Buck Hill Race #1: MN High School Cycling League Race Report: Sun. Sept. 7, 2014

41 High School Teams competed in the first race of a 5-race series

Sept. 9, 2014 - Bloomington, MN - On Sun. Sept. 7, Buck Hill became the location for the first race of the MN High School Cycling League and the start of another exciting Fall Season of high school mountain bike racing. Over 425 racers poured in from all parts of Minnesota (Duluth, Crosby-Ironton, Rochester and cities all over the Twin Cities) - the Buck Hill Parking lot was overflowing with tents, bikes and gear from 41 teams!

"Race #1 was a huge success. A heart-felt thank you to each and everyone of our coaches, volunteers, parents and athletes - without you, our continued exponential growth would not be possible," said MN League Director, Josh Kleve. "We're all looking forward to another four races yet this season."

In Varsity Boys, Duluth Composite and Duluth East HS dominated the race and took the top 3 slots. Samuel Olson from Duluth Composite team took the Leaders place with seconds to spare in front of Samuel Hayden from Duluth East. Josey Weik from Duluth Composite took the third slot.

Varsity Girls had veteran racers Jordan Horner from Burnsville taking the Leaders Spot with over a 4 minute lead. Battling for the second slot was Claire Ommen from Rochester Composite and newcomer Anna Christian from Washburn High School. Claire took the second slot with Anna taking third just seconds behind.

Prior Lake Individual/Team Results:

On Sept 7 the Minnesota High School Cycling League kicked off its 3rd season of High School Mountain Biking in Minnesota as 40+ teams competed at Buck Hill in Burnsville.  It was a notable weekend for more than that though.  This marked the first year that Middle School (7th and 8th Graders) were able to race along with the High School teams.  In addition, this race brought out over 550 middle school and high school athletes from over 40 teams across Minnesota to compete in a new high school sport that has only been in the state for it's third year!   That has been an amazing growth for the league shows how much untapped demand there is for non-traditional high school sports and activities.  Finally, with so much growth in the league, this  year the teams were divided into Division 1 (12 or more riders) and Division 2 (< 12 riders) categories.

This growth is mirrored in the Prior Lake High School Mountain Bike team as they've grown from a team of 13 riders in the league's first year to 30+ riders in this third year, making them one of the largest teams in the state.   The Lakers had some impressive races by some returning veteran racers as well as some great results from young first team racers.   In the Varsity Category, returning for his third year on the team, junior Jake Binkowski (captain) anchored the Varsity Boys category by finishing in 12th place, while Freshman speedster, Zachary Smith started out fast in the first two laps but was forced to drop out of the race due to an ankle injury in his 3rd lap.   The Junior Varsity category was also anchored by a strong core of returning veterans, including junior Brandan Eisma (captain) who finished a strong 4th place among the boys JV Division 1 racers and Junior Ashley Ball (captain), who finished in 5th place for the Girls JV category.   Finally, the Freshman Girls showed that the Lakers have a bright future, with three girls placing in the top 10 for the Freshman girls category, including freshman Ellie Pfeifer who looked strong in taking 2nd place and 8th graders Olivia and Alexis Jacobson who took 8th and 10th places respectively.  

The Lakers Mountain Bike team finished the day taking 5th place in the Division 1 classification behind Duluth East, Hopkins, Edina and Minnetonka.  They will be looking to move up in the standings on Sunday September 21 when the next Minnesota High School League race is held at the Jail Trail in St. Cloud, MN.

Full Results can be found at:  http://www.minnesotamtb.org/2014-race-results/

Details on Prior Lake Lakers Mountain Bike Team:  PriorLakeMTB@mediacombb.net

Details on Minnesota High School Cycling League www.minnesotamtb.org