jennie Nielsen finished fourth in the dirt and won the cross-country event.

“I am so happy,” Nielsen said. “We spent most of the season preparing for it. I am proud of everyone.”

The rain, along with other reasons, also caused several schools not to show up.

“It went well considering the rain,” Abbs said. “The turnout was not as high as I thought, in part because of the rain and the schools on the quarter system having finals.”

Now that the mountain biking season is over, the team is preparing for the road season starting the first week of February.

Cimbura has high expectations for the road team. Many from last year’s squad will be back.

“We have a very strong team,” Cimbura said. “We also have a lot of new, experienced and strong riders.”

One of the riders from the mountain biking team trying the road circuit is Neilsen, who has never competed on the road.

“I have never done the road season before,” she said. “I’m a little nervous and excited. It’s something new.

“I enjoyed mountain biking so it should be fun,” Nielsen added.

The time between now and February will be spent training and looking for new riders, Cimbura said.

“This is off-season training and getting-into-the-road season,” he added.