jeremy Poore – Member

Jeremy Poore’s passion is trails.  Designing, building, maintaining, riding, hiking, you name it, he’s out doing it.  Whether he’s leading trail construction courses at McDowell Tech Trail School, driving riders to Old Fort, NC area trailheads with his MTB shuttle business Mountain Top Shuttles or designing and building a 112 acre bike park with Watershed Bike Park, he’s focused on building the trail community.

In addition to his love of trails, Jeremy brings decades of experience in building and growing businesses through honing the story, exciting audiences with marketing, finding operational efficiency and setting the course with strategic planning.  He has rapidly grown more than five startup companies and built several businesses of his own.

Most recently, Jeremy and his wife Molly moved to Old Fort, NC to take part in the transformation of an old mill town into an adventure mountain biking destination.  He is a regular Trail Crew Leader with the G5 Trail Collective, a sawyer trainer for the US Forest Service and serves on the board of the McDowell Tourism Development Authority with the goal of increasing adventure tourism in McDowell County. 

Jeremy is excited to bring his trail wisdom and business leadership to the NICA NC board.  He is especially excited about the Teen Trail Corps, getting more young people stoked about bikes and working to bring more race locations to Western NC.

rashawn king – Member

Rashawn King is the first-ever program manager for Triangle Trails Initiative . He is responsible for overseeing the administration, programs and strategic plan of the initiative, while assisting with fundraising, marketing and community outreach. King joined the Triangle Trails Initiative from North Carolina State University’s College of Natural Resources where he serves as a recreational consultant for the Recreation Resources Service. In this role, he provided grant administration for local governments across the state of North Carolina that need assistance with development and land acquisition projects, including the development of greenways and trails. 

King earned his master’s degree from NC State in parks, recreation, tourism and management and received his bachelor’s recreation administration from North Carolina Central University. Also, previously served on the City of Raleigh Parks, Recreation, and Greenway Advisory Board, Make-A-Wish Advisory Board, Leukemia Lymphoma Society Advisory Board. Currently King serves as a board member for the Oaks and Spokes Bike Advocacy Advisory Board.

robby bennett – Member

Robby Bennett is the head mountain bike coach at Asheville School, a boarding school located in Asheville, NC.  Coach Bennett is responsible for all aspects of the mountain bike program at Asheville School that include skill instruction, maintenance of the mountain bike fleet, planning of mountain bike excursions off campus, fitness training for mountain bike athletes and management of the school sponsored race team.  Coach Bennett will begin his 3rd year at Asheville School in 2025.

Previously, Bennett spent 26 years in the athletic department at The Citadel a military college in Charleston, SC.  During his tenure at the NCAA Division 1 athletic program, Bennett served as Assistant Director of Athletics where he oversaw various aspects of the department including ticketing, facilities and event management.  

Coach Bennett has been active in the cycling community for over 30 years as a racer, team director, coach, and bike shop employee.  While Coach Bennett enjoys coaching the athletes at Asheville School, he still enjoys lining up for an occasional XC mountain bike or gravel race.  A highlight of his cycling experiences was working at the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships held in Fayetteville Arkansas.

Robby is married to Tosha Cotner Bennett and they have three grown boys.

Keith arbogast – Member

Keith Arbogast lives in Brevard, NC, with his wife, Charisma, and their two children, Jay and Kell. A lifelong mountain biker who first began riding Pisgah’s trails with his father in 1988, Keith has been deeply involved in the sport for decades as a rider, advocate, coach, and former bike shop owner. Professionally, he serves as Chief Financial Officer and Senior Director of Campus Operations at the Brevard Music Center, where he oversees finance, operations, and strategic initiatives for the nationally recognized summer music institute and festival. Keith remains passionate about youth development through cycling and community engagement, most recently completing his 5th season as Team Director for the Brevard Composite NCICL team serving Transylvania County.

matt buffington – Member

Matt, his wife Laura, and their son Donovan began mountain biking in the spring 2023 and quickly developed a passion for the sport.  During their first season in the NCICL, he became a Level 1 coach and is currently obtaining his Level 3 coaching certification.  On race weekends, you can usually find Matt volunteering as a Course Marshall utilizing his background in emergency care.  

When not biking, Matt enjoys boating, camping, and spending time with family and friends.

Matt is passionate about creating an inclusive community where all student-athletes can develop a love for the sport and find a sense of belonging.

nicholas morosco – vice president

Based in Winston-Salem, Nick Morosco is a mountain biking dad and higher-ed project leader who helps teams turn good ideas into working systems. With nearly two decades guiding colleges through complex technology rollouts—planning integrations and testing, aligning stakeholders, and delivering change—he brings a calm, collaborative approach to getting things done. Nick coaches with the Forsyth County Composite team, and he’s passionate about inclusive, confidence-building opportunities for every rider. Off the bike, he coaches youth soccer and loves exploring trails with his family.

Elise freed – Member

Elise Freed has fond memories of riding bikes with her family growing up and now is excited to share mountain biking with youth in her community. She loves that NICA encourages student athletes to join at any skill level. She is most passionate about supporting the beginners and watching their confidence grow.

She lives with her husband and two sons, works as a bike mechanic, and enjoys inline skating and Minecraft.

Elise plays many roles in NCICL – team director, course setter, GRiT committee member, and coach supporter. As a board member, she strives to represent the viewpoints of NCICL families and league staff.

Joe Galvin – Member

Joseph Galvin is avid triathlete, biker, and runner. As member and captain of the All-Marine Triathlon Team for the past 17 years, he has competed in numerous Armed Forces Championships, national competitions, and international events. He competes in the full range of triathlons to include full Ironman and half-Ironman competitions. Although all competitions are enjoyable, the half-Ironman is his favorite.
Joe loves to share his love of triathlon and knowledge of biking with others, hoping to inspire them into a life-long activity and an opportunity to get to know the outstanding people in the triathlon and biking community. Additionally, he stresses the importance of finding an enjoyable activity to get in shape at a young age that will teach them the importance of a healthy lifestyle.
Joe enjoys biking with his wife on their tandem bicycle and training with his sons for triathlon competitions.

Chelle Frost – Secretary

Chelle Frost is the Programs Director for the North Carolina Interscholastic Cycling League. She first became involved with the league in 2016.

When Chelle is not working in her roles within the NCICL, you can find her running her own business since 2012, or spending time with her two children and her nephews – with whom she loves to share her passion for mountain biking and exploring nearby Wilson Creek and Pisgah National Forest.

Ken Clark – Treasurer

Ken Clark joined NCICL in 2016 as the Treasurer.  He and his wife, Holly, also volunteer in the merchandise tent at race events.  Ken has worked in numerous financial positions with Price Waterhouse, IBM and Blue Cross NC.  He has degrees in both accounting and finance and is a CPA.  Ken enjoys cycling both on the road and off.

With many years already spent with NCICL, Ken has seen first-hand how passionate student athletes are about mountain biking.  He wants every young person who is interested in cycling to have a chance to experience it in a fun environment that gives them a chance to grow as far as they want to in the sport.

Ken started seriously riding bikes as an adult in the early ‘80’s before there were helmets! That soon changed and Ken brought Holly into the cycling fold so they could enjoy the open road together.  Before kids arrived, they enjoyed summer bike tours exploring northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. They are still riding together today.  Ken and Holly reside in Carrboro and have 2 adult daughters who live and Raleigh and Lawrence, Kansas.

Heike biller – secretary/treasurer

Heike Biller is a mountain biking mom. Supporting her son’s passion for the sport, she joined NCICL in 2016 as the League’s Registration Manager and because of the incredible community, continued her involvement even after he aged out. After years of assisting the league grow and transition to a Chapter League, Heike is excited to remain involved by serving on the Board of Directors and brings with her extensive experience in the non-profit world. Heike enjoys organizing events, gardening, hiking and generally any activity that gets her outside. She lives in Charlotte with husband, Kurt, whom you will see assisting in various roles during race weekend.

Brian Russell – President

Brian Russell started his NICA journey in 2018 by helping start a team in Maryland during that league’s inaugural season. After the Marine Corps transferred his family to North Carolina in 2020 he became a coach on the Onslow County Composite team.

He retired from the Marine Corps in 2022 to become the league’s second league director and for the next 3 years led the league’s growth in programming and experiences for student athletes.