On Saturday February 18, the ECHS Mountain Bike Racing Team competed in its first race of the season, in Modesto at Tuolumne River Regional Park. It was the second time NICA hosted a race at the new park. Our 23 riders were part of a field of 518 riders across the region. ECHS came in 3rd place overall out of 9 D1 teams, behind Salinas (2nd) and Berkeley (1st).
The 5-mile loop was similar to last year’s fast and twisting, mostly flat course out along the river and back, with a few modifications, including a short segment of pump track and a much improved approach to the final sprint. Despite the recent rains, the turns were still loose and almost half of the riders took a spill during their race, but no injuries were sustained. Freshmen and Sophomores did 2 laps, JV 3, and varsity 4.
We have a large number of new riders this year, so for 9 of our 23 riders, this race was their first. Two of the 23 were our St Mary’s independent riders, and 21 are from ECHS. Everyone finished (including Max, who heroically ran the final sprint carrying his bike due to mechanical), many achieved or exceeded their expectations, and several returning riders felt it was their strongest race ever.
The final results for the ECHS riders in D1 were as follows:
Freshman girls: Rex Russell 19th (in a field of 25)
Freshman boys: Mateo Warmerdam 4th, Mateo Diaco 19th (in a field of 43)
Sophomore girls: Gabbie Walmsley 11, Meredith Duff 17, Delia Robinson 21, and Iris Greiner 26 (in a field of 30)
Sophomore boys: Daniel Gansmiller 2, Jaq Chin 8, Lucas Amaral-Knowles 28 (in a field of 40)
JV Girls: Edda Grondahl 2, Annika Borys 7, Prescilla 45 (in a field of 55)
JV boys: Yoann Perrodin 1, Jack O’Neal 2, Felix Bloemraad 34, Jalen Epps 38, Blake Christener 49 (in a field of 82)
Varsity boys: Chris Hill 7, Theo Borys 13, Tobin Power 19, Joaquin Chun 32 (in a field of 33)
Our St Mary’s independent riders had the following results in D2:
John Groff 27 (in a field of 66 Freshman Boys)
Max Sladkus 26 (in a field of 86 JV Boys)
Our next race will be on March 4 in Exchequer Mountain Bike park in La Grange.
echsmtb.com 
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