Brevard College senior Hannah Arensman won the UCI Women’s Elite Cyclocross race to lead the BC Cycling team in a highly successful weekend that featured four total wins and 12 podiums for Tornado cyclists at the North Carolina Grand Prix that concluded Sunday at Jackson Park in Hendersonville, North Carolina. The home event for the Tornados marked the final Cyclocross race of the season for the Brevard College Cycling team before next month’s USA Cycling Collegiate Cyclocross National Championships.
On Sunday in the Women’s Elite Pro Category 1/2/3 race, Arensman crossed the finish line first ahead of category 1 racers Raylyn Nuss and Samantha Runnels to take the victory. It marked the first time in Arensman’s illustrious career that the Valdese, North Carolina native has won a UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) Women’s Elite Pro Cyclocross race. The Elite Pro race win by Arensman came 24 hours after a third place finish in Saturday’s race behind category 1 racer Caroline Nolan and Nuss.
Brevard College sophomore Tyler Clark finished second in the Men’s Elite Pro Category 1/2 race on Sunday after placing fourth in the same event on Saturday. Senior Carson Beckett also competed in the Men’s Elite Pro division, placing 10th on Saturday and 8th on Sunday.
In addition to Arensman, three other race wins were captured by Brevard College cyclists throughout the two-day event. BC sophomore Ryan McKinnon won the Men’s Collegiate C races on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Brevard College sophomore Ryan Johnson won the Men’s Collegiate A race as part of a 1-2-3 BC podium sweep as sophomore Dalton Collins finished second and freshman Tyler Miranda placed third. Johnson would go on to earn another podium finish with a second place result in Sunday’s Men’s Collegiate A race.
The Women’s Collegiate A category was highlighted by a second-place finish by BC freshman Emma Schwab who placed fourth in Saturday’s event. Sophomore Hannah Dickson (6th, Saturday), junior Nicole Rusden (8th, Sunday) and freshman Michaela Gray (9th Sunday) also produced top-tens in Women’s Collegiate A.
BC sophomore Jason Marquardt placed second on both days in Men’s Collegiate C and sophomore Madison Altman placed fifth in Women’s Collegiate C to round out the podium and top ten finishes for the Tornados.
In total, Brevard College earned four race wins, 12 podium finishes and 22 top-ten results to cap off the regular season in the Cyclocross discipline.
The Brevard College Cycling team, under the direction of Head Coach Brad Perley and Assistant Coach Cypress Gorry, will now turn its attention to the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships to be held December 10-14 in Tacoma, Washington.
Brevard College is consistently recognized as one of the best liberal arts colleges. The College’s focus on experiential learning, small class sizes, and location in the mountains of Western North Carolina near Asheville make Brevard a top choice college for students around the world.