High school bike series wraps-up with popular course

Photo by Jon Molson

The most exciting race was saved for last at this year’s Yukon Schools Athletic Associations’ Mountain Bike Series.

The final event was held Wednesday on Grey Mountain’s Magnusson Ski Trails and featured a point A to point B semi-down hill style of race. This was different than the other three races in the series, which each used a looped course.

“I think it was a great season,” said Chris McNeill, one of the organizers in the bike series. “The kids have come out in great numbers, we have averaged about 35 to 40 kids a race.”

There was plenty of challenges for even the most experienced riders on Wednesday, which featured a very fast course. Some of the obstacles participants had to deal included puddles, rocks, roots, small hills and sharp turns.

The mountain bike series began on Sept. 17 with one race each week Representatives from F.H. Collins, Vanier, Porter Creek and Ecole Emilie Tremblay, helped organize the race series, which included five separate categories of competition. The different categories were Grade 8, Grade 9 /10, Grade 11 /12, open girls and BMX.

Participating students earned points that were valued accordingly to their final placement. Category winners were given 10 points and two points were deducted for every place after that.

On Wednesday, the points from all four races were added up and awards were given out courtesy of Icycle Sports and Philippe’s Bicycle Repair. There was also draw prizes and awards given out for sportsmanlike riding. All of the prizes donated were cycling related and included helmets, tools, jerseys and shirts. 

Additionally, medals were given to the top three finishers in each category and the top category winners had the honour of getting a picture taken with the highly coveted Fork of Victory trophy. The trophy is made out of a mountain bike fork and handle bars, which includes a number one plate attached to it.

Porter Creek Secondary School had a dominating showing in the Grade 8 category. The school ended up sweeping the medal standings and had students take the top four positions in the division.

Grade 8 student, Nigel Sinclair-Eckert maintained his perfect showing at the mountain bike series, finishing in first place for the fourth straight time. Fellow schoolmate, Colin Kabanak finished in second place in the standings with 30 points.

It was a two-way tie for third with both Eastan Linquist and Austin Limoges finishing with 16 points.

Two straight first place finishes helped Vanier’s Tyler Wynnyk earn the top position in the Grade 9/10 division. Wynnyk’s 28 point total was just six points better than Simon Geoffroy, who attends Ecole Emilie Tremblay. Porter Creek’s Josh Kelly placed third with 16 points. 

Lee Hawkings won his category for the first time in the race series, finishing with an impressive 40 points in the Grade 11/12 division.

“I just wanted to go fast and have fun,” he said. “I am more in it for myself than to win.”

Fellow F.H. Collins schoolmate Nathaniel Rodden placed second with 32 points.

Seventeen-year-old Kelsey Kabanak maintained her dominating performance in the open girls category, riding to her eighth straight first-place finish in the series, which dates back to 2007. Kabanak, who is a Grade 12 student at Porter Creek, took the top spot on Wednesday despite falling on two separate occasions during the race.

“It feels good to walk away with a perfect record,” she said.

Robin Krug placed second in the open girls category with 28 points, while Rebecca Gaetz took the third spot, concluding the race series with 22 points in total.

Nathan Seifert finished on top of the standings in the BMX category with a 38 point showing.