Sport: Alec Armstrong Wins State Title

Congratulations to Alec Armstrong who clinched the Gold Medal at the Victorian Mountain Biking Interschools at Falls Creek. 

He and 3 other medallists led our 15-rider team to finish Runner-Up in the prestigious “School Cup”. A strong result which follows on from our 3rd place at the 2024 Vic Interschools at Mount Buller.

Armstrong, a bottom-ager at Year 11, won the Senior Boys division in a time of just over an hour, in the 9-lap XCO (Olympic Cross Country) format. Year 12 schoolmate Jacob Hardiman won Bronze in the same race as we smothered 2/3rds of the podium.

In the Intermediate Girls, bottom-age Year 9s Inanay Gilson (Silver) and Ruby Burns (Bronze) also stood the podium. The 2024 Wangaratta City FC AWFA Soccer Grand Final teammates are building impressive MTB resumes. 

Gilson recently was 8th in the Australian Interschools “Queen of the Mountain” at Thredbo NSW, and Burns got two 9th places at the 2024 Thredbo Interschools. Burns won Gold at the 2024 Vic Interschools at Mount Buller, and Gilson was the Gravity Enduro State Champion at Bright in 2024.

Three Year 9 boys also impressed despite being bottom-agers. Hugh Spring (5th) and Cameron Vincent (9th) went Top 10 in the Intermediate Boys, and daredevil Logan Ring had the quickest downhill split (31.6 seconds on his 2nd lap) of all riders on the day.

Thank you to all 15 riders who this year formed the largest Mountain Biking team we’ve ever assembled. Next year, we envisage an even larger team of 20-30 riders (many of our guns didn't compete this year), as we continue to make our mark in the Sport.

The 2025 Team:

Alec Armstrong - Year 11

Hayden Boyle - 8

Ruby Burns - 9

Inanay Gilson - 9

Jacob Hardiman - 12

Osten Hasson - 11

Zeke Hogan - 9

Logan Ring - 9

Isaac Robinson - 9

Mike Sheppard - 9

Hugh Spring - 9

Zachary Tamme - 7

Cameron Vincent - 9

Darcy Waide - 9

Noah Williams - 9

Many will recall Riley Corke, in 2018 at Year 8, becoming Australian Champion in this XCO format and competing internationally. 

Thanks also to parent (and one of our former C.L.C bosses) Dave Gilson, who was invaluable to our team as a volunteer.

Big thank you to Outdoor Education & P.E teacher Morgan Clark who drove the bus and coached the team. Clark himself was an Australian Champion as a junior in the Mountain Bike Marathon format.

Morgan's account of the day is below:

"It was a cool and very damp Spring morning in the North East as the minibus wound its way up the Bogong High Plains Road to Falls Creek Resort early on Friday. The 70-plus millimetres of rain in the previous 24 hours threatened to turn the tracks into a mud pit, reminiscent of the 2011 World Downhill Championships in Champery, Switzerland, where eventual winner Danny Hart was sliding all over the track in dramatic fashion. After a couple of heavy downpours, the clouds parted, and the sun shone through for what was an absolute pearler of a day. 

First up was the junior race, with Hayden Boyle and Zachary Tamme representing WHS. The boys fought hard on a grueling course, finishing 18th and 26th respectively. 

The organisers were running behind schedule, so they sent off the seniors and intermediates at the same time. The races were difficult to follow live, but it was great to see so many WHS students flying the flag on course at the same time. 

Our intermediate girls were impressive, with Inanay Gilson and Ruby Burns coming in at 2nd and 3rd place. Well done girls. Our intermediate boys had a consistent showing in a big field, with Hugh Spring (5th), Cameron Vincent (9th), Logan Ring (11th) and Isaac Robinson (13th) all finishing in the top 15. 

Alec Armstrong took the eventual victory in the senior boys race, which was an enormous 9 laps! Jacob Hardiman came in 3rd place, capping off a solid day for our students. This showed in the overall standings, where we came 2nd overall as a school on the day.

-Morgan Clark"