REGIONAL—Local youth mountain bikers from Team BOREALIS kicked off the fall race season Aug. 24-25 in Alexandria. Eight high schoolers and middle schoolers from Ely made the trip to race the smooth but twisty course at Brophy Park. The team has been practicing locally at Hidden Valley since mid-July and was eager to test their fitness at their first race.
Team BOREALIS races as a part of the Minnesota Cycling Association, which organizes race events for sixth-12th graders throughout the state of Minnesota. Each race boasts a festival-like atmosphere with two days of racing each weekend, according to Team BOREALIS head coach Mark Sponholz. “At these MCA races, every weekend has almost 50 teams and 1,000 riders. This makes every race almost like a state meet in other sports, where we see the best riders from all over Minnesota come to race.”
Leading Team BOREALIS in the results was Beck Sponholz, taking third place among seventh- grade girls. Also racing in middle school categories were Ava Wohnsen (29th among seventh-grade girls), Addison Kannas (14th among eighth-grade girls), Amelia Strom (15th among eighth-grade girls), and Sawyer Chick (30th among eighth-grade boys). George Sponholz took 14th in the JV2 category of high schoolers.
This was the first week of the fall race series organized by the Minnesota Cycling Association. Team BOREALIS riders will race again in two weeks at Lake Rebecca Park in Rockford.