Tornados Continue Successful Start to Fall Mountain Bike Season in Bristol
BRISTOL, Tenn. – Following an exceptional return to intercollegiate racing as host of the Brevard College/Ride Kanuga Mountain Bike Race Weekend, the BC Cycling team continued its early season success with a strong weekend of results at the ACCC/SECCC dual conference race weekend hosted by King University on Saturday and Sunday in Bristol, Tennessee.
At the weekend event in Tennessee that did not include races in the Downhill categories, Brevard earned a total of four race wins, 15 podiums and 34 top-ten finishes. Through this season's first two race weekends, the Tornados have accumulated a whopping 13 race wins, 36 podium finishes and 92 top-ten results.
Sophomore Erica Leonard earned two race wins and three total podiums at the event to lead the Tornados. Leonard won Saturday's Women's A Dual Slalom and Sunday's Women's A Cross Country to go along with a second-place finish in the Women's A Short Track Cross Country race held Saturday. Through the first two races this season, the native of Barrie, Ontario has totaled four race wins and six podium finishes. Last week at the Brevard College/Ride Kanuga Mountain Bike Race Weekend , Leonard earned wins in Women's A Downhill and Women's A Dual Slalom as well as a third-place podium finish in Women's A Short Track Cross Country.
Also on the women's side in Bristol, senior Madison Altman earned two podiums with second-place finishes in both Women's B Cross Country and Women's B Short Track Cross Country. Senior Hannah Dickson (8th) and sophomore Nina Machnowski (10th) added two more top-ten finishes for the Tornados in Women's A Cross Country. Dickson also placed sixth in Women's A Short Track Cross Country.
On the men's side, the Tornados proved to be the dominant team in Saturday's Men's A Short Track Cross Country with a 1-2 finish along with five top-ten's. Senior Tyler Orschel edged fellow senior Tyler Clark to take the race win and add two more podiums to the storied collegiate careers of the two Canadian national team members. Freshmen Cole Punchard and Owen Clark, who also both raced for Team Canada at this year's UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, finished 5-6. BC Freshman Philip Ford finished 10th in the Men's A Short Track race that featured 41 total riders.
BC's dominant day continued with a podium sweep in Men's A Dual Slalom with Owen Clark, Tyler Clark and Cole Punchard finishing first through third with Simon Donnaway placing fourth to complete the 1-2-3-4 Tornado sweep. Brevard sophomore Cameron Mader placed ninth as the Tornados took 50 percent of the top-10 in the category. The race win for Owen Clark in the Dual Slalom marked the first win as a collegiate for the freshman from King City, Ontario.
In Men's B Dual Slalom, Ford made his way to the podium with a third-place finish to go along with a fourth-place result by senior Finn Cullen.
Sunday's Men's A Cross Country saw a third-place podium finish for Orschel to go along with top-ten's by Owen Clark (4th), Tyler Miranda (5th) and Ford (7th). In Men's B Cross Country, the Tornados earned two podiums as Mader and Dylan Richardson placed 2-3 to go along with a 6-7-8 finish by Watt Hackney, McCaskill and McDonald.
BC sophomore Daniel Zuniga earned two podiums with a second-place finish in Saturday's Men's C Short Track, a third-place podium in Dual Slalom, and a fourth-place result in Sunday's Men's C Cross Country to help add even further to the Tornados' success. McDonald (5th) and McCaskill (6th) added two more top-ten's in Men's C Dual Slalom.
After a weekend off, next up for the Brevard College Cycling team is another SECCC race weekend on September 25-26 at Lindsey Wilson College in Kentucky.
The ten-time national champion Brevard College Cycling program features varsity programs in the disciplines of Mountain Bike, Cyclocross, Road, 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 Podium & Top-10 Finishers - SECCC Conference Race Hosted by King Unversity
Men's A Cross Country
3) Tyler Orschel, Brevard
4) Owen Clark, Brevard
5) Tyler Miranda, Brevard
7) Philip Ford, Brevard
Women's A Cross Country
1) Erica Leonard, Brevard
8) Hannah Dickson, Brevard
10) Nina Machnowski, Brevard
Men's B Cross Country
2) Cameron Mader, Brevard
3) Dylan Richardson, Brevard
6) Watt Hackney, Brevard
7) Caleb McCaskill, Brevard
8) Kyle McDonald, Brevard
Women's B Cross Country
2) Madison Altman, Brevard
Men's C Cross Country
Men's A Short Track Cross Country
1) Tyler Orschel, Brevard
2) Tyler Clark, Brevard
5) Cole Punchard, Brevard
6) Owen Clark, Brevard
10) Philip Ford, Brevard
Women's A Short Track Cross Country
2) Erica Leonard, Brevard
6) Hannah Dickson, Brevard
Women's B Short Track Cross Country
2) Madison Altman, Brevard
Men's C Short Track Cross Country
2) Matthew Zuniga, Brevard
Men's A Dual Slalom
1) Owen Clark, Brevard
2) Tyler Clark, Brevard
3) Cole Punchard, Brevard
4) Simon Donnaway, Brevard
9) Cameron Mader, Brevard
Women's A Dual Slalom
Men's B Dual Slalom
2) Philip Ford, Brevard
4) Finn Cullen, Brevard
Men's C Dual Slalom
3) Matthew Zuniga, Brevard
5) Kyle McDonald, Brevard
6) Caleb McCaskill, Brevard
-BC-
