After an exciting weekend filled with thrills and spills, The Moreton Bay Colleges’ Mountain Bike Club has defended its title of Mountain Biking Australia Schools National Champion for 2019.
The three-day event held in Narang on the Gold Coast saw over 90 different schools come together to compete for the coveted title. “In the lead up to nationals, there was excitement amongst all of our team,” said Ariella Titman, Mountain Biking Co-Captain and Year 10 student.
“Leading the winning Schools Nationals team for 2019 was an incredibly rewarding experience. Seeing the support within the team and from our supporters made all the early mornings worth it.”
Riders compete in three different events over the weekend, including Cross Country, Enduro, and XCC, or short-course Cross Country, with points awarded for placings and timings. With 2.5 kilometres of professionally graded Mountian Bike track on-site at Moreton Bay Boys’ College for the club to train on, the bushland-based tracks in Nerang played to the strengths of many of the riders, resulting in multiple podium finishes.
“This is a sensational result,” said Stuart Paterson, Mountain Biking Coordinator. “It’s a credit to the riders, the coach and our community, but also to the school itself for its vision of including Mountain Biking in its sporting programme.”
Competing for their third year, the defending champions focussed on extra training and course familiarity. “In the lead up to the national championships, we increased our training load,” said Callum Sey, Mountain Biking Co-Captain and Year 11 student. “We added an extra early morning training session starting at 7am so that we could focus on our fitness and our skills. On the weekend prior to the championships, the whole team travelled to Nerang so that we could familiarise ourselves and check the conditions and the technical features of the course.”
The team now prepares to defend its title of ‘Most EPIC School’ at the 2019 Flight Centre Cycle Epic at Hidden Vale Adventure Park in September.