INTERSCHOOL MOTORCROSS CHAMPIONS
LHS Motorcross Champions!
On Friday 18 November, 11 dedicated and talented students from all years of Lilydale High School, embarked on a journey to be named State Champions of Motocross. The venue was Warrnambool Motorcycle Club in Allansford, which was a short 4 hour commute.
The light showers which greeted us as we arrived did nothing to dampen the spirits of our team. The track was very slippery and the warm up laps ended with everyone looking like they had just gotten out of a mud bath. The Lilydale High School spirit was evident. Our riders were a collective, regardless of position and were celebrating each other’s success as if it were their own.
It was evident after our success at the grass course that the other schools wanted revenge; the ‘new kid on campus’ should not walk in and win. But our riders were up to the challenge set upon them. Angus Gelly was flying, Jacob Street started a race with an open throttle and only one wheel on the ground and Tyran Tomich was untouchable in every class he entered.
The star of the day was Sam Beecroft. Recently finishing her Year 12 exams, she came back to represent the school one more time. On the day it felt like she was in every class. By the end of the day, it was evident she needed her 3 months of holidays to catch up on sleep.
At the presentation ceremony, most of our riders received ribbons for podium finishes, but our team was more concerned with the school trophy. The championship is awarded to the school who accrued the most points over the two rounds this year.
This year’s CHAMPIONS..... Lilydale High School.
Thank you to the team and parents for your efforts and commitments to such an exciting event.
Team Members
Ellie Beecroft
Samantha Beecroft
Ben Harris
Derrick Findlay
Angus Gelly
Jake Brennan
Tyran Tomich
Tayla Street
Jacob Street
Matthew Garner
Ryan Harford
Sam Beecroft
On Monday 14 November, I completed my high school education, but that was far from the end of the year for me.
On Thursday night, I made the long hike to Warrnambool Motocross track to compete the next day. It rained the entire night prior to the event, so I knew the track was going to be extremely wet. The track was awesome in the morning, which made sure I entered every event I was eligible for; Women’s, Senior 250, Open 250+ and All powers.
Our school had 11 riders and we won 7 of the events and had people in all but one event.
The day's riding began with practice, which was very wet, as expected. In the first race I was up against team mate Tayla Street; she got an awesome start and nearly took me out in the first corner - I got my own back in the second though. I managed to hold that lead for the entire race, starting my last ever school event on a high.
My second race was directly after the first, which was pretty much how the rest of my day went. There was very little rest time.
The highlight of the day was the presentations; so many students from our school were called up to be awarded ribbons. Our team was more excited for the presentation of the state trophy, an impressively large feature of the presentation room. We all felt that we were in with a chance and the presenter really drew out the podiums. Our whole team was called out to be presented the State Winners Trophy. We won by over 300 points across the two competitions.
I would like to thank all my team mates from both events.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to ride motocross for the school.
Taylor Street
On Friday 18 November, Lilydale High School participated in the Inter School Motocross State Championship held at Warrnambool Motocross Circuit. It was a long four and a half hours of looking at while lines to get there.
The day started at 8:30 am in the morning. It was awesome to see 11 riders from Lilydale High School attend rider’s briefing. The riders varied from Year 7 to Year 12 and were entered across 10 classes, for various engine capacities and rider’s experience.
The weather wasn’t looking the greatest as we took to the track for the first practice session, but once I got out on the circuit it was obvious that the Warrnambool Motorcycle Club had prepared the track surface perfectly; I loved it.
Practice was the perfect time to get warmed up to try different lines around corners, to be the best I possibly could be. Each time I went out, I was improving. In the first race I started off with an awesome hole shot and was first into turn one and turn two. I finished third in the women’s race with Sam Beecroft, another student from LHS.
There was another race between the women’s race and the 125cc race, so I took the opportunity to get a quick drink and refuel.
My second race was the 125cc class. I had learnt faster lines and how to hit the jumps correctly. I raced in the women’s class and the 125cc class; both classes had three races to determine the overall winner.
The day went perfectly and was well organised. When a Lilydale rider received a race win or were improving, the other riders would cheer on as if we were a family. At the end of the day, Lilydale High School had won the Interschool Motocross State Championship by almost 400 points and taking out 1st in most of the race classes. This was a fantastic result for the Lilydale High School Interschool Motocross Team. The other schools are our roost.
Christopher Pennycook