The O’Dowd mountain bike team finished the 2019 NorCal South Conference season in second place overall.
The conference championships were held at the Six Sigma course, which hosted Race #4 two weeks prior. This time the race included four miles of new trails, and with an overall length of six miles and close to 600 feet of climbing on each lap it was a true test of endurance and skill. To make things even harder the weather was clear and warm with temperatures reaching close to 90 degrees during the afternoon races.
The morning started with the girls heading out under crystal blue skies and temperatures starting to rise. Sarah Tracy Cook ’22 and Caroline Hendsch ’22 sprinted toward the front of the pack early in the race and finished strong in 4th and 6th places respectively. Lily O’Hare ’21, our lone sophomore girl racer, also had a strong start and held her ground. She knew after pre-riding the course the day before, it suited her strengths and she finished high on the podium in 3rd place. It was the last league race for our graduating senior racers Elise Cypher ’19, Mia Rahman ’19, Bella Walters ’19 and Holly Teeters ’19, and each of them had their best race of the season. Elise had bike problems before the race start. However a quick bike change didn’t phase her as she finished in 6th place on the day. Mia, the team captain, finished in 18th place. Holly finished in a strong 23rd place. And Bella, after a hard first lap in the heat, recovered and flew home to a 25th place finish.
Lily O’Hare at the start of the sophmore girls’ race.
Sarah Tracy Cook and Caroline Hendsch at the finish of the freshman girls’ race
The O’Dowd boys are represented by Andrew Fee ’21 and Matthew Justice ’20. By the time the boys’ races started the heat had arrived and hydration would be key to finishing the grueling course. Andrew got off to a blistering start and was at the front of the pack for the entire race finishing two laps in under an hour and in 6th place on the day, his best finish of the season. In the JV race, Matthew faced three laps as the temperature soared toward 90 degrees. His first two laps were incredibly fast but on the 3rd lap, the heat started to take its toll. Matthew pushed through finishing in 13th place.
Matthew Justice out on course
The O’Dowd team finished in 3rd place for the day of racing.
O’Dowd Dragons on the Conference Championship podium in 2nd place (left side).First place went to Albany High School, 3rd place to Oakland Tech.
The Norcal league crowned series/conference champions for 2019, and the O’Dowd Dragons finished in 2nd place overall in the south conference. The individual O’Dowd riders finished the 2019 series in the following places:
Junior Varsity – Girls
Elise Cypher – 9th place
Mia Rahman – 22nd place
Holly Teeters – 24th place
Bella Walters – 33rd place
Junior Varsity – Boys
Matthew Justice – 13th place
Sophomore – Girls
Lily O’Hare – 5th place
Sophomore – Boys
Andrew Fee – 10th place
Freshman – Girls
Sarah Tracey Cook – 3rd place
Caroline Hendsch – 6th place
The impressive collection of team awards the O’Dowd Dragons mountain bike team collected in 2019.
All O’Dowd racers qualified for the California State Championships and are planning to race next weekend in Tehachapi California.
Thanks to all the parents, coaches and supporters of the O’Dowd Mountain Bike Team. We look forward to the 2020 season. If your son or daughter is interested in mountain biking, or you would like to help the team, we’d love to see you at Club Day next fall.