Eighteen Titles Awarded on the First Day of the 2026 Paracycling Road National Championships
The 2026 USA Cycling Paracycling Road National Championships began on Saturday morning with the Time Trial events, where fifty-seven of the nation’s best para-athletes raced against the clock.
The first wave of the day kicked off with the Handcycle classes. Alfredo De Los Santos (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.; Team Semper Fi/Semper Fi Fund) won the Men’s H5 race with a time of 29:48.34. Matt Tingley (Colorado Springs, Colo.) secured the national title in the Men’s H4 category with a time of 28:50.41. Kevin Hillery (Alexandria, Va.; Paralyzed Veterans Racing) claimed gold in the Men’s H3 category with a time of 34:35.24. Nicholas McCoy (Boerne, Texas; Texas ParaSports) won the Men’s H2 race with his time of 37:43.56. In the women’s handcycle events, Jo Ann Outten Kenton (Harrington, Del.) stopped the clock at 38:44.83 to secure the win in Women’s H4. Linden Williamson (Boerne, Texas; Texas ParaSport) took the top step in Women’s H2 with her time of 37:53.47.
In the Tricycle events, riders completed two laps of the 6.3-kilometer course, for a total of 12.6 kilometers. Dennis Connors (Beaverton, Ore.) won the Men’s T2 title, and Mandy Kloepfer (Rockford, Ill.; Team CAF) earned gold in the Women’s T2 race.
The B Tandem classes and Men’s C3-5 completed a total of 25.2 kilometers, while all other Cycling classes completed 18.9 kilometers. Marina Mears and Cheyenne Meyer (Anderson, S.C.) took the top step in the Women’s B tandem event with a time of 43:11.50. In the Men’s B tandem event, Owen Cravens and William Seitz (Caver Creek, Ariz.) had a standout day, clocking 33:36.75 to win the national title. Cravens said, “We did a 4-lap course, 25k, and it was very fun, great weather. It was pretty turn-y, so it wasn’t super quick, but it was extremely fun to get out there and race some other people on the tandems.”
Grant Simonds (Salt Lake City, Utah; Open Range Consulting) delivered a dominant ride to win the Men’s C5 title with a time of 33:45.68. After the race, he said, “It was a great course, really fun to have closed roads to just fly in the wind.”
In the Men’s C4 category, CJ Howard (Sacramento, Calif.; Pacos/Shriners Racing) rode to victory, stopping the clock at 35:24.50. Justin Mathers (Fayetteville, N.C.; Pinarello Performance) delivered a strong performance, clocking 36:46.50 to win the Men’s C3 category.
In the women’s events, Samantha Bosco (Claremont, Calif.; Caldera Medical x Aurea) stopped the clock at 27:38.19 to take top honors in the Women’s C4 category. Jamie Whitmore (Mount Aukum, Calif.; Twenty28) earned gold in the Women’s C3 race with her time of 30:20.88. Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.; SRAM) captured the Women’s C2 title, clocking a time of 32:30.17.
Men’s B (Tandem) Results:
1. Owen Cravens and William Seitz (Caver Creek, Ariz.)
2. Michael Murphy & Richard Soares (Rio Rancho, N.M.; Grit 2Greatness/Fat Tire Cycles)
3. Henry Escobedo & Jackson Mechem (Pearland, Texas; Texas Hold'em)
Women’s B (Tandem) Results:
1. Marina Mears & Cheyenne Meyer (Anderson, S.C.)
Men’s C5 (Cycling) Results:
1. Grant Simonds (Salt Lake City, Utah; Open Range Consulting)
2. Christopher Hammer (Gilbert, Ariz.)
3. Benjamin McCall (Rock Hill, S.C.; Clemson Cycling)
Men’s C4 (Cycling) Results:
1. CJ Howard (Sacramento, Calif.; Pacos/Shriners Racing)
2. Jason Macom (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
3. Mitchell Brekke (Hartland, Minn.; Gray Duck Racing)
Men’s C3 (Cycling) Results:
1. Justin Mathers (Fayetteville, N.C.; Pinarello Performance)
2. Noah Middlestaedt (Portland, Maine; GimpCyclist.com)
3. Denis McGrath (New York, N.Y.; Dare2Tri)
Men’s C2 (Cycling) Results:
1. Broden Ala (Vail, Ariz.; Hatch Toyota)
2. Cahin Perez (Christiana, Tenn.; Project Echelon Vanguard)
3. Ashantai Yungai (Salt Lake City, Utah; Motiv8 Endurance)
Men’s C1 (Cycling) Results:
1. Todd Key (Scottsdale, Ariz.; Velo Track Cycling)
Women’s C4 (Cycling) Results:
1. Samantha Bosco (Claremont, Calif.; Caldera Medical x Aurea)
2. Shawn Morelli (Leavenworth, Kan.; Project Echelon Vanguard)
3. Andrea Cherniak-Tyson (San Jose, Calif.; SJBC)
Women’s C3 (Cycling) Results:
1. Jamie Whitmore (Mount Aukum, Calif.; Twenty28)
Women’s C2 (Cycling) Results:
1. Allison Jones (Colorado Springs, Colo.; SRAM)
2. Tracy LaMarche (Easley, S.C.; Alive Day)
Men H5 (Handcycle) Results:
1. Alfredo De Los Santos (Hopewell Junction, N.Y.; Team Semper Fi/Semper Fi Fund)
2. Panagiotis Ampelas (San Diego, Calif.; Peace Performance)
3. Roderick Sewell (Denver, Colo.)
Men H4 (Handcycle) Results:
1. Matt Tingley (Colorado Springs, Colo.)
2. Razak Redzuan Abdul (North Miami, Fla.)
3. Casey Falkner (Stevensville, Mich.; Mary Free Bed Handcycling)
Men’s H3 (Handcycle) Results:
1. Kevin Hillery (Alexandria, Va.; Paralyzed Veterans Racing)
2. Steve Chapman (Cedar Springs, Mich.; Creative Ability Solutions)
Men’s H2 (Handcycle) Results:
1. Nicholas McCoy (Boerne, Texas; Texas ParaSports)
2. Stephen Zuravel (Pinellas Park, Fla.; Carbonbike USA)
3. Jeremy Van Tress (Herriman, Utah; Paralyzed Veterans of America)
Women’s H4 (Handcycle) Results:
1. Jo Ann Outten Kenton (Harrington, Del.)
2. Lindsey Schuler (Houston, Texas)
Women’s H2 (Handcycle) Results:
1. Linden Williamson (Boerne, Texas; Texas ParaSport)
Men’s T2 (Tricycle) Results:
1. Dennis Connors (Beaverton, Ore.)
2. Steven Peace (San Diego, Calif.; Challenged Athlete Foundation/Peace Cycling Performance)
Women’s T2 (Tricycle) Results:
1. Mandy Kloepfer (Rockford, Ill.; Team CAF)
Rider results for day one and live timing for day two can be found here.
Tomorrow, the event continues with the Road Races for all categories. Click here for the full event schedule.
Photo By: Michael Drager
