We are the Champions
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Ryo Akimoto, Luca Scuriatti, and Nic Narraway proudly wear their respective National Champion jerseys.
Ten thousand miles is a long distance. In an average year of training, Varsity Elite Miller School cyclists ride their bikes just over ten thousand miles to prepare for races around the world. During the school year, these miles take them up and over the Blue Ridge Mountains, weave through scenic gravel roads, and fly across the rolling hills of the Piedmont. Every pedal stroke takes each rider closer to his or her dream of being a champion.
As students return to the Hill and daily athletic practices slowly resume, the Endurance Team was able to recognize three of its champion student-athletes with custom Cutaway Clothing national jerseys. This is a long-standing tradition in the sport of cycling. When a rider wins National Championships, he or she wears a National Champion jersey the entire season in all races. It is one of the greatest honors in the sport.
Hailing from Washington, D.C. and representing the United States as current Junior Road Race Champion is Luca Scuriatti. Luca won the road event, which was held in Hagerstown, MD, with a dominant sprint out of a peloton containing the nation's top junior cyclists. Although the event took place in 2019, COVID forced the cancellation of all 2020 Championship Events, so Luca has the honor of carrying his title into the 2021 season.
From the hilly roads and pink sand beaches of Bermuda, Nic Narraway is the recently crowned Junior Road Champion of Bermuda. In an impressive display of strength, Nic distanced himself from the pack early in the race with a small breakaway group and confidently won the sprint to take the top step of the podium and honor of being crowned National Champion.
One of the newest Varsity Elite members of the team, Ryo Akimoto, from Hirosaki City, Japan, won his regional Road Race Championship race this past summer. COVID protocols prevented the governing body of Japanese cycling from holding a nation-wide championship; however, each region (four regions in total) were permitted to host their own championship events. Despite cool temperatures and uninviting rain on race day, Ryo proved his mental and physical prowess by forcing a breakaway with one other rider late in the race and winning a perfectly-timed sprint with a bike throw at the line. With this victory, Ryo claimed the title of Tohoku Regional Champion, or the Northern Japan Region.
Coincidently, the distance of a journey from the pink sand beaches of Bermuda to the monuments of Washington, DC, and then to the steep climbs in Hirosaki, Japan is just under ten thousand miles. If only there were a road, there is no doubt Nic, Luca, and Ryo would be on it training to defend their respective titles.
