Cycling Competes at the Tiger Town Classic
 
CLEMSON, S.C. - This past weekend, the Bees travelled to the Tiger Town Classic in Clemson, SC, to compete in the Conference Championships on the road.  The team would compete across the board in a criterium, time trial, and team time trial on Saturday, and a road race on Sunday.
 
SATURDAY:
 
Women's B criterium:  The first race to kick off the Conference Championships at the Tiger Town Classic would be the women's B criterium.  Andrea Castro (Valencia, Venezuela / User Experience (UX) Design) was the only Bee in the race and braved some shocking race conditions as the rain came down.  Andrea put on a strong and gritty display to finish 4th in what was the first race of her final race weekend with the team after 6 years of competing as a Bee. 
 
"After many years at SCAD and recovering from a major injury, I am really happy that I got to race with my team during my last year at SCAD.  This weekend was full of emotions and I could not have done it without the support of everybody on the team.  I wish it wasn't my final race, but I am more than content with how my final weekend went." - Andrea Castro
 
Men's B criterium:  In what were the worst conditions of the weekend, Avery Seip (Savannah, Ga. / Architecture) took to the start line for the Men's B criterium on Saturday morning.  Avery showed some great bike-handling skills in the wet and greasy corners to get through the race and finish in a respectable 8th place.  
 
Men's A criterium: Forrest Howard, Billy Taylor (New York, N.Y. / Production Design), Andrew Sparks (Cape Town, South Africa / Creative Business Leadership), Skyler Diacou (Atlanta, Ga. / Service Design), Colin Patterson (Palo Alto, Calif. / Design for Sustainability), Matthew Armstrong (Anahilt, County Down, Northern Ireland / Creative Business Leadership), Emiliano Mirafuentes (San Nichols, Mexico / Social Strategy and Management), and Eugenio Mirafuentes (Monterrey, Mexico / Sound Design) toed the start line for the Men's A crit Conference Championships.  The men's crit had a stacked field of 48 riders ready to fight it out for the Conference title.  The 70-minute crit in downtown Central, South Carolina, was comprised of six corners, difficult off-camber sections, and an unforgiving road surface which caused flat tires in each race on the day.  After a committed team performance and strong riding, the team ended up with 3 riders in the top 10.  Eugenio Mirafuentes sprinted to 5th place with Taylor and Diacou coming close behind in 7th and 9th place.  
 
"I was trying to ride at the front to follow moves and keep our sprinters protected.  This race helped me gain more confidence in getting our team in the right position at the crit in nationals." - Skyler Diacou 
 
Women's A criterium: Lauren Dodge (Bakersfield, Calif. / Service Design), Dagny Palmer (Phoenixville, Pa. / Design for Sustainability), Anya Peregrino (Dubai, United Arab Emirates / Production Design), Kara Lilly and Jette Aelken (Haltern am See, NRW, Germany / Architecture) took on the Women's A criterium in what was a large and stacked field of collegiate and pro 1-2 women. The race started hot with the peloton noticeably skittish on the terrain. Early in the race, a large gap broke and the field split in two: Dagny Palmer made a huge dig to get back into position as other riders were shelled. Then, with four laps to go, Jette went off the front in a breakaway of six. Coming into the final moments, she sprinted from the front — and won. In the field, the women felt strong, though Lauren was taken out by a terribly timed flat two laps to go. Kara contested the bunch and delivered 8th. 
 
Men's A TTT: The men's A team time trial consisted of Colin Patterson, Emiliano Mirafuentes, Skyler Diacou and Forrest Howard.  The race on Saturday afternoon had the Bees competing with some severe crosswinds on both the way out and the way back.  The men put in a stellar time on the rolling course to finish in second place.
 
Men's B ITT: Avery Seip went up against the clock in the men's B individual time trial on Saturday afternoon.  After a strong ride on the 7-mile course, Avery finished in 2nd place.  Points are doubled during the conference championships which makes this placing even more beneficial to the team as they fought for the overall team omnium.  
 
Men's A ITT: Eugenio Mirafuentes took on the individual time trial in the men's A category and finished in second place.  This was a solid individual effort by Eugenio after fighting for a podium spot just hours before in the criterium.  
 
Women's A TTT: Like the men's A team, the women's A squad competed in heavy crosswinds on the 7-mile course. Lauren Dodge, Kara Lilly, Jette Aelken and Dagny Palmer fought against the unconventional terrain and came a close 2nd place. 
 
Women's ITT: Anya Peregrino also braced the elements and got through the rolling course with a time that would put her in 3rd place on the day.  As this is Anya's first season as an A on the road, this was a fantastic result for Anya as she collected some vital points for the team.  
 
 
SUNDAY
 
Men's B road race: Avery Seip took on 3 laps of the challenging road race course on Sunday morning in the men's B category.  The race was aggressive with plenty of sections of the course for riders who were feeling good to launch attacks.  Seip made the front split on the main climb of the first lap and fought it out to a 12th place finish.  
 
Men's A road race: On what turned out to be a hot Sunday morning in South Carolina, the same group of A men who raced the crit the day before lined up to tackle a hilly, 65-mile road race.  A breakaway of two riders went on the 3rd lap of 5.  For the next lap the breakaway gap was controlled strategically by Sparks, Diacou, and Howard.  Going onto the final lap, an incident occurred with the lead motorcycle in front of the race which caused the race to be called off.  We wish the motorcycle driver a speedy recovery.
 
Women's A road race: Building on the work from the rest of the season, the Women's A squad continued to demonstrate strong teamwork and team tactics on the hilly road race. For laps 1 and 2, Kara patrolled and controlled the front of the peloton, leading steady efforts up the decisive climbs to dissuade attacks and shutting down whatever ones were attempted. Then, leading into the major climb on the third lap, she led out climbers Jette and Dagny into the break. Jette then went on to win the sprint from the break — initiating her sprint from an unheard of 600m mark. Another successful victory for Women's A team. 
 
Women's B road race:  Andrea Castro took part in the women's B road race on Sunday morning.  The women put in a strong and fast first lap with Castro feeling good in the pack.  Unfortunately, Andrea suffered a mechanical during a decisive point of the race and lost contact with the front 3 riders.  Andrea came home to cap off her season in 4th place in the conference champs.
 
Jette Aelken finished the season in 2nd place in the women's overall omnium for the season and Eugenio Mirafuentes finished in 5th in the men's omnium.  These two riders have been incredibly consistent throughout the season across all three races each weekend.  To add, Jette Aelken has won the last 4 mass start road events that she has entered.  After a promising road season, the team capped it off by coming in 2nd place in the overall team omnium.  Consistent results from all categories and selfless teamwork on both the men's and women's sides are what allowed the Bees to climb the podium.  With a few more hard weeks of training, the team will be in great standing to compete in the National championships in Albuquerque at the beginning of next month.   
 
"Another great conference road season in the books.  We went into the weekend sitting third place overall in the team omnium and came out of the weekend in second.  We had some great results in the time trials, crits and road races and we are now looking to carry this momentum during this next month of training towards nationals at the beginning of next month in Albuquerque, New Mexico." - Coach Hoover
 
WHAT'S NEXT? The Bees will travel to Albuquerque, N.M. to compete at the USA Cycling Road National Championship on Friday, May 5^th – Sunday, May 7^th.