COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – After a series of outstanding performances at the USA Cyclocross National Championships last week, Brevard's Hannah Arensman earned a spot on the 2018 UCI Cyclocross World Championships Women's U23 Team. Among those joining Arensman is Brevard graduate Tristan Cowie, who will compete as a member of the Elite Men's unit.

Arensman and Cowie are two of 31 athletes that will represent the United States at the 2018 UCI Cyclocross World Championships set for Feb. 3-4 in Valkenburg-Limburg, Netherlands. Twelve of the thirty-one spots were filled through automatic selection criteria.

The remaining selections were filled by the USA Cycling selection committee, who considered primarily international competition results, namely World Cups and Pan Am Championships, but also domestic events, head-to-head results and nationals performances in their decisions.

Arensman's first major step to earning a spot on the team came when she captured the individual crown in the Division I Collegiate Cyclocross National Championship race in Reno, Nevada. The Rutherford College, N.C., native won the event after crossing the line in a time of 44:28, edging out Samantha Runnels (Lindenwood U. / 44:59) and Emma Swartz (Marian U. / 45:28) for the title.

That victory placed Arensman in elite company as she became the first Brevard cyclist to capture the Division I collegiate race in the National Championship in program history at the USA Cycling sponsored event. The Tornados have multiple Division II collegiate racers to earn the title in its history.

The following day she played a key role in Brevard successfully defending its Team Relay title in the National Championship and placing third in the Team Omnium. In the team relay, which consisted for four riders (two men / two women) on each team, the Tornados received a major lift from Arensman, who raced two laps on three occasions alongside teammates Carson Beckett and Scott McGill.

Cowie, a 2011 graduate, played an instrumental role in the development of the Brevard cycling program as he helped lead the Tornados mountain bike team to back-to-back National Championships in 2009 and 2010. In 2010, Cowie won the men's omnium national championship and helped the Tornados maintain their 20-point lead over Union (Ky.) College on the final day of competition as they held off both the Bulldogs and Warren Wilson to clinch their second team national title in the first five years of the program's history.

Cowie, who reached the podium in both the Cross Country and the Short Track events, finished 10th overall in the Four Cross and the Downhill races to give the program their first Men's Omnium National Champion. It marked Cowie's third national title overall in his mountain bike career, having won the Cross Country and the Short Track events back in 2008.

Complete Team USA Roster

ELITE MEN
Tristan Cowie (Triple Oaks Racing; Mills River, N.C.)
Stephen Hyde* (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld; Easthampton, Mass.)
Cody Kaiser (LangeTwins/Specialized Bicycles/SRAM; El Dorado Hills, Calif.)
Jack Kisseberth (JAM Fund/NCC; Westhampton, Mass.)
Tobin Ortenblad* (Santa Cruz/Donkey Label; Santa Cruz, Calif.)
Jeremy Powers (Aspire Racing; Easthampton, Mass.)
Kerry Werner* (Kona Endurance Team; Birdsboro, Penn.)

ELITE WOMEN
Elle Anderson (Cycling.be - Alpha Motorhomes; Oakland, Calif.)
Katie Compton* (KFC Racing p/b Trek/Panache; Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Rebecca Fahringer (Stan's No Tubes/Maxxis; Concord, N.H.)
Kaitin Keough* (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld; Colorado Springs, Colo.)
Courtenay McFadden (Pivot-DNA; Bellingham, Wash.)
Ellen Noble* (Aspire Racing; Kennebunkport, Maine)

U23 MEN
Eric Brunner (EVOL DevoElite Racing; Boulder, Colo.)
Maxx Chance (EVOL DevoElite Racing; Boulder, Colo.)
Grant Ellwood (Boulder Cycle Sport; Boulder, Colo.)
Gage Hecht* (Alpha Bicycle Co.- Vista Subaru; Parker, Colo.)
Spencer Petrov (ASPIRE Racing; Mason, Ohio)
Denzel Stephenson (EVOL DevoElite Racing; Boulder, Colo.)

U23 WOMEN
Hannah Arensman (J.A. King p/b BR'C; Rutherford College, N.C.)
Katie Clouse (Alpha Bicycle Co.-Groove Subaru; Park City, Utah)
Clara Honsinger (Washington State Bicycle Association, Portland, OR)
Laurel Rathbun (Donnelly Cycling; Monument, Colo.)
Emma Swartz (Trek Cyclocross Collective; Madison, Wisc.)
Emma White* (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld; Delanson, N.Y)

JUNIOR MEN
Scott Funston* (Rad Racing NW; Maple Valley, Wash.)
Benjamin Gomez Villafane* (Top Club; Scotts Valley, Calif.)
Lane Maher (Hot Tubes Development Cycling; Harwinton, Conn.)
Alex Morton* (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld; Saint Clair, Mich.)
Sam Noel (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld; Shelburne, Vt.)
Calder Wood* (Rad Racing NW; Anacortes, Wash.)

Automatic qualifiers are noted with an asterisk (*).