Cycling continues to find success at national level
The Milligan College cycling team is preparing to compete in the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championship after competing in the Mountain Bike National Championship in Big Bear Lake, California, in October.
MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (Dec. 11, 2019) – The Milligan College cycling team is preparing to compete in the USA Cycling Cyclocross National Championship after competing in the Mountain Bike National Championship in Big Bear Lake, California, in October.
The Buffs finished 10th overall in a very tight racing field. "This year's championship had the toughest competition I've seen in years," Head Coach Zach Nave said.
Day one recap
The men and the women competed in the cross country competition and had several noteworthy finishes. The women had four top 20 finishes with last year's defending individual omnium national champion, Madeline Bemis, coming in eighth followed by Megan Jastrab in 11th, Meade Plum in 18th and Hayley Barrick in 19th. Genevieve Plum finished 23rd, Alyssa Barrick finished 29th and Gracie Pendleton rounded off the women in 31st.
The men were led by Jonah Sanchez who finished 21st, Hunter Connell in 26th, Ruben Bacon in 48th, Blake Howard in 50th and Garrett Smith in 60th.
The team sat in fifth place after their first day of competition.
Day two recap
The team continued to perform well on day two of competition. Both teams competed in the short track competition with the women having a stellar performance. Bemis finished in fourth place with Jastrab following in 11th, A. Barrick in 19th, G. Plum in 22nd, H. Barrick in 26th and M. Plum in 35th.
Connell was the top finisher for the men coming in 22nd, Bacon followed in 27th, Howard 47th, Sanchez 53rd, and Smith 62nd.
Dual slalom was the next event with Bemis finishing 22nd.
Day three recap
The Buffs rounded out the national championship with the downhill race and the team relay event.
Bemis finished 10th in the downhill race and was able to secure a fourth place finish overall.
The team closed out nationals with the team relay and had their best showing in the event finishing fourth.
Cyclocross nationals
The month of November consisted of Milligan preparing for the Cyclocross National Championship which is being held Dec. 11-15.