Mountain bike riders from Chat and Elphi are off to strong starts in the 2006 high school season.
So far two events have been held on the North Shore. Race three was held Wednesday in Squamish. Results from Wednesday's race were not available at press time. April 26 is the next race at the Blair Range in North Vancouver with race five May 3 hosted by Chat and Elphi here on the Sunshine Coast.
Elphi has 18 racers ranging from Grade 8 to 12.
"We've had first and second place finishers so far and many top 10 racers," said an enthusiastic Sarah Mani, Elphi's coach. "We are just having a hoot with the Chat team. Everyone is so supportive of each other both on and off the race course. The kids were saying it would be cool to combine the two schools and just have one huge race team from the Sunshine Coast. Then we could give Squamish a run for their money - they have a huge team."
Chat coach Dave Bates was equally enthusiastic about his team's start.
"Both us and Elphi have four riders in the top 10 in Grade 8," said Bates. "Chat continues to dominate the Grade 10 boys and girls and our senior [Grade 11] boys and girls are sitting in the top three spots. We're fielding a team of 12 with eight of those in Grade 8, so we have great potential for many years to come."
