What do you like most about being a student-athlete at MSA?

What I love most about being a student athlete at Miller is the support I’m given in all aspects of my days. My coaches support and encourage me to do well and challenge myself in my classes, while my teachers uplift and support me if I need to travel or maybe change a deadline due to training or a race.

What is your favorite class at MSA and what do you like about it?

I love Mr. C’s music class, it taught me to truly love music and explore a new side of it. He is also an incredibly cool teacher who has taught (now) pro level cyclists, MLB players, NBA players, and many more and he finds a way to connect and bond with each and every one of them, 

What is your favorite race of the year and why?

It's hard to pick one, but for each discipline I'll pick a course. Road, Green Mountain Stage Race. It's at the beginning of the school year and sets an amazing standard for the team camaraderie for the year to come. It immediately challenges everyone not only on the bike, but in learning team tactics with team mates you may have never raced with before. On the mountain bike hands down is the Miller race in both the fall and the spring. It can humble you to realize how lucky you are to ride on such incredible trails while you watch the Virginia cycling community enjoy and race on them. There’s just a different energy that’s brought to the Miller race and of course, we all know it like the back of our hands. 

What is your favorite training ride/route and why?

I love riding out to Afton mountain, going up past the post office, and riding up the last part of 250 to the Blue Ridge Parkway. It is such a rewarding climb and will always hold such a special place in my heart. The parkway is hands down one of the best places to ride in the area we live in, if not the country, and I find myself wanting to come back up to Charlottesville when I'm in Richmond just to do my ride in such a beautiful place. 

What are your pre-race rituals/routines?

Music, alone time, and a good warmup. I have dealt with my mental health in my racing throughout my racing career, across both disciplines, and only recently have I found a pre race ritual that truly puts me in a great headspace for my race. I have a pre-race playlist that is endlessly growing, but has all of my songs that not only hype me up, but spark that pre-race fire in me. I need alone time to collect my thoughts before my race and truly take in the thoughts that I’m having and channel those into power and hunger for a good result. And then finally a good warmup. Not only is it good for my body to warm up properly, but it also ensures my mind that it's time to put out all the work that’s been put in. If I’m warming up on a trainer with the team, it also gives me time to do one final rundown with Justin Bowes or my team mates, and kind of finalize any expectations for the race. 

List 3 songs on your pre-race playlist:

Nice For What - Drake

Power - Kanye West 

Papi’s Home - Drake

Any other interesting things about you that you’d like to share?

Coming to Miller to continue my cycling career was one of the best decisions I have made in my high school years. Not only have I discovered new disciplines and been given life changing opportunities, but my teammates are my best friends, and the cycling community at Miller will immediately give you a group to bond with and push you in all you do. It is truly a program like no other.