The Brevard College relay team of Hannah Arensman, Tyler Clark and Tyler Orschel brought home a national championship in the Collegiate Varsity Team Relay. The USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championship were held in muddy conditions at Joe Creason Park in Louisville, Kentucky.
Arensman, a junior from Valdese, North Carolina, raced a grueling two legs of the relay to help power the Tornados to the team relay national championship.
Podium.jpg: (L-R) Tyler Orschel, Hannah Arensman, and Tyler Clark wear the Stars and Stripes jerseys and display their gold medals on the podium after winning the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championship in the team relay.
Clark, a freshman from Killington, Vermont, raced the first lap to create a lead for the Tornados before transferring to Arensman for the second lap. Orschel, a sophomore from Uxbridge, Ontario, raced the critical third lap for the Tornados. Orschel delivered by securing a lead for Arensman for the final lap.
Arensman then maintained the lead for the Tornados, crossing the finish line 30 seconds ahead of second place Fort Lewis College.
Celebration ensued not only for the team relay members, but for the 11 Brevard College Cycling student-athletes who made the trip to the USA Cycling National Championships.
Following the event, Arensman, Clark and Orschel were presented with USA Cycling gold medals and Stars and Stripes jerseys on the championship podium.
In the final Team Omnium standings, Brevard finished third in the overall team competition. It marked the fourth consecutive season that Brevard has finished in the top-three in the Varsity Division I cyclocross competition. The Tornados won the 2016-17 D-1 national championship held in Hartford, Connecticut.
In the Women’s Individual Cyclocross National Championship, Arensman earned a trip to the podium with a third place finish in the Women’s Collegiate Varsity completion.
The Tornados entered eight riders in the Men’s Collegiate Varsity individual race with Brevard College collecting three top-tens. Clark led the charge with a fifth-place podium finish in a race.
Brevard College Head Coach Brad Perley, Assistant Coach Cypress Gorry and the Tornado Cycling student-athletes will now turn their attention to the road racing portion of the schedule in Spring of 2019. The road racing schedule will culminate with the USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships set for May 10-12, 2019 in Augusta, Georgia.