Phil de Montmollin: Sports Information Director

BANNER ELK, N.C. – The Brevard College Cycling program continued its successful season on the mountain bikes with a big showing this past weekend at the High Country Collegiate MTB Challenge hosted by Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina.

In Saturday's action, the Tornados swept the podium with a 1-2-3 finish in the Men's Cross Country A competition.  Carson Beckett took the checkered flag for first place followed by Tyler Orschel in second and Tyler Clark in third place.  It marked the first time in school history that three Brevard cyclists swept the podium at the Lees-McRae event.

A successful Cross Country portion of the event continued for the Tornados in Men's Cross Country C with BC's Nathan St. Clair winning that race and teammate Lucas Gomez placing third.

Other results in Saturday's Men's Cross Country included Lucas Pound finishing 11th in Men's B as well as Ryan Johnson (13th) and Scott McGill (24th) in Men's A.

On the Women's side, Brevard College's Hannah Arensman earned a podium with a second-place finish and BC's Hannah Dickson finished 11th in the Cross Country A race.  Brevard's Samantha Munson also earned a podium finish by placing third in the Women's Cross Country B race.

In the Men's Dual Slalom Category A event, St. Clair finished fourth and Scott McGill notched an eighth place finish to lead the Tornados in that event.  Beckett (18th) and Will Hegedus (20th) also competed in Dual Slalom A for Brevard.

In Men's Dual Slalom B, Pound made his way to the podium with a third-place finish with teammate Zachary Lowdon finishing fourth.

Hannah Dickson won the Women's Dual Slalom B race, out-performing nine other racers, while in Women's Dual Slalom A, Arensman (8th) and Nicole Rusden (11th) represented the Tornados.

The Tornados dominated the Men's A Short Track Cross Country event on Sunday as Beckett won that event's championship followed by a second place finish by Orschel and a fourth-place result for Clark.  Johnson (13th), Zachary Lowden (16th) and Timothy Coffey (20th) each finished in the top-20 of the event which featured 45 competitors.

St. Clair finished fourth in the Men's B Short Track Cross country race with Pound (8th) and Dalton Collins (10th) also performing for the Tornados.  Gomez finished in fifth place as the lone Tornado in the Men's C Short Track race.

Arensman continued her big weekend by winning the Women's A Short Track, outclassing 25 other racers.  Dickson also raced in the Women's A event, finishing 13th.

Rusden earned a podium finish by placing second in Women's B Short Track Cross Country with Samantha Munson finishing fifth.

Clark won Men's B Downhill with Johnson (8th), Zachary Lowden (9th) and Gomez (17th) also racing in that downhill competition.

Beckett registered a fifth place finish in the Men's A Downhill followed by a sixth-place result by St. Clair.  Pound (9th), Orschel (11th) and Will Hegedus also represented in that event.

Collins finished in seventh place in the Men's C Downhill to round out the weekend results for the Tornados.

All in all, Brevard College student-athletes won five titles at Lees-McRae – Beckett (Men's A Cross Country and Men's A Short Track), St. Clair (Men's C Cross Country), Clark (Men's B Downhill). Arensman (Women's A Short Track) and Dixon (Women's Dual Slalom B).

Next up for the Brevard College Mountain Biking team is the Union College Mad Dog MTB Race in Barbourville, Kentucky to be held this Saturday and Sunday.

To follow along with all the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, please follow the Tornados on Twitter and Instagram @bctornados, or like Brevard College Athletics on Facebook. 

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