Since December 1st, the St. Francis Mountain Bike
Team has been preparing for the upcoming 2013 SoCal League High School Mountain
Bike series, the 5th season in the league for the Golden Knight
cyclists. As a member of the SoCal league, the Golden Knights will compete
against 55 other high schools on challenging cross-country mountain bike
courses throughout Southern California.
Under the guidance of Head Coach Lee Bird and Assistant
Coach Patrick Donovan, the Golden Knights are hopeful that they will be able to
continue building upon a stellar 2012 season that resulted in 18 podium
finishes and 2 podium results at the State Championships. More impressive
though is that the team has not had a single DNF in its previous 4 seasons, a
testament to the hard work put in by the students. “Each year we have worked
hard to improve the infrastructure of this program so that we can provide an
environment for the students to learn how to safely and competitively race
mountain bikes”, says Coach Bird.
The team includes returning seniors Carl Demolder, Matt
Kubly, Scott Marshall, and Michael Togneri. Scott and Matt finished 12th and 15th
respectively in the JV D1 class in 2012 and look to improve on those already
solid results. “Our seniors will compete in the JV or Varsity class this season
based on how their training continues to go. They have worked hard and I am
hopeful that they will continue to improve”. Carl Demolder and Michael Togneri
both had interrupted seasons in 2012 and are looking to represent the Golden
Knights throughout the 2013 season.
Representing the junior class and racing in JV for the
Golden Knights will be Daniel Balsam, Keenan Koch, Kenny Larsen, Hunter Nalley,
Chris Perez, and Will Towne. Daniel Balsam finished 3rd overall in
the sophomore class last year and should be a real threat in the JV class this
season. Keenan, Hunter, and Will all return for their 3rd season of
racing and have greatly improved their fitness in hopes of improved results.
New this year to the team are juniors Kenny Larsen and Chris Perez.
The Varsity class will be contested by junior Sean Bird.
Sean finished 3rd overall in the JV class last year and 4th
at the California State Championships. Since leaving basketball, Sean has
focused his athletic efforts on cycling and has represented the Golden Knights impressively
through his two seasons on the team.
Racing in the sophomore class will be Nathaniel Blakely,
Austin Hamilton, Alex Marshall, Skyler Payne, Remi Roth, and Owen Shain. “Our sophomore team is very deep. Nathaniel,
Austin, Skyler, and Remi all finished in the top 20 overall last year as
freshman with Austin and Skyler finishing 5th and 8th
respectively at the State Championships” says Coach Bird. New to the team this
season are Alex Marshall and Owen Shain. Alex and Owen have shown great
improvement in their technical skills through training and should make an
impact in the upcoming season.
The Golden Knight freshman class has always been well
represented and the 2013 season should be no different. New to the team this
year are freshman George Orloff, Andrew Palaski, Andrew Schiller, and Michael
Vega. “I really enjoy working with the freshman class each year. The students
are excited to be able to race mountain bikes for St. Francis”, says Coach
Bird. Andrew Schiller and Michael Vega both have prior mountain bike experience
and have looked very strong in practices. George Orloff and Andrew Palaski are
working hard on the skills necessary to compete on the mountain bike and will
be strong contenders for the Golden Knights.
“I am very grateful to the administrators and staff of St.
Francis for supporting our team. The school sees the value of our program and
has really supported us since the beginning”, says Coach Bird. “I am also
grateful to our sponsors and the parents and parent coaches for all of the time
that they have put in to help make this program strong. Because our races are
all over 2 hours away, there are lots of logistics and coordination that
requires many volunteers. I’m grateful for their help”.
GO KNIGHTS!
