Vernon mountain bikers pedal to provincial medals

Vernon mountain bike racers raced their way to impressive heights, with three winning the crown for top overall performance in their respective category.

The B.C. School Sports Mountain Bike Championships on May 27, held at Red Mountain in Rossland, saw more than 450 racers from all across the province compete. Sixteen came from Vernon.

All racers competed in both a cross-country (XC) and staged downhill (Enduro)-style races on the challenging terrain at Red Mountain.

Walking away with the King of the Mountain Crown in the bantam boys (Grade 8) was Lex Hostyn (V-Learn), winning gold in the XC and Enduro races.

Noah Milner (VSS) was the King of the Mountain in the juvenile boys (Grade 9) category, with his gold in Enduro and fourth place performance in XC.

W.L Seaton student Sophie Joerissen finished first in the XC and second in Enduro to take the Queen of the Mountain in the junior girls (Grade 10) category.

Keith Bazinet (VSS) also had an impressive performance, with a second overall ranking in the junior boys (Grade 10) field after a sixth in XC and second in Enduro.

鈥淭he rest of the team did not disappoint with many finishes in the top twenty of their categories in intensely competitive fields,鈥� said coach Paige McDicken. 鈥淲e couldn鈥檛 be prouder of this amazing group of mountain bike racers whose results proved SD22 punched above their weight in this province.鈥�

The 16 athletes who competed at provincials were: Keith and his brother William Bazinet, Oren Carson, Charlie Cardew, Milner, and Drew Solmes from VSS. Kalamalka High School was represented by Grady Barg, MacKinley Barg, Gavin Bartel, Sawyer Lehr, Sam McDicken, Will McDicken and Thomas Nice. Joerrison was the sole competitor from W.L. Seaton while Lex鈥檚 brother, Alex, also came from V-Learn.

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