Chris Murphy set a new world record on the first day of the 2018 U.S. Para-Cycling Track National Championships.

• Joe Berenyi, Shawn Morelli and Chris Murphy each won the individual pursuit for the fourth year in a row
• Five cyclists - Clara Brown, Josephine Fouts, Jason Macom, and pilot Evan Thomson and stoker Michael Stephens - capture national titles in the individual pursuit for the first time in their careers

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - In an action-packed day at the Olympic Training Center Velodrome in Colorado Springs, Colorado, 13 Para-cyclists took home national titles during the first day of the 2018 U.S. Paralympics Track Cycling National Championships.

Three athletes continued their dominance on the track, winning the individual pursuit crown for the fourth time in a row. On the men’s side, four-time Paralympic medalist Joe Berenyi (Aurora, Illinois) secured the MC3 title and Paralympian Chris Murphy (Rancho Cucamonga, California) won the MC5 national championship, while two-time Paralympic champion Shawn Morelli (Saegertown, Pennsylvania) claimed the WC4 crown.

En route to defending their titles, Sean Culp (Los Angeles, California) and Billy Lister (Cold Spring Harbor, New York) remained on top in the MC2 and MC1 classes, while stoker Shawn Cheshire (Camillus, New York) and pilot Tela Crane (Sammamish, Washington) remained victorious in the WB individual pursuit.

Three individuals and one tandem pair took home national championships for the first times in their careers: Clara Brown (WC3/Falmouth, Maine), Josephine Fouts (WC5/San Diego, California), Jason Macom (MC4/Little Rock, Arkansas), and the tandem pair of Michael Stephens (Belgrade, Montana)/Evan Thomson (Seagirt, New Jersey).

To conclude the evening, the 2017 world champions and trio of Berenyi, Murphy and Jason Kimball (Charlotte, North Carolina) secured the team sprint title with a new national record of 1:06.207.

In addition to racing for national titles, cyclists raced in the flying 200 in attempts to set national and world records. Three world records were set, with new marks by Murphy (C5 - 10.703), Kimball (C3 - 11.141) and Mohamed Lahna (C2 - 13.411).

Competition concludes tomorrow with the time trial, scratch race and tandem sprint finals.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

Clara Brown (Falmouth, Maine): WC3 3K individual pursuit (4:18.066)

Shawn Morelli (Saegertown, Penn.): WC4 3K individual pursuit (4:00.459)

Josephine Fouts (San Diego, Calif.): WC5 3K individual pursuit (4:27.259)

Billy Lister (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.): MC1 3K individual pursuit (4:06.061)

Sean Culp (Los Angeles, Calif.): MC2 3K individual pursuit (4:00.777)

Joe Berenyi (Aurora, Ill.): MC3 3K individual pursuit (OVL)

Shawn Cheshire (Camillus, N.Y.) /Tela Crane (Sammamish, Wash.): WB 3K individual pursuit (3:44.875)

Jason Macom (Little Rock, Ark.): MC4 4K individual pursuit (4:54.514)

Chris Murphy (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.): MC5 4K individual pursuit (4:46.641)

Michael Stephens (Belgrade, Mont.)/Evan Thomson (Seagirt, N.J.): MB 4K individual pursuit (4:39.382)

Berenyi, Jason Kimball (Charlotte, N.C.), Murphy: Team Sprint - 1:06.207

QUOTES

Clara Brown, WC3
“I went in just wanting to beat my time and not necessarily with the goal of beating Jamie (Whitmore), so it was great. I felt a lot more consistent the second ride and had splits that were more where I wanted them to be. I had some tears. It’s been a lot of work, but I’m really excited.”

Jason Macom, MC4

“This morning I felt great and went really fast, but right away the effort was really hard. I got a kilometer into the race and I had to just take a break, take a lap and come back to it …but I was able to get back to pushing hard and trying to make the lap times come back down. It’s crazy. I’m so, so happy. It’s super emotional for me. I’ve been racing a long time and this is my first time [winning a national title] so it’s super cool.”

Chris Murphy, MC5
“Everything felt really good today. I was hoping to go a little faster in the 200-meter, but still happy to break the world record. I’ve been going faster in training but it is what it is. I surprised myself in the pursuit, that’s my best pursuit here.”

RESULTS

Full results from the 2018 U.S. Paralympics Track Cycling National Championships can be found here. Follow U.S. Paralympics on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook for updates from the event.