The St. Francis GOLDEN
KNIGHTS Mountain Bike Team
Vail Lake Challenge, Temecula
CA – February 24, 2013
The St.
Francis High School Mountain Bike Team competed in the opening round of the 5th
season of the SoCal League High School Mountain Bike Series at Vail Lake in
Temecula, CA on February 24th. Perfect weather conditions and a fast race
course made for an exciting day of racing.
The Golden
Knights were well represented with 21 riders showing up for race day – the
largest number of Golden Knights ever for any single race. Since December 1st,
the team has trained hard to prepare for the start of this race season where
they will compete against other high school students from across Southern
California.
In a deep Freshman
Division 1 class of 40 riders, the Golden Knights were represented by four new
riders who did not have any prior race experience and have worked extremely
hard to prepare themselves for their first season of racing. Andrew Schiller
rode a very consistent race and was the first Golden Knight home in 8th
place. Andrew Palaski and George Orloff finished together in 18th
and 19th position, and Michael Vega finished strong in 24th.
Five riders
from St. Francis represented the Golden Knights in the Sophomore Division 1
class. Nathaniel Blakeley worked hard in the off-season to improve his overall
fitness and was rewarded with a hard earned 10th place. Skyler Payne
crashed on the first lap, but battled back to earn 14th, with Remi
Roth close behind in 15th. In their first-ever mountain bike races,
Owen Shain came in 23rd and Alex Marshall finished in 26th.
The JV
Division 1 race saw the largest field of the day with 54 riders. The Golden
Knights were a significant contributor with 10 riders lining up for the afternoon
race start. Austin Hamilton almost had the Golden Knights first podium of the
day and finished in a well-earned 7th place. Daniel Balsam narrowly
missed a top-10 and finished in 11th. Michael Togneri and Matt Kubly
raced side by side and finished together in 19th and 20th.
(Matt is one of the team’s senior leaders and is competing in his 4th
season). Will Towne and Hunter Nalley finished in 26th and 27th,
with Keenan Koch close behind in 35th. Carl Demolder repaired a
broken chain on the 2nd lap and worked hard to finish in 45th.
First year riders Kenny Larsen and Chris Perez finished in 46th and
48th.
St. Francis
junior Sean Bird and senior Scott Marshall represented the Golden Knights in
the 4-lap Varsity race. The race started with a blistering pace that saw Bird
hang on to the lead group for the first lap. As the race progressed, Bird
settled in and finished in a very respectable 8th place. Scott
Marshall had the endurance required for the longer distance of the Varsity
class and worked hard for 25th.
“Since our
very first race 5 years ago, every Golden Knight has finished every race,
including this one. Our riders worked through broken bikes and tired bodies to
persevere. This is an incredible accomplishment in this difficult sport and
something that I am extremely proud of”, said Head Coach Lee Bird.
The Golden
Knights head to race # 2 in Riverside in two weeks, looking to improve on their
solid results with hopes of some podium finishes.
The Golden
Knights mountain bike team is 100% volunteer managed and coached and is very
grateful for all of the support they have received from the parents, alumni,
and their generous sponsors, including: Design Imports, Hollandays, Merchants
Building Maintenance, Mountain Pine Shutters, Strategic Law Partners, Nu-Hope,
Kevin Martin/UBS, Stratz & Company, Financial Guaranty Insurance Brokers, Lucas
Horsfall Murphy & Pindroh, Lantern CycleWorks, Montrose Bike Shop, and
Crescenta Valley Insurance.
GO KNIGHTS!
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| Camp Fire on Saturday Night |
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| Team Dinner |
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Team Warmup
|
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| Andrew Palaski |
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| Chris Perez |
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| Remi Roth |
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| Sean Bird |
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| Skyler Payne battled back from a hard crash |
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| Matt Kubly with proud dad (and coach) Rod Kubly |
