Tornado cycling battles storms at Lees-McRae

The day started with cross-country, where King had multiple athletes competing in multiple levels. For the women: Alexa Whaley and Kaitlyn Mezo both competed in the twos and threes, with Whaley finishing in 59:02.30 with a third-place finish. Mezo finished two places behind in fifth with a time of 1:01:43.90.

The men had a large crew in the ones and twos, with the highest finisher being Jayson Wallace with a time of 1:40:32 and a 30^th-place finish. Nathan Feduniw finished close behind Wallace with a time of 1:40:53, finishing in 34^th place.

Colin Horton, Daniel Torres, and Jose Pena all finished in a pack, placing 42^nd, 45^th, and 46^th, respectively.

In the men's twos and threes, King had three athletes finish in the top 30, with Cayden Holmes finishing in eighth place with a time of 47:50.00. Karsten Fowler and Caleb New finished in 28^th and 29^th, respectively, with times of 57:41.80 for Fowler and 57:57.20 for New.

The afternoon saw a bad thunderstorm come through, which pushed the dual slalom back and caused the course conditions to change.

The Tornado were able to battle through the storm, with the men's top finisher in the men's ones and twos being Colin Burgess with a 29^th-place finish. Noah Hornbeck and Horton both competed in the ones and twos as well, with places of 35^th and 44^th, respectively.

Fowler led the way for King in the twos and threes with a sixth-place finish. Pena and Cayden Holmes finished in 28^th and 30^th, respectively.

The women had one athlete racing in the DS, with Whaley, who was able to finish in fifth place in the twos and threes.

Up next: King will continue to compete today at the Collegiate MTB Challenge at Lees-McRae.