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South Island Secondary School’s Mountain Bike Championships

Peter Beswick —

October 3 and 4 saw the SBHS MTB Team competing in the South Island Secondary School’s Mountain Bike Championships.

Twelve students travelled to Dunedin where the weather sadly hampered the event, with the final race, Super D, cancelled due to high winds bringing down trees.

Despite this, Shirley Boys’ claimed the gold and silver medals in the Under 20 overall points for individual riders, with Ben Friel 1st and Cameron Richards 2nd. Cameron also finished a strong 2nd in the Cross Country, with Ben not far behind in 3rd. This set them up nicely for the Downhill (DH)Race where Ben came 4th, and Cameron 17th. Neither rider is DH specialised, so these results show the raw talent they have.

The other competitors also did strongly, with Ethan Fry, Brad Proud and Ben Fleming coming respectively 9th, 10th and 11th in the Under 20 Cross Country. Liam Goodwin, an Under 16 rider, had a crash on his DH practice run which left him chainless for his timed run. Even with no chain, he managed to claim the 4th spot. Imagine how he would have done with a chain! Ethan Adams-Cook, Jordan Grooby, Hamish Bennett, Kelan Thomson and Alex Fairbrother gained various places and should be proud as this was their first such event.

With the combined school points, SBHS managed 4th overall. This was a disappointment for the lads as they knew they were strong, and would have done particularly well in the Super D race. Perhaps if that event had been run, we would have managed 1st or 2nd.

Thanks to all of the parents and grandparents who came down to support the team!

Yeah Boi!