The Whistler Secondary Storm high school mountain bike team hosted the third event in the North Shore Mountain Bike League series on May 9, with schools from far away as the Sunshine Coast making the trip to race the singletrack at Lost Lake.
Temperatures were on the cool side but the course was mostly clear of snow this year — unlike last year whenparents and riders used shovels and picks to dig a course out.
Whistler athletes, who are being coached by members of the Whistler Off Road Cycling Association and volunteer parents, have been exceptional this year winning or placing in almost every category, and leading in the overall standings.
With home field advantage, the Whistler kids dominated. On the boys' side, Whistler athletes won in every category.
In Grade 8 Boys it was a sweep with Matt Riddle placing first, Alex Auger second and Zach Davis third. Isiah Smith was sixth, Jack Douglas seventh, Liam McIvor eighth, Ben Raffler 11th and Julian Gagne 15th. Auger leads the overall standings.
In Grade 9 Boys the top racer was Whistler's Max Peiffer with teammate Conrad Murdoch in second.
In Grade 10 it was another sweep, this time of the top six. In first was Felix Burke, followed by Austin Reith, Matthew Wentzel, Jack Iles, Spencer Wight and Edi Schreyer. Ben Flynn was eighth, Ryan Grills 14th and Noah Smith 19th.
Mahon Lamont was back on top in Grade 11 and 12 Boys, winning the race to take the lead in the standings, with Tristan Underhill in fifth.
On the girls' side, Ilya Nordin was second in Grade 8 girls, followed by Keeley Wentzel in third, Carly Mann in fourth and Emily Wharin in fifth.
In Grade 9 Girls, Georgia Astle and Jewel George were first and third respectively.
Jennifer McTavish was first in Grade 10 Girls.
Nicki Murdoch was second in Grade 11 and 12 Girls, while Melanie Auger placed 10th.
The fourth race took place on Wednesday, but results won't be available until next week.
Whistler is now hosting the league finals on Saturday, May 26, replacing the B.C. High School Championships, which were cancelled due to the ongoing teacher's job action.
If you can volunteer for the championships, which will take place again at Lost Lake, contact Lorraine Vollmer at lvollmer@telus.net.
Sea to Sky riders strong in mountain bike events
It's been a busy few weeks for competitive mountain biking in the province, with the first B.C. Cup downhill and cross to country races of the season.
Sunshine Coaster
The Sunshine Coaster is a two to day event taking place on the Sunshine Coast, with a downhill and cross country race on trails around Roberts Creek.
In cross country, Squamish's Brandi Heisterman started her competitive season with a third to place result in the elite women's category. Rua Read was sixth and Whistler's Fanny Paquette eighth.
Squamish's Neal Kindree won the men's elite race, finishing half a minute ahead of Kris Sneddon. Greg Day of Squamish was fourth; Whistler's Michael Robinson was eighth, Squamish's Dwayne Kress, 12th, Squamish's Nicholas Bruce 14th and Whistler's Clark Lewis 17th.
In the 12 to 14 male short course (25km), Ethan Toom and Tobin Hubner of Team Squamish were first and second, while teammate Hunter Verner was fourth.
Mikayla Martin of Team Squamish was first in 15 to 19 female short course by over eight minutes.
In 15 to 19 male short course, Team Squamish's Luke Di Marzo was third; Whistler's Mahon Lamont and Felix Burke were fourth and fifth. Also from Whistler, Austin Reith was 10th, Matthew Wentzel 13th and Spencer Wight 14th. From Squamish, Harry Head was 18th.
In 40 to 49 short course, Jeremy Wentzel of Whistler placed third.
In 50-plus short course, Jan Toom of Squamish was first.
In the longer marathon category (50km), Quinn Moberg of Squamish was first in 15 to 19 male.
Pemberton's Emily Slaco was first in 19 to 29 female.
In 30 to 39 male, David Reid of Squamish was fourth, Russ Wood of Pemberton fifth and Terry Evans of Pemberton seventh.
Whistler's Trevor Hopkins was second in 40 to 49 male, while Pemberton's Dean Linnell was eighth. Whistler's Edmund Burke was 25th.
The Mach Chicken Downhill ran on Sunday.
Mikayla Martin was the only racer in the 15 to 16 category, but finished with a time that would have put her in the top five of the 19 to 29 group.
In 30 to 39 female, Squamish's Veronika Voracek was first and Whistler's Fanny Paquette eighth.
In 19 to 29 female, Emily Slaco of Pemberton was first and Squamish's Lisa Parfiniuk 11th.
In 13 to 14 male, Kasper Woolley and Sam Berrisford of Squamish were second and third, while Finn Iles of Whistler placed fourth. Also from Squamish, Ethan Toom was sixth and Hunter Verner ninth.
In 15 to 16 male, Jack Iles of Whistler was first by over 10 seconds, followed by Mason Moberg and Rhys Verner of Squamish. Also from Squamish, Luke Di Marzo was seventh and Harry Head 17th. Whistler's Felix Burke was eighth.
In 17 to 18 male, Jackson Lee of Squamish was first out of 18 racers.
In 30 to 39 male, Jeremy Null was 11th, Jon Anthony 18th and Jason Chiasson 19th.
In pro elite male, Whistler's Tyler Allison was fifth.
Race the Ranch
The opening BC Cup downhill race of the season took place outside of Kamloops.
In Under 15 Men, Whistler's Finn Iles placed second while Alex Auger was fourth.
In Under 17 Expert Men (15 to 16), Jack Iles placed first overall by more than five seconds, posting a time that would have placed him 11th in the Elite Men's category. Mason Moberg of Squamish was sixth.
In Junior Expert Men (17 to 18), Jackson Lee of Squamish was first overall. Alexander Geddes of Whistler was fifth and Jordan Gastel of Squamish was ninth.
In Junior Women 15 to 18, Mikayla Martin of Squamish finished first with a gap of three seconds.
In Under 17 Sport Men, Rhys Verner of Squamish was third and Luke Di Marzo eighth out of 42 racers.
In 19 to 29 Citizen Men, Jesse Ballhausen of Pemberton placed third out of 31 starters.
In Senior Men 19 to 29, Kyle Quesnel of Squamish placed second.
In 30 to plus Citizen Men, Jeremy Null of Squamish was second, Jon Anthony of Squamish was seventh and Steven Lafreniere of Whistler was ninth.
In Master 30 to plus Women, Veronika Voracek of Squamish was third.
In the Elite Women's category, Squamish's Lauren Rosser placed fourth. For the Elite Men, Whistler's Nike Geddes was third overall.
As well as the BC Cup race, the second event in the Northwest Cup series took place in Port Angeles this past weekend.
Miranda Miller placed second out of 19 riders in Pro Women, while Pemberton's Jaime Hill was 10th.
In Category 1 Men Under 18, Kip Shortreed of Squamish was 13th and Carter Faulkner of Whistler 23rd.
Also from Whistler, Wade Kenzie was first in Category 3 Open Women, Paul Winter was 15th in Category 2 Men 15 to 18, and Tyler Allison 45th in Pro Men.
