Two Omnium Championships Highlight Strong BC Showing at Conference Champs
BANNER ELK, N.C. – The Brevard College Cycling team continued its winning ways with several strong finishes, including two individual omnium championships, at the SECCC (Southeast Collegiate Cycling Conference) Mountain Bike Championships held this past weekend on the campus of Lees-McRae College in Banner Elk, North Carolina.
Brevard College senior Tyler Clark was crowned SECCC Mountain Bike Individual Omnium Champion for the 2021 season in the Men's A category. Clark, a native of King City, Ontario, won the overall championship following a weekend in Banner Elk that included a race win in Men's A Cross Country and a third-place finish in Men's A Short Track Cross Country.
BC sophomore Matthew Zuniga was named the 2021 Men's B SECCC Individual Omnium Champion. Zuniga, a native of Exton, Pennsylvania, clinched the season title with a race win in Men's C Short Track Cross Country and a third-place result in Men's C Cross Country.
Clark and Zuniga's titles marked the first conference championships by a Brevard College rider since senior Tyler Orschel won the SECCC Men's A Individual Omnium Championship as a sophomore in 2018. Remarkably, the recent Tornado omnium champions all won the title despite missing a conference event. This year, the Tornados did not compete in the season-opening SECCC race in Auburn, Alabama.
Other top individual omnium results for the 2021 SECCC season included a second-place finish by freshman Dylan Richardson in Men's B and freshman Kyle McDonald placing fourth in both the Men's B and Men's C omniums.
In race action at the conference championships, Tyler Clark paced the field of 53 racers to win Men's A Cross Country. Freshman Owen Clark finished third, while junior Tyler Miranda earned a seventh-place result. Richardson placed second in Men's B Cross Country with Zuniga placing third in the Men's C endurance event.
Orschel won the Men's A Short Track Cross Country race with Tyler Clark placing third and freshman Philip Ford crossing the line 10th. Richardson won the Men's B Short Track Cross Country with McDonald earning a top-five with a fourth-place result. Zuniga won the Men's C Short Track Cross Country race as the only Brevard College rider entered amongst 25 competitors in that event.
Sophomore Cameron Mader won the Men's A Downhill with his fellow BC sophomore Jack Brown placing second. Also in the gravity events, Ford earned a podium with a third-place result in Men's B Dual Slalom.
On the women's side, senior Hannah Dickson finished tenth in the SECCC Women's A Individual Omnium following a seventh-place result in Short Track Cross Country and an eighth-place finish in Cross Country. Sophomore Nina Machnowski finished sixth in Women's A Cross Country as the top Tornado female finisher of the weekend.
In total through four mountain bike race weekends in 2021, the Tornados accumulated a whopping 25 race wins, 59 podium finishes and 149 top-ten results.
Next up for the Brevard College Cycling team is the 2021 USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships, October 14-17 in Durango, Colorado.
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.
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Brevard College SECCC Individual Omnium Top-10 Finishers
Men's A Omnium
1) Tyler Clark, Brevard
4) Tyler Orschel, Brevard
5) Jack Brown, Brevard
7) Cameron Mader, Brevard
8) Owen Clark, Brevard
Women's A Omnium
10) Hannah Dickson, Brevard
Men's B Omnium
2) Dylan Richardson, Brevard
4) Kyle McDonald, Brevard
Men's C Omnium
1) Matthew Zuniga, Brevard
4) Kyle McDonald, Brevard
Brevard College Podium & Top-10 Finishers – SECCC Championships hosted by Lees-McRae College
Men's A Cross Country
1) Tyler Clark, Brevard
3) Owen Clark, Brevard
7) Tyler Miranda, Brevard
Women's A Cross Country
6) Nina Machnowski, Brevard
8) Hannah Dickson, Brevard
Men's B Cross Country
Men's C Cross Country
Men's A Short Track Cross Country
1) Tyler Orschel, Brevard
3) Tyler Clark, Brevard
10) Philip Ford, Brevard
Women's A Short Track Cross Country
7) Hannah Dickson, Brevard
Men's B Short Track Cross Country
1) Dylan Richardson, Brevard
4) Kyle McDonald, Brevard
Men's C Short Track Cross Country
1) Matthew Zuniga, Brevard
Men's A Downhill
1) Cameron Mader, Brevard
2) Jack Brown, Brevard
10) Watt Hackney, Brevard
Men's A Dual Slalom
8) Cameron Mader, Brevard
9) Tyler Clark, Brevard
10) Jack Brown, Brevard
Men's B Dual Slalom
3) Philip Ford, Brevard
-BC-