Phil de Montmollin: Sports Information Director
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Brevard College relay team of Hannah Arensman, Tyler Clark and Tyler Orschel brought home a national championship in the Collegiate Varsity Team Relay at this past weekend's USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championship 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.
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. Marian University finished third in the relay.
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 Cyclocross 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. Marian won the Team Omnium with Fort Lewis finishing second. 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. Arensman, who won the Women's individual national championship last season, finished just over one minute behind event winner Samantha Runnells of Lindenwood University.
Also competing in the Women's Collegiate Varsity race from Brevard College were freshman Hannah Dickson and sophomore Nicole Rusden, both of whom were racing at their first USA Cycling National Championships. Dickson, a native of Brevard, North Carolina, finished 25th out of 41 total riders. Rusden, hailing from Glenmore, Pennsylvania, placed 29th in the event.
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 won by Caleb Schwartz of Marian.
Orschel finished eighth, while junior Carson Beckett finished 10th to secure the three top-10 finishes for Brevard, which matched Fort Lewis for the most top-tens for any school in the competition.
In the men's race which featured 41 total riders, Brevard College senior Scott McGill earned a top-20 with a 19th place finish in his final collegiate Cyclocross competition of his career.
Also representing Brevard College on the men's side were freshman Tim Coffey (21st place), senior Zack Lowden (23rd place) and freshman Dalton Collins (39th place).
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.
To follow all the latest news and updates surrounding Brevard College Athletics, go to www.bctornados.com and follow the Tornados on Twitter or Instagram @bctornados, and like Brevard College Athletics on Facebook.
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