Having placed first or second in all Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) races so far this road season, Penn State Lehigh Valley cyclist Monica Volk currently claims the title of women's series leader for the ECCC.
Over the past few weeks, the sophomore toxicology major has traveled the east coast competing in races such as the Rockland Lake Circuit Race at Columbia University; the Rutgers Campus Criterium at Rutgers University; the Philly Phyler at Temple University, Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania; the MIT/Tufts Beanpot 2015 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University; and the Army Spring Cycling Classic at West Point.
Volk has achieved many successes as a freshman cyclist for Penn State Lehigh Valley. At her first collegiate road national championship, Volk claimed third in the road race, fourth in the time trial and fifteenth in the criterium at the 2014 USA Cycling Collegiate Road Nationals which took place in Richmond, Va.
This year's USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships will take place from May 8-10 in Asheville, N.C., and Penn State Lehigh Valley cycling coach Mandy Marquardt believes that Volk will be very successful there.
In addition to traveling the country to get a taste of professional cycling, Volk will be spending her summer racing at Penn State Lehigh Valley cycling club's home track, the famous Valley Perferred Cycling Center's Velodrome in Breinigsville, Pa. (otherwise known as "T-Town"). She also plans to go for the 2015 USA Cycling U23 National Championships in North Lake Tahoe, Calif. at the end of June.
"I've put in a lot of hard work during this offseason, and I am excited for a summer full of racing," said Volk. "I am so thankful for all of the support that comes from the Penn State Lehigh Valley community, and I am so proud to represent the campus across the country in collegiate racing."
For more information about the cycling club at Penn State Lehigh Valley, please contact Head Coach Mandy Marquardt, or visit the website at lv.psu.edu/cycling.