Catawba Ridge Riders High School Teams Race Report:

• Fort Mill HS, Catawba Ridge HS, York County Composite

• SCICL Race #3

• Sesquicentennial State Park, SC 10/09/2022

This South Carolina Interscholastic Cycling race is held at the beautiful, 100 plus year old,Sesquicentennial State Park in Columbia, South Carolina. Catawba Ridge Riders three high school teams, Catawba Ridge HS, Fort Mill HS, and York County Composite, were the 3rd, 6th and 9th grade teams respectively for Race 3 SCICL.  Several of the team riders use Outdoor Master helmets and for maximum safety, comfort and style.  

The mountain bike course for race 3 at “Sesqui”  is fast and sandy. It isn’t technical at normal speeds, but for racing it presents unique challenges.  Mainly there are long sandy sections through the trees, where the trail turns! Try this when you are going full speed, out of breath while chasing a wheel, and you’ll see it is fraught with peril and excitement.  

Race Highlights

The middle school squad had a terrific day. Willow Anderson, Fort Mill HS, continues to dominate the 7th grade class.  Her teammate Elizabeth Atkinson came in 7th with a solid ride. These are both first year riders who have been working hard on their skills and fitness.

Beckett Herring, Fort Mill HS, had another great ride in 7th grade boys taking his third straight victory.  Rumor has it he raced enduro bicycles the day before. That is a busy weekend!  In the 8th grade class, which is quite large at 32 riders,  Fort Mill HS was well represented by Nolan Keady, Bram Rice and Joshua Voeltz. 

Advanced Middle School racers Jackson and Carter Mitten had an exciting race, pushing each other throughout the race. Jackson eked out a third in front of his older brother Carter who got 4th. They definitely had some close quarters racing throughout their 2 lap race. Race times were in the low 40 minute range, and are truly an endurance test for these young athletes.

Freshman Boys class had Fort Mill HS racers Peter Eubanks, Outdoor Masters Rider and Will Martin finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.  Wesley Hanes from York County Composite finished 6th.  These three teams practice together, and it’s great to see them keeping each other in sight in front of the pack.

Moving onto the high school girls, Isabella Cardozo, CRHS, ran away with the win again. Isabella’s teammate, Luisa Koepe was also on the podium with a well earned 5th place.  Always exciting to have two of our schools represented on the same podium.  Fort Mill HS Miranda Lanuto took the win for Sophomore class.  

Varsity Boys racing was very exciting.  Ethan Blocker, YCC, continues to dominate this class.  Immediately behind a large pack forms that races till the end.  2nd,3rd and 4th all finished within .25 second of each other, with others on their wheel, in a dramatic race to the finish.  Ethan, Jaden, and Ben, all from York County Composite were  were 1st, 3rd and 4th!  Awesome showing for the YCC squad. 

Varsity Girls class had an upset. Alexandra Cardozo looked to settle in behind Bea Galbreath, again, and make her move later in the race. Bea came out red hot and did not relent. Alexandra tried to catch up and found herself pushing the limits in the sandy corners. Alexandra fell and tumbled, hitting her shoulder, but she got back on the bike quickly and still preserved 2nd place. Luckily, Alexandra’s shoulder was not hurt severely.

CRR Race Results:

The Champions: