Sports

Basking Ridge Middle Schooler Takes National Cycling Award

Gregory Cordasco, seventh grader, wins national 10-12 year old junior track cycling title.

Gregory Cordasco, a seventh grader at the William Annin Middle School, won a national junior track cycling title in the age 10-12 age category following a race this summer in Trexlertown, Pa. held under the governing body of USA Cycling.

"This discipline of cycling takes place on a Velodrome, a banked style oval track that you see in the Olympics. This is an Olympic sport," said his father, Greg Cordasco, co-owner of Liberty Cycle in Basking Ridge center. 

Cordasco said the location of the race moves every year, to various velodromes, of which there are about 20, in the U.S.

"I love all kinds of cycling, from BMX to road, to mountain bikes, but when I knew that Track Nationals was going to be only an hour way, in Pennsylvania, I knew that was what I should focus on," the young cyclist said this week.

Gregory, 12, said he placed fifth in the competition last year, and with a final year in the same age bracket for 2013, he said that he knew that if he trained hard for 2013, he believed he could have a shot at improving on his 2012 result.
 
"To put the hard work in and win, was simply a dream!," Gregory said.

In the spring and summer, Gregory is on his bike five times a week, his father said, although he also continues cycling twice a week in the winter and the fall.

He said his son is part of the Liberty Cycle squad, which wears the blue and white quadrants, "so you definitely see him out training, very often with the group of about six to eight other Juniors on the Liberty Cycle Junior Team and the adults.

Gregory also has played soccer and baseball, in town and will be playing basketball this winter, his father said.

The National Championship Jersey is awarded to the boy and girl who scores the most points in three events, Greg Cordasco said.

"Gregory finished first in one race and second in two others to give him the highest accumulated point total to be awarded the National Championship Jersey," his father said.

"He was up against the best boys from around the country in his age group," his father said proudly.


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