Gold in them there hills

WITH around 200 riders on a magnificent day at Lysterfield the Metropolitan Zone mountainbike racing was extremely competitive across all categories.
There has been a remarkable growth in the sport with numbers doubling over the past few years.
The riders from St Margaret’s and Berwick Grammar were in outstanding form and posted extremely strong performances to put their school in the box seat to take out the State Champion School trophy which will be finalised at the state final in Bendigo in October. A win in this aggregate event would be the fourth successive year that this prestigious trophy has been secured by the school.
The Lysterfield course uses part of the track built for the Commonwealth Games and features some excellent technical sessions weaving through and over rocks and logs. Several riders came to grief but no major injuries were recorded.
The St Margaret’s and Berwick Grammar riders won eleven medals with Sienna Grove, Susanna Bates, Lachlan Clarke, Elise Hutchinson and Stefan Cotroneo all taking home gold. Damien Freihofer, Olivia Weston and Kristian Meade won silver medals and bronze medals were taken out by Ethan McDonell, Erin Hanley and David Somers.
Other local riders to feature were Phoebe Thompson from Upper Beaconsfield Primary School who won gold in the under-13 novice event and Connor Rose from Beaconhills College who won silver in the under-19 racing category.
In addition to the school aggregate trophy there is a trophy for the best overall results in each category over the three zone and state finals. At this stage Sienna Grove, Susanna Bates, Lachlan Clarke and Elise Hutchinson from St Margaret’s and Berwick Grammar are all leading their category and looking forward to continuing their outstanding form at Bendigo.