Alpine High Country Mountain Bike Comp
Ruby Burns & Luke Griffiths Win Medals @ Mt Buller
There was huge success last Friday at Mount Buller, as 10 of our brave students competed in the Victorian Alpine High Country Schools Mountain Bike Competition.
We are pleased to announce we finished in 3rd place in Victoria - a wonderful achievement considering it's the 1st time we've ever entered a Mountain Bike team, and that we were competing against schools from all over Victoria including independent schools Geelong Grammar, Ballarat Grammar, Whitefriars College and Catholic Ladies College Eltham.
Individually, our standout rider was Year 8 Ruby Burns, who won Gold in her Junior Girls (Year 7 and 8) age group. She won easily with a cumulative time of 10:54.2 across her 3 rides - a clear 8 seconds in front of her nearest rival from Cathedral College.
Luke Griffiths of Year 11, was the other student to get a place on the podium. He finished with a Silver Medal in the Senior Boys (Year 11-12), with his cumulative time of 8:45.5 being just under 2 seconds behind his rival from Geelong Grammar. Teammate and fellow Year 11 Euca Boonzaayer did well to finish 4th in the same age group, just 5 seconds from 3rd place.
Thanks to all of the 10 riders who had the courage to compete:
- Alec Armstrong
- Euca Boonzaayer
- Ruby Burns
- Oliver Cleave-Sessle
- Coen Coppinger
- Andrew Fraser
- Luke Griffiths
- Gus Hedderman
- Mike Sheppard
- Cameron Vincent
We hope to take up an even larger team in 2025, and to enter this annually.
A massive thank you to Principal Dave Armstrong for driving and coaching the crew including a 6:00am departure, and to parents Penny Everingham, for being on hand as a volunteer to support our kids, and Ian Burns, who was invaluable in securing for us a trailer from the Beechworth MTB Club to safely transport our bikes in.
Very special thank you also to Year 12 Clove Boonzaayer, who couldn't compete due an injury a few days prior, but still made the trip to support staff and students - what a fantastic young man.
Also best of luck to the few riders who are competing at Thredbo, NSW next week, as part of the Australian Interschools Mountain Bike comp.
We look forward to reporting on their results.
- Jud Mullins - Sport Coordinator