Full results available at: http://www.norcalmtb.org/race/results.htm
Photo highlights available at: http://www.socaldirt.org/img/2009_RACE_4/index.html

LOS OLIVOS, Calif. – The Southern California Interscholastic Cycling League successfully completed its inaugural series with the Cowpie Classic event, held at the Stump Grinder Dirt Club private mountain bike area, at Los Olivos, May 4.

“To say it’s been way better than expected, or I’m ecstatic, would probably be understatements. It really couldn’t have gone better. A lot of local people put an immense amount of work and talent into making this series happen, but without Matt Fritzinger and the NorCal League we simply couldn’t have done it. His formula and experience created our success, it’s that simple,” said Quintin Easton, president of the SoCal League.

The SoCal series, which is funded primarily by the Easton Sports Development Foundation, attracted more than 100 high school students from 14 school and composite teams in its inaugural four-race series, beginning March 8. Racing categories included Varsity, Junior Varsity, and Fresh/Soph combined. The events generated such enthusiasm that some students traveled up to six hours to race.

The Newport Beach Composite team led the series from start to finish, despite sustained pressure from the Hemet High School riders. Yucaipa High School finished a close third.
Newport Beach team coach, James May, said “The kids were awesome. I’d love to take credit, but really it was the kids, and a great group of parents. The kids did a lot of it on their own, they organized a lot of their own training, they’re very motivated, and they’re a really fun group to work with. I had a very able assistant coach who did most of the organizing. It’s been a great experience for me just to be involved with it.” May is a teacher at Corona del Mar High School. His next move, he says, is to expand the scope of the team, adding relevance at a more recreational level to kids who are just interested in learning about the sport and who have no feeling yet for racing.

Winners of the individual series titles were headed up by Varsity category riders Zachary Valdez (Hemet) and Tiana Row (Independent). For Valdez, the series win was a huge accomplishment. “I’ve been racing for a few years now, but I’ve not had a result like this. This is pretty big, it’s pretty cool! It’s pretty cool to be able say I’ve won the series!” Valdez was unsure of his prospects going into the series, but his target soon came into focus. “After the first race I realized it would be nice to win the series. I started training a lot harder and everything,” he said. Tiana Row was not present at the final but still won the series.

Amanda Duarte (Indpendent), who won junior varsity girls series; Tucker Trotter (Yucaipa), junior varsity boys; Leila Carrillo (Newport Beach Composite), frosh/soph girls; and Ricky Riedl (Palos Verdes Composite), frosh/soph boys.

This league has brought with it feelings of joy and surprise to all that participated in the inaugural series. Tucker Trotter’s feelings about his win could easily apply to the whole league: “I’d never raced a mountain bike before the first race of this series. I couldn’t even imagine getting on the podium back then, let alone winning the whole series! I’m super happy, super-stoked. I’ve never really won anything – a soccer match maybe, but that’s different. Nothing this big.”

More information and a fuller report are at www.socaldirt.org

Next race: California Interscholastic State Championships. Boggs Mountain, Cobb, California, May 17th. http://norcalmtb.org/race/2009_BOGGS_Information.pdf

About the Southern California Interscholastic Cycling League
The SoCal Interscholastic Cycling League was organized to provide a well-defined race season for junior racers and to promote the formation of teams at public and private high schools. With the cooperation of local race promoters and our sponsors, the League organizes a first class series of races designed for high school aged riders. The League is working to make high school racing the easiest way for juniors to get involved in the challenging and exciting world of competitive cycling. The SoCal League was founded with a generous grant from the Easton Sports Development Foundation II (ESDF II) and is supported by other generous sponsors such as founding national sponsor Specialized Bicycle Components, Shimano, Bike Magazine, CLIF Bar, Crank Brothers, Hincapie Sportswear, Tifosi, Trek, and WTB. For more information on the League, visit http://www.socaldirt.org or contact Quintin Easton at quintin@socaldirt.org and 949.285.0316.

source: Paul Skilbeck