The St. Francis Golden Knights Mountain Bike Team “Beach to Boulder’s Race”
Perfect weather conditions greeted the Golden Knights mountain bike team for the 1st race of the 2014 SoCal League race season at Lake Perris State Park. The Golden Knights have trained since December 1st for this season opener and were prepared for the very fast 5.2 mile course that featured asphalt road climbs and deep-sand beach crossings – challenges that would make for dramatic racing.
The first race of the day included two Golden Knight freshmen taking on a large field of 50 freshman riders from throughout Southern California. Both Charlie Patterson and Evan Tontini are new to the sport of mountain biking and would be facing their first-ever mountain bike race. The start featured a fast-paced race across the beach, and with 50 riders going in every direction, crashes and slowed riders forced Charlie and Evan into a sprint run off of the beach. Once underway, Charlie and Evan both worked very hard to complete their two lap race in good shape with Charlie finishing in 30th place and Evan in 41st. Now that they have their first race under their belt, these freshman boys should only improve throughout the season.
It appears that the Golden Knights four sophomore riders might be the best ever for this team in that class. George Orloff had a fantastic start and left the beach area with the leaders, and never looked back. After three hard laps, George earned his first ever podium result with a well-deserved 2nd place finish, only seconds away from a victory. Andrew Schiller had moved up to 5th place by the second lap and was close to his first podium of the year, only to suffer on the final lap. Andrew still hung on and achieved a fantastic 11th place finish. Michael Vega finished in 14th, and Andrew Palaski finished in 15th place. This group all finished in the top 30% of their 46 rider field. A remarkable performance for this group!
The JV Division 1 race would field the largest group of riders of the day, with 61 students lining up for their 3 lap race. Seven Golden Knights would compete in this fast race, with some more great results coming out of this group. Leading the charge was Skyler Payne. In only his third season of racing, Skyler would earn the second podium of the day for the Golden Knights with a hard fought 4th place finish. Improving each season, Remi Roth and Kenny Larsen would race against each other all day, finishing in 17th and 18th respectfully. Keenan Koch and Owen Shain may have gone out too fast in this early season race, and both hung on for good finishes in 32nd and 38th. Hunter Nalley finished in 50th, and Chris Perez came back from a 1st lap crash to finish in 56th.
The Golden Knight Varsity team was represented by senior Sean Bird and junior Austin Hamilton. Sean took the hole-shot at the start of the race and paced together a strong group of 10 riders that would stick together for 4 ½ laps. On the fifth and final lap, attacks took their toll and Sean hung on for a good 8th place result. Unfortunately, Austin’s race didn’t go as well. Only 60 feet after the start, Austin got caught up in a three rider crash. Austin’s bike was damaged and he lost time getting back into the race. With shifting and braking problems caused by the crash, Austin suffered for 5 laps but showed true-grit by finishing the race in 25th place.
Another Golden Knight streak was extended with every rider finishing the race and again no DNF’s! The combined team results for this race were also the best for the Golden Knights since the 2011 season! The Golden Knights head to race # 2 in Vail Lake (near Temecula) in two weeks. The team held a pre-season camp there and should be ready to tackle one of the most technical courses in the series.
The Golden Knights mountain bike team are very grateful for all of the support they have received from the school, parents, alumni, and their generous sponsors, including: Design Imports, Hollandays, Merchants Building Maintenance, Mountain Pine Shutters, Strategic Law Partners, Nu-Hope, Kevin Martin/UBS, Stratz & Company, Financial Guaranty Insurance Brokers, Lucas Horsfall Murphy & Pindroh, Lantern CycleWorks, Montrose Bike Shop, Crescenta Valley Insurance, Church and Larsen, JoBesh International, and Sport Chalet.
St. Francis High School, 200 Foothill Blvd., La Cañada, (818) 790-0325 or visit http://www.sfhs.net/
