A strong high school mountain bike season came to a close last weekend in Port Moody with Chatelech finishing second in the team overall standings.
The final race season hosted by Heritage Woods Secondary School featured a fast and technical course that suited the Coast riders and resulted in many spectacular crashes for the unaware.
Team captains Jacques Martiquet and Emily Duncan-Hansen led the strong contingent of Chatelech riders seeking redemption following second place finishes at the zone finals in North Vancouver the previous week.
The stage was set early with the senior boys placing three riders in the top 10 with
Jacques narrowly missing out on a first place finish, finishing a close second, with Josh Wagner and Kaden Walkey rounding out the top 10.
Duncan Bryson, Ben Eaton, Jack Anthony and Andrew Flockhart all had solid races adding points for the team title in a competitive field of 45 riders.
Hopes were high when the senior girls took to the course, with reigning provincial girls' champion Emily leading the way until disaster struck on the first lap, a flat tire all but dashing her chances of a repeat win.
With Emily out of contention, the rest of the girls team had to really step it up if they had any chance of capturing the provincial crown. The results came with all five team members posting top 10 finishes led by up and coming racers Alison Brand, Laren Pudek and Grace Stanhope and graduating senior Kristen Calder-Sutt. Magnus Mansons third place finish in the juvenile boys and Sage Randles fourth in junior girls solidified the team chances for the overall crown.
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