O’Dowd Bike Team Places 4th at State Championships – Five Springs Ranch Petaluma
The O’Dowd mountain bike team raced last weekend at the California High School Mountain Bike State Championships held in Petaluma, California.
With close to 800 high school athletes from across California, the State Championships are the pinnacle of high school mountian biking. The Five Springs course is known for its long climbs, fast descents and bumpy trails. A real test to determine the best riders and teams in the state.
The Dragons’ full squad was in attendence with every rider qualifying to participate in the State Championships. States is like no other high school race, happening over two days. Saturday involved the gathering of teams from across the state and pre-riding the course. On Sunday the racing began with the ladies up first.
The O’Dowd girls were represented by freshman Lily O’Hare ’21 who finished the season in 3rd place in the south conference and was seeded 12th for States. Lily had a strong race finishing in 21st place, securing significant points for the Dragons in the team competition. Next up were the junior varsity girls – Bella Walters ’19, Elise Cypher ’19, Mia Rahman ’19 and Charlotte Low ’18 – our graduating senior and team captain who was competing in her last high school mountian bike race. All had strong races with Elise leading the pack finishing in 29th place.
Next up were the boys with O’Dowd’s sophomore rider Matthew Justice ’20 having a break-out race placing 16th in a field of over 80 sophomore riders. In the freshman boys field the Dragons were represented by Andrew Fee ’21 who flew through the field after starting at the back of the pack to place 42nd in a field of 80 freshmen.
The final race of the day was the varsity boys, and this field included many riders who race on the national and international level making this race one of the most highly anticipated races of the season. Facing four grueling laps, senior Caleb O’Hare ’18 was ready for the challenge. Caleb raced hard and was near the front all race, finishing in 12th place – a fantastic finish to his high school racing career. Next year Caleb will be attending UC Santa Cruz where he’ll join several of his former O’Dowd teammates.
All the Dragon riders did great at States. While each race is individual, high school mountain biking is a team sport with each rider scoring points for his/her team. In the end, the O’Dowd Dragons placed 4th overall out of 48 Division 2 teams – an amazing result.
Thank you to all the riders, parents and volunteers who helped make the O’Dowd Mountian Bike Team a reality and we look forward to continued fun and success next season.
Coach Scott
The 2017/18 Bishop O’Dowd Mountian Bike Team – From R-L: Andrew Fee (21′), Bella Walters (19′), Elise Cypher (19′), Mia Rahman (19″), Charlotte Low (18′), Lily O’Hare (21′) and Caleb O’Hare (18′)
Photos from 2018 State Championships. Upper left: Charlotte Low (18′) and Elise Cypher (19′). Upper Right: Matthew Justice (20′). Lower left: Bella Walters (19′). Lower right: Caleb O’Hare (18′).