Nine out of 20 mountain bikers in the Mountain Biking club qualified and raced at the NorCal Championships at Six Sigma Ranch and Winery, Lower Lake last weekend on May 21st.

Since February, the Mountain Biking Club has been racing against other high school mountain bikers in the Norcal region in four key races in order to qualify for the championships. These races are held by the Interscholastic NorCal Cycling League and the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, a non-profit organization that promotes high school mountain biking in the whole country. 

“I haven’t had great experiences with this certain course before, but everything was going well that day. From placing 27th out of 63 other talented individuals and getting a negative split between my laps, I was beyond excited about it,” Lucas Stayer said. “Getting over the mental barrier regarding the course was a struggle at first, but hearing my coach and team cheering me on definitely gave the burst of energy to finish strong across the finish line.”

With the 2019-20 season cut short and the 2020-21 season having a different format, the team hasn’t attended a championship race since early 2019.

“This past weekend’s championship race was a special one. We haven’t been able to race a full season for a couple of years, so to be back was really great,” Coach Chaz Halbert said. “Our team has grown so much and the comradery that our athletes have is something I believe is unmatched in the league. Even riders on the team who did not qualify or choose to race made the two and a half-hour drive up to Six Sigma just to cheer on their teammates and provide support.”

Gallery • 7 Photos

Allison Saunders line up with other athletes during the starting call ups and staging of the girls’ JV race. Photo by Julia Cuyos