ECHS Mountain Biking Team takes 3rd in the NorCal Championship

[Negar Souza]

On May 21st, 18 members of the ECHS MTB team were among 585 racers from 77 NorCal teams who competed at the Championship race at Six Sigma Ranch in Lake County. At the end of the day, under the guidance of Head Coach Doug Diego, El Cerrito took home the 3rd place trophy for team achievement, just 18 points behind the 2nd place team. The race was hot and dusty and our riders prevailed, with some of our upperclassmen rushing back after their tough competition to make it home in time for prom.

The course took place at a repeat venue, but on all new trails that featured great climbs, technical bits, tight turns, water crossings, and more. Each lap of the course was 6.2 miles and had 733' of vertical gain, so freshmen and sophomores raced 2 laps/12.4 miles, JV boys 3 laps/ 18.5 miles, and Varsity boys 4 laps/ almost 25 miles.

Here's how our individual racers stacked up:

Varsity Boys: Chris Hill, 4th (podium); Finn Kaste, 17th; Will Diego, 18th; Tristan Schönfeldt-Aultman, 19th

JV Boys: Joaquin Chun, 9th; Theo Borys, 10th; Tobin Power, 11th; Odin Simms, 22nd; Miles Hansen, 58th; DJ Kang

Freshman Girls: Annika Borys, 4th (podium); Edda Grondahl, 5th (podium); Gabrielle Walmsley, 30th

Freshman Boys: Yoann Perrodin, 2nd (podium); Jack O'Neal, 3rd (podium); Daniel Gansmiller, 17th; Jaq Chin, 23rd; Gabriel Sabatini, 63rd

Please congratulate our team on a fantastic season!