On September 15, the three members of the Penn State Lehigh Valley cycling club took off for Colorado Springs, Co., to compete in the 2015 Collegiate Track Cycling Nationals. McKenzie Browne, James Mellen, and Nikesh Patel competed over a three-day span from September 17-19. Each athlete competed in four races, earning a collective total of six medals and one national champion jersey.
The first two days of competition held the sprint tournament which began with the flying 200m qualifier. Out of the 45 women and 64 men, only 18 riders moved on to the sprint rounds. Freshman McKenzie Browne and sophomore James Mellen both qualified in first place overall, giving them confidence going into the sprints.
“It’s always a confidence boost to qualify first,” Mellen said. “It’s nice knowing I have the speed, but I also know that I have to be careful in the sprints because of how thin the margins are separating me from the other competitors.”
The sprint tournament is a series of two-lap, best of three, one-on-one races where the mission is simple: cross the line before your opponent does. Seems easy, but if you don’t have the correct mix of strength and endurance, you’re going to be struggling by the end of the tournament. After winning a total of six rides each, both Browne and Mellen raced their way into the gold medal final on Saturday night.
The men and women’s sprint finals featured a grudge match between two schools as each matchup was Penn State Lehigh Valley vs. Marian University. Mellen came up just short of a National Championship, finishing in second as the Collegiate Sprint silver medalist. However, Browne came out victorious after winning two straight rides against her more experienced competitor, earning the title of the 2015 Collegiate National Sprint Champion.
Day three of the competition held the scratch race, 500m/1000m time trials and the coed team sprint. The team sprint was a six-lap event in which a team could have up to six people. While almost every team did, Penn State Lehigh Valley was the only team to compete with fewer than six. The three riders placed tenth out of 11 teams, but were within seconds of a podium spot, which is incredible for having only three riders. Overall, the small team placed fourth overall out of the 11 Division II schools that competed in the championships.
Coach Mandy Marquardt, who is a former Penn State Lehigh Valley cyclist and 2014 graduate, was extremely pleased with how the team performed.
“They’re full-time students and cyclists and all work really hard on and off the bike,” Marquardt said. “Collegiate Nationals was a great experience for each of them, and I’m really proud of the overall team’s performance. We are a small but mighty team!”
Overall, the small but mighty team had an extremely successful weekend of competition. Although the competitive track season is over for the year, the cycling club is still looking for new riders. No experience is needed and not all club members have to compete.
The cycling club is also holding a fundraiser on November 2 from 11 a.m.- 11 p.m. at the Buffalo Wild Wings in Whitehall. Ten percent of your check will be donated to the Penn State Lehigh Valley Cycling Club.
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