Saint Augustine’s University in Raleigh, North Carolina will become the first historically Black college or university (HBCU) to have its own competitive cycling team, reported the Atlanta Black Star.
Marshall Walter “Major” TaylorThe coed team – coached by Augustine’s Umar Muhammad and Dr. Mark Janas – will compete at the club level in the Atlantic Conference, which is organized by USA Cycling. Collegiate cycling is not a National Collegiate Athletic Association sport nor is it sanctioned by any other typical college athletics organizing bodies.
According to the Atlanta Black Star, the team’s founders hope their HBCU cycling team honors the legacy of cyclist Marshall Walter “Major” Taylor, who was the first African American to win a world cycling championship and the second African American to win a world championship in any sport.
“We’re excited to be the first HBCU to formally have a collegiate cycling team,” Muhammad said in a statement. “What many may not realize is that while cycling might be new to most HBCU’s, African Americans have made huge contributions to the sport of cycling.”
