13 August 2019. Manly West, Brisbane:
After an exciting weekend filled with thrills and spills, The Moreton Bay Colleges’ Mountain Bike Club have defended their title of Mountain Biking Australia Schools National Champions for 2019.
The three-dayevent 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, Mountian 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 supportersmade 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 2.5km of professionally graded Mountian Bike track on-site at Moreton Bay Boys’ College for the club to train on, the bushland-basedtracks in Nerang played to the strengths of many of the riders, resultingin multiple podium finishes.
“This is a sensational result,” said Mr 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 7:00 am 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 featuresof the course."
The team now prepares to defend their title of “Most EPIC School”at the 2019 Flight Centre Cycle Epicat Hidden Vale Adventure Park in September.
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For further information, please contact Ryan Lind, Communications Officer, Moreton Bay Colleges P 07 3390 8555
