Grade 10 Don Ross students Quinn Moberg and Helena Neudorf reigned supreme Wednesday April 28 at the North Shore High School Mountain Bike League regional race.
Already in the top four, both Moberg and Newdorf moved to first place ranking going into race four of five at Hyannis following the Don Ross race.
The Don Ross team has traditionally had a very strong presence in the circuit thanks to the bike-centric community it comes from, said Don Ross coach Olivier Gendron.
"They have elementary school races, toonie races and so many opportunities to get out there and be competitive if they want to," he said. "And the quality of trails is just amazing."
Moberg is leading the pack of 25 racers with 290 points, a substantial lead over Matthew Clough from Elphinstone, who has 250 points.
Neudorf also has 290 points, 25 points ahead of teammate Kayley Verbeek seated in second place with 265 points.
With only two more races to go until the provincials, both are hoping to hold onto their lead. Racers are awarded points according to placing - first is worth 100 points, second is worth 95, and so forth until fifth place.
Racers competed at Hyannis on Wednesday (May 5) and the last race during regular season will be held in Whistler on May 12. The BC high school mountain bike championships will be held in Whistler on May 29.
The winning duo, along with the entire team, are looking forward to competing at the provincial championships on May 28, but according to coach Olivier Gendron, this year might be the team's last chance to win the provincials.
"With the school reconfiguration, all the Grade 10 students will be at Howe Sound Secondary so we will only have Grade 8 and Grade 9 students," said Gendron.
The Don Ross mountain bike team normally dominates the league, despite their handicap of only having Grades 8, 9 and 10 at the moment.
"We're a small school but we do well enough in those three grades to gain enough points," he said. "Even with no one in seniors we still do well but we have to do really well in those categories [Grades 8, 9 and 10] to win."
After the reconfiguration, Gendron said the team would be much smaller.
"It won't be the same," he said. "The Grade 10s are the role models, they brings the little kids into it and recruit them and without them there it will be much harder. There's no way we can ever win at the provincial championship after this."
