Mountain bikers hit their peak

By Marc McGowan
A BERWICK-based school came out on top in the State Schools Mountain Bike Championships at Upper Beaconsfield’s Sir Dallas Brooks Scout Camp on Sunday.
St Margaret’s School dominated the event to win overall honours, with students Brittany Steele (under-19 girls) and Charlotte Hanson (under-17 girls) emerging victorious in their respective age groups.
Steele led a 1-2-3 finish ahead of classmates Rachel Hore and Katie York in the under-19 girls’ race.
Other local winners included Warragul-based St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School pair Brenton Jones (under-19 boys) and Peter Davine (under-13 boys), Kambrya Secondary College student Mel Hunter and Beaconsfield Primary School’s Courtney Hore.
The championship is in its second year back from a three-year hiatus and event organiser Terry Trevena was delighted to attract almost 150 entrants.
“It was tremendous and everyone was rapt with it,” he said.
“Last year we had atrocious conditions, but we doubled the number of entries this year from 70 to 150 and it went without a hitch.”
Trevena worked with John Bucknell, from Dirt Riders Mountain Bike Club, and CycleSport Victoria development manager Luke Mason to revive the competition.
The trio hopes the championships will grow further next year and expects to run qualifying events in Upper Beaconsfield and Geelong before the 2010 instalment.
The riders did up to six laps of the gruelling 1.8km course.
Under-19 boys’ winner Jones was the star of the show, completing his race in 33 minutes and 48 seconds to finish three minutes clear of his closest rival, Berwick Secondary College’s Lee Imrie.
The 17-year-old will represent Australia in the 2009 UCI Mountain Bike and Trials World Championships in Canberra next month. Jones is competing in the cross-country junior men’s category.