Woodleigh XC MTB Team – Round 1
Sunday saw our Cross Country Mountain Bike (XC MTB) team compete in the first round of the AusCycling 2023 Alpinestars Schools Mountain Bike Series (Victoria). Racing took place at Dromana College, winding around – and at one point through – the school buildings before moving into the singletrack of the Hillview Trail.
Woodleigh had 9 students competing, including 1 Minimbah student. Many of our team have been training on a Wednesday afternoon at Red Hill in preparation for the series.
The series is designed as an entry point into mountain bike racing for students, with two categories open to experienced club racers (Racing) and those giving competitive riding a go for the first time (Novice).
At the time of writing full results have not been published, but we did have some success with Charlie Hosking (Year 7) taking 3rd place in the highly competitive U15 Boys Racing category. Alannah Dietrich (Year 8) claimed 1st place in U15 Girls Novice and held her own racing at the same time as U17 and U19 categories. Josh Strouts (Year 7) and Nate Woollard (Year 8) secured top ten finishes in the U15 Boys Novice race.
Well done to Archie Butt (Year 6), Riley Kirk, Archie Lucas (both Year 7), Blake Gordon and Lewis Wakeling (both Year 8) on their rides around the challenging and often muddy Dromana course.
The series continues in Term 3 with racing at Lysterfield on Sunday 23 July, and a third round at the You Yangs on Sunday 6 August.
We are always looking to welcome new riders of any experience into the program, and would love to see you at our Wednesday night training sessions. Transport is provided for students (and bikes!) to and from Red Hill. We have a small fleet of school bikes and helmets for those who are mountain bike curious!
Contact me via tangelico@woodleigh.vic.edu.au if you have any questions or to get involved!
TOM ANGELICO
MTB Coordinator