Gabriella Arnold, the Bermuda cyclist, posted a pair of top-20 finishes at the USA Cycling Collegiate Mountain Biking National Championships at Beech Mountain, North Carolina.

The Marian University freshman placed sixteenth out of 34 riders in women’s Division One Short Track Cross Country event on Friday, before finishing 20th out of 31 riders in today’s Cross Country race.

Marian, who boast one of the most prestigious collegiate cycling programmes in the United States, finished third overall at the Championships behind defending champions Fort Lewis College, of Colorado, and the University of Colorado Boulder, the overall winners.

More than 70 schools and 300 riders competed for national titles in six disciplines at the three-day event, which has been held at Beech Mountain for two straight years.

Arnold, a former Warwick Academy student, became the first Bermudian cyclist to be awarded a scholarship, believed to be in the region of $20,000, when she enrolled at the university, in Indianapolis, Indiana, in August.

The 17-year-old captained Bermuda at this month’s Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships in Paramaribo, Suriname.

Making her last appearance at the Championships, where she had already won a gold medal and three bronze, Arnold finished fifth in the road race and seventh in the time-trial.