Tillinghast wins national collegiate cycling championship
Published 2:57 pm Monday, June 15, 2015
Special to the Reporter
American University senior Adelaide Tillinghast won the Division II Individual Time Trial at the 2015 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships last month in Asheville, N.C. Tillinghast clinched her first national championship in the last race of her collegiate racing career.
“I wanted to leave college with a winner’s jersey and gold medal and I made my last chance count,” said Tillinghast, a Bear Creek School alumna.
Tillinghast finished with a time of 32:05.66, nearly five seconds faster than the silver medalist.
The win caps an impressive collegiate career for Tillinghast as she finished second in the road race and third in the time trial in last year’s national championship while also finishing second in the time trial as a sophomore.
Battling back from broken arms and a concussion sustained in two separate accidents that kept her off the bike for autumn training, Tillinghast won 10 of 14 conference races this season.
Tillinghast started bicycle racing during her freshman year at American University (Washington, D.C.) after a back injury forced her to give up cross country running.
In addition to racing for American University, Tillinghast competed in the 2014 Northstar Grand Prix, the largest pro cycling stage race in the country for women, as a member of the Collegiate Allstars Team. Following Northstar, she was invited to the U.S. Olympic training center in Colorado Springs, Colo. for training and evaluation.
Tillinghast graduated from American University last month with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a minor in business. She is moving to Denver to pursue a career in business and professional bicycle racing.
