With Notre Dame student athletes preparing for finals week, now is a perfect time to remember the history of ND Cycling.
2012 Season Highlight Video
Led by senior captain Nathaniel Lee, the 2012 Irish cycling squad was arguably the most complete in school history. 10 riders from this team would race in the A category before their careers concluded, with upperclassmen Joseph Magro, Douglas Ansel, Andrew O’Donnell, Brian Hurley, Patrick Handy, Carolyn McCann, and Brian Boyle, forming an experienced core. The team was augmented by current MWCCC defending champion John Pratt’s sparkling freshman season, and also saw the emergence of transfer Luke Tilmans coincide with the beginning of freshmen James Snitzer and Michael Chifala’s decorated ND careers. David Pratt, and August Kunkel both won races for Notre Dame that spring, while Phil Palmon, Patrick Handy, Josh Corcoran, and Rob Piscatelli all scored multiple top 5’s for the team. When the dust settled at the first ever MWCCC Conference Championships to be held in South Bend, Notre Dame had amassed 15 individual and team wins throughout the season, with an unprecedented 50 top 5’s. Easily reclaiming the school’s second MWCCC DII team crown, Joe Magro also collected his second MWCCC individual title. To cap the 2012 season, Notre Dame Cycling was named the Notre Dame student club of the year, in recognition of their partnership with the Ara Parsegian Medical Research Foundation, charity initiatives throughout the South Bend Community, and work to bring corporate sponsorship to ND club sports.
Since 2012, Notre Dame’s cycling program has continued to grow, and the 2015 spring season promises to bring even more excitement to the ND community. With the largest women’s team in years, and multiple National Championship qualifiers returning, the 2015 team has high hopes to bring home the school’s 5th consecutive conference team title!