HARTFORD, Conn. – The ten-time national champion Brevard College Cycling program is poised to compete at this week’s USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships held at Riverside Park in Hartford, Connecticut. Brevard College student-athletes will compete in the Collegiate Men’s Varsity and Women’s Varsity races held Thursday, along with Friday’s team relay.
Sophomore Paige Edwards and freshman Kelly Lawson will represent Brevard College in the women’s race. Seven Tornados – Hugo Brisebois, Owen Clark, Philip Ford, Matthew Leliveld, Tyler Miranda, Cole Punchard and Dylan Richardson – will race in the men’s competition.
“We are very excited to return to Hartford for this year’s cyclocross nationals,” said Brad Perley, Brevard College Head Cycling Coach. “The weather looks like it will be much more forgiving than it was in 2017 and we are excited to see the new course. Due to some recent illnesses and injuries we’ve had to pull back from our traditional focus on the team omnium contest. Instead, we will be focused on some individual results from our riders and I know it will be a great experience for the students.”
The Collegiate Women’s Varsity race is set to begin at 7:50 a.m. ET on Thursday. The 50-minute will be the first of nine different races held on the course on Thursday. The Collegiate Men’s Varsity race, also 50 minutes in duration, is scheduled for 2:55 p.m. ET and will mark Thursday’s last race of the day. The always electric 40-minute team relay will take place on Friday at 12:10 p.m. ET to round out the competition for collegiate racers.
The national championships mark the capstone for Brevard College’s 2022 cyclocross season. BC raced at five total events in the month of November, culminating with the UCI North Carolina Grand Prix.
To start the cyclocross season, Punchard won the Men’s A race at Lee-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina in his first competition following his crowning as the 2022 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike Individual Omnium national champion. The following weekend, Clark and Ford finished first and third respectively in the Men’s Pro category at the North Carolina Cyclocross (NCCX) event in Davidson, North Carolina. Leliveld followed with a race win at the NCCX Men’s Pro race in Midland, North Carolina. In the Women’s Pro Race at NCCX Midland, Lawson captured a second-place podium finish to go along with a second-place result by BC’s Carmen Chirino Hulsund in the Women’s Cat 3-4 race.
At the UCI North Carolina Grand Prix held at Jackson Park in nearby Hendersonville, North Carolina, Ford came away with a second place podium finish in the Men’s Collegiate A race. Madison Altman placed second in Women’s Collegiate C with Carmen Chirino Hulsund placing ninth and Michaela Gray finishing 16th in Women’s Collegiate A. It marked the final collegiate cycling competition for Altman, a graduate student from Newnan, Georgia and Gray, a senior from Ocala, Florida.
The 2022 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships are taking place in Riverside Park in Hartford, Connecticut on a 2.2-mile course, featuring a sand pit and several other course features. Athletes from around the country are competing for 34 national titles, including categories qualifying for the UCI Cyclocross World Championships. Livestream coverage of the event can be found on flobokes.com. For more information on the 2022 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships, go to usacycling.org.
The ten-time national champion Brevard College Cycling program features varsity programs in the disciplines of Mountain Bike, Cyclocross and Gravel Racing. For the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Cycling, follow @brevardcycling on Instagram and ‘Brevard College Cycling’ on Facebook.
To follow the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, follow the Tornados on Twitter and Instagram @bctornados, subscribe to ‘Brevard College Tornados’ on YouTube, follow ‘Brevard College Tornados’ on SoundCloud, and ‘Brevard College Athletics’ on Facebook. In addition, follow ‘brevardcollege’ on Flickr for photos from Brevard College events.
Brevard College Tornados at 2022 USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championships
Hugo Brisebois, Freshman; Chelsea, Quebec, Canada
Owen Clark, Sophomore; King City, Ontario, Canada
Paige Edwards, Sophomore; Camas, Washington
Philip Ford, Sophomore; Fort Mill, South Carolina
Kelly Lawson, Freshman; Barrie, Ontario, Canada
Matthew Leliveld, Freshman; Shelburne, Ontario, Canada
Tyler Miranda, Senior; Valley City, Ohio
Cole Punchard, Sophomore; Huntsville, Ontario
Dylan Richardson, Sophomore; Greensboro, North Carolina