MTB Team State Championship & Season Race Report
The USN Mountain Bike Team’s 3rd season came to a close on the clifftops of Monteagle Mountain on Sunday, November 8 for the NICA-TN State Championship Race. Some Saturday storms dampened the course, but Sunday proved to be a great fall day on the campus of the St. Andrews Sewanee School.
The USN Mountain Bike Team’s 3rd season came to a close on the clifftops of Monteagle Mountain on Sunday, Nov. 8th for the NICA-TN State Championship Race. Some Saturday storms dampened the course but Sunday proved to be a great fall day on the campus of the St. Andrews Sewanee School.
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The challenging, leaf-filled and rocky singletrack trails witnessed strong performances and solid improvements from all our HS and new MS cyclists, including some top 10s and podium spots.
With our small team lacking racers in all available categories, we are at a disadvantage in how the overall team standings are calculated, but still managed to place 5th out of 10 for the State Championship race and 7th out of 10 for the 4-race series. The league races now include over 200 students riding after the inclusion of 6th-8th grades for the 2015 season and is positioned to grow even more for the Fall of 2016.
We’re very excited about our new middle school cyclists, with over 25 participating in practices and more than a dozen giving at least one race a try this fall. In the State Championship race, 8th grader Campbell Luschen put in our fastest MS lap time and finished in the top 10 out of more than 40 middle school racers. Cameron Stenhouse (8) was close behind, finishing just out of the top 10 and Henry Cour (8) dug deep to finish strong in the 2-lap/9.5-mile loop for 7th and 8th graders. Luschen and Stenhouse also participated in every race this season, and made huge gains in course times and race placements. Along with Henry Cour, Yoshi D’Souza (8) and Wesley Smail (6) also placed in the top half of their fields at 3 out of the 4 races. Also participating in at least one middle school race this year are: Chris Assouad (6), Ian Tibbs (6), Gavin Gordon (7), Neil Narayanan (7), Sam Mabry (8), Jonathan Lippolis (7) and Sam Briley (7). We also had many promising 5th grade riders join us throughout the season for practices and look forward to seeing them in future seasons and races.
Senior Sam Markland anchored our HS team, placing 12th out of 20 in a highly competitive JV Boys field (3 laps, 14 miles), also finishing 12th overall for the season out of more than 30 racers. Sophomore Arvin Jansen consistently posted the team’s fastest lap times and finished on the podium in 3rd place for the Sophomore Boys category. New riders Shivam Hingorani (10) and Cam Kloeppel (9) raced well in their big fields, posting their best results all season. Hingorani placed 22nd of our 28 Sophomore boys for the season, with Kloeppel 17th out of 32 Freshman Boys racers. In the girls race, Juniors Ella Cameron and Natalie Connor both had strong rides in the JV girls race, finishing 6th and 4th for the day, and 6th and 5th overall for the season. Also competing in at least one race for the high school this year were Edward LeMaster (11), Alex Lomis (10) and Wil Griffin (10).
Senior Sam Markland will be greatly missed as he joins the ranks of our mountain bike alumni (Natasha Heckers ’14; Skye Cameron and Will Lippolis ’15). We’d also like to give a shout to Seniors Addison Prichard, Joshua Gabella, Kevin Chen and Bennett Devlin for joining and competing with the team in its inaugural 2013 year and/or 2014 seasons.
The 2016 season will begin in late August, 2016 and the team is open to any student in Grades 5-12 (with races for 6th -12th grades), even if you are already committed to a primary sport. Contact Head Coaches Steve Smail ssmail@usn.org, Trent Boysen, Greg O’Loughlin, Amy Dortch or Dave Crumpton for more information, or if you are interested in off-season rides or future races.
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Contact
Edgehill Campus
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
2000 Edgehill Ave.
Nashville, TN 37212
Phone: 615-321-8000
Fax: 615-321-0889
Email: info@usn.org
River Campus
1200 County Hospital Road
Nashville, TN 37218
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University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.
University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.