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Local rider places in junior cycling nationals

Isabella Brookshire placed in two events at the USA Cycling Amateur Road Nationals in Louisville, Ky..

Isabella Brookshire, a rising junior at Asheville School rising junior and 2016 Junior Team member from Hendersonville, earned two podium finishes after competing in the USA Cycling Amateur Road Nationals in Louisville, Ky., last weekend.


Brookshire arrived to nationals with a few nerves but shook them off after the starting whistle blew.

“Once you get going you get into race mode,” she said. She was excited to race against other top-ranked girls in her age range.

On July 2 she competed in the Women’s Junior Road Race, placing second in the 15-16 age category with a time of 1:41:37. She described the course as having hills, downhills, twists and turns and overall as “a lot of fun.” On July 3 she competed in the Women’s Junior Criterium Race, placing third in the 15-16 age category with a time of 28:22.

Brookshire will leave for Europe in two weeks to continue training and racing. She is excited for the challenge and intensity that cycling in Europe will provide. She also plans to stay focused on her academics this summer. “I’m taking my SAT prep book,” she says.

Next year she will fall in the oldest age category of junior racing (17-18).

“If you really want to do something you have to do it with your whole heart, and that is how it is with cycling,” Brookshire says.

Asheville School is a nationally acclaimed co-ed, college preparatory boarding and day school for students in grades 9 through 12. The 287 students enrolled at Asheville School represent 20 states and 16 countries. Recent graduates have been accepted to Amherst, Columbia, Davidson, Duke, Elon, Emory, Furman, Georgetown, Harvard, NC State, Rhodes, Sewanee, UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, William & Mary, WashU, Wofford, and Yale among others.