April 23/08 4:48 am - Team Squamish High School Race report

Posted by Editoress on 04/23/08
 

Team Squamish Rock At High School Races
Courtesy Tamsin Milleron behalf of Team Squamish

Team Squamish riders are keeping busy with races and camps and holidays - all riding related. From Venezuela to Moab to California, to the Sunshine Coast, they've been turning the wheels for sport, for competition and for fun.

On the local racing front, however, good showings are being made so far in the adult toonie races with riders placing well up in the top ten both in Downhill and XC. Now the Youth rides are getting underway there will be a chance for lots more participation.

It is, however, at the new season of High School Races that Team Squamish has truly begun to show its colours.

Senior rider, Grade 12 Phil Cairns, placed 1st at both Blair Range and Langdale, while for Senior Girls, Eden Imbeau took 2nd at Blair Range, then moved into 1st at Langdale.
Hayden Drygas (Senior Boys) suffered an exceptional fall at Blair Range, but the good news was that it was spectacular enough to provide fodder for discussion and he still placed 4th while taking 5th slot on the Sunshine Coast.

For Grade 10, Toby Patterson captured 3rd and 4th spots respectively, while Alison McKellar took 1st in Langdale - her first race of the season.

Other districts must groan inwardly when they see the Squamish Grade 9 riders arrive at races. Both male and female categories have been dominated by Mo Lawrence and Lauren Rosser who have taken first at both races. Their school and Team Squamish team mates were not far behind with Kristen Drygas a 2nd and 3rd, Summer Griffin two 4th placements and Aiden Davis (who rivalled Hayden for “spectacular” at Blair Range with a lost chain and two, or was it three? falls, one of which landed him on his back in a puddle with a suspected dislocated shoulder) still took a 9th spot and improved it to 8th on the Sunshine Coast. With results like this, it doesn't leave too many slots for other schools.

This year's team pick included, for the first time, a couple of Grade 8 students and while Robert Leigh was still in a cast for the 1st race, he had shed it in time for the Langdale race and came in an extremely respectable 6th while Maia Kilby 'killed it' by taking 1st place both times.

In a nutshell? Out of an XC field of twelve riders, at Blair Range Team Squamish riders took away four 1sts, a 2nd, a 3rd and two 4ths, while at their second race they captured six 1sts out of a possible eight! Not a bad start to the season.

And how do they feel? “Awesome,” said one rider. “I improved my strength and fitness levels so much over the winter working with Ms. Drygas and Coach Kindree and I've learned a lot of technique from our rides. My results are showing what the team structure has done for me - it's great.”

That's what it's all about, isn't it?