Chatelech Secondary School won its first high school mountain biking championship last week after the senior boys claimed the North Shore title.
The team of Matt Cottrell, Brett Wildeman, Chris Bates, Scott Lawson and Dusty Sept picked up 1,797 points in the seven-race North Shore Mountain Bike League series, beating out arch rival West Vancouver who finished second with 1,710 points.
"Our goal was to stay in the top five all year long and keep earning points every race," said Wildeman. "We worked really hard and it was great to beat West Vancouver. They were tough all year."
Bates added that, heading into the season, the team set a goal of winning the team title.
"We worked hard as a team and also worked on different training schedules," Bates said. "It's not just one of us out there - it's the whole team competing in every event and trying to get the best finish and the most points."
This year's title could be just the start of many championship years for Chat. Except Sept, the rest of the squad is all back next year to defend their title.
"The senior team was strong this year, but I think they can dominate next year," said coach Dave Bates. But the senior boys' success is only part of the story this year.
Katherine Short and Sean Stanhope won the bantam girls' and boys' individual titles, Lexy Wishlow was fourth and Darcy Mercer was sixth in senior girls while Jesse Horn finished fifth in juvenile boys - not bad considering Chat had only three mountain bikers on the team a few years ago, which this year had 13 riders.
Chat also sent a strong contingent to last weekend's B.C. high school championships at Buntzen Lake in Coquitlam.
Chat had six riders in the top 10, with Short and Stanhope each winning their respective age groups.
"We have a great group of dedicated riders who want to work hard, compete and have fun," Dave said. "The senior boys have been riding together since they were in Grade 7. They feel comfortable together, train together and really love to cycle. They've also shown the younger athletes a lot of leadership, and that certainly helps the whole team be successful."
Chat's success at the high school level is also due to their involvement with the successful Sprockids mountain bike program that all the riders praise for helping them succeed today.
"Next year our focus is to continue to build on this success and try to encourage the younger kids a bit more," he added. "In order to be successful at the senior level, you have to continue to be successful at the lower levels and keep building. We have different levels of commitment. Some of the kids ride five days a week. They work hard and train hard, and that's what it's all about."
