Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday starting April 1 throughout the Spring of 2020, bctornados.com will be featuring senior student-athletes from Spring sports to honor their dedication and commitment to Brevard College Athletics through their Tornado careers.
Below photos courtesy of Thom Kennedy '21 and Victoria Brayman '22
BREVARD, N.C. – Senior Carson Beckett, a four-year member of the Brevard College Cycling team, is the next honoree in BC Athletics' Spring Senior Profile series, highlighting and honoring 2020 seniors in Spring sports who had their respective seasons cut short due to the impact of COVID-19.
Beckett, a native of Benton, Kentucky, graduated from BC with a Bachelor's degree in Exercise Science with minors in Biology and Coaching. His future plans include pursuing work as an endurance cycling coach with SET Coaching, LLC while continuing to race professionally on the mountain bike circuit. Beckett aims to stay in the Brevard area after graduation to continue planting roots and growing his network in the cycling community.
On the bike, Beckett enjoyed a standout career as a member of the cycling program at BC, helping the program maintain heightened success within the USA Cycling Collegiate Division I ranks. At the national level, Beckett was part of a pair of USA Cycling Collegiate Team National Championships in his freshman campaign – the first two National Championships at the USA Cycling Division I level for BC – as the Tornados claimed gold in the disciplines of Mountain Biking and Cyclocross during the 2016-17 year.
At the 2016 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships, held in Snowshoe, West Virginia, Beckett placed fourth in the Men's Individual Overall Omnium standings by amassing 240 points. The then-freshman athlete was one of only two Tornado men's riders to finish in the top-five in the standings, as BC's Walker Shaw placed second with 296 points. Soon thereafter, the Tornados claimed their second National Championship of the 2016-17 year at the 2017 USA Cycling Collegiate Cyclocross National Championships in Hartford, Connecticut. At that event, Beckett helped clinch the title for the Tornados by racing alongside teammates Allison Arensman and Scott McGill - as well as fellow 2020 graduate Hannah Arensman – and claimed the Team Relay National Championship which helped push BC over the top and to their second national title of the year.
In his sophomore season at Brevard, Beckett helped BC to a runner-up finish in the Team Relay at the 2017 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships before helping the Tornados defend their Team Relay crown at the 2018 USA Cycling Collegiate Cyclocross National Championships, riding once again alongside Hannah Arensman and McGill. These efforts lifted the Tornados to a third-place overall finish in the Team Omnium standings in Reno, Nevada.
Beckett and the Tornados finished the 2018 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships with a fourth-place overall team finish, as the relay squad of Hannah Arensman, Beckett, and McGill claimed second place. Beckett earned a third-place finish in the Men's Individual Omnium at the event in Missoula, Montana as well.
The Tornados would go on to claim a third-place finish in the Team Omnium standings at the 2018 USA Cycling Collegiate Cyclocross National Championships, giving the Tornados their fourth straight top-three finish in Divison I Cyclocross National Championships.
Beckett's senior campaign wrapped up his stellar career at Brevard College. Beckett finished in third place in the Men's Individual Omnium at the 2019 USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Bike National Championships in Big Bear Lake, California. BC's Team Relay squad of Beckett, Clark, Hannah Arensman, and Emma Schwab finished in second place at the event.
While at BC, Beckett represented Brevard and the United States at national and international levels. In the summer of 2018, Beckett – alongside teammates Nathan St. Clair (USA) and Tyler Clark (Canada) - competed at the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships held in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
"My 2018 World Championships experience was one of gratitude and awe," said Beckett following the event. "It was so exciting to be back on European soil and to have the opportunity to represent the USA at the biggest event of the year in such a phenomenal location. Although my race didn't pan out how I had hoped, I enjoyed every second of the trip with such an accomplished group. Coming away from it, I know that I was capable of more and can be satisfied."
Beckett was selected as the 2018 Brevard College Male Athlete of the Year at BC Athletics annual awards ceremony "The BESPYs."
Off the bike, Beckett served as a member of BC's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), and was a multi-year USA Cycling Collegiate Academic All-Star selection. Beckett was able to earn Dean's List honors at BC all eight semesters at the College.
"I loved all of the Fall semesters more than anything because of the back-to-back weekends filled with mountain bike racing across the Southeast," said Beckett. "Early morning van rides and coach-made oatmeal will live on in my memory forever. However, my favorite memory has to be being a part of the national championship-winning mountain bike team my first year here when we went to Snowshoe, West Virginia together. That was a proper introduction to Brevard College."
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, or like 'Brevard College Athletics' on Facebook. In addition, follow "brevardcollege" on Flickr for the latest photos from all Brevard College events.
-BC-