Parel Vallei High School wrapped up the 2016 Spur Schools Mountain Bike League season in stellar style winning both the mixed and women’s categories, while Paul Roos Gymnasium was crowned men’s champion. DF Malan High School finished second in the women’s and mixed categories, while Montana High School in Worcester took third place in the mixed, men’s and women’s categories.
Photo: Chris Hitchcock
A total of 45 high schools from across the Western Cape will compete for a spot in the Spur Schools Mountain Bike League National Finals, which will take place at Bekker School in Magaliesburg on Saturday, 8 October when more than 60 schools will go head to head with the top 26 riders in each category scoring points for their team.
The Western Cape Schools that qualified for the finals are Parel Vallei, Paul Roos, DF Malan, Montana and HTS Drostdy, while York and Outeniqua High Schools from the Southern Cape will form part of the Western Cape provincial team.
Photo: Chris Hitchcock
In addition to the qualifying schools the top three riders in each category also secured a spot in the finals. They are Tristan Nortje of Outeniqua (3rd youth men 15 years), Johan Krige of Durbanville High School (2nd youth men 16 years), Julia Marx of Springfield Convent (2nd sub-junior girls), Kirstin Roelofse of York High School (3rd youth women 15 years), Michaela Beaton of Rhenish Girls High (youth women 15 years champion), Mia De Villiers of Paarl Girls High (youth women 16 years champion), Amy Tait of York High (1st junior women) and Allison Morton of Westerford High School (2nd junior women).
South African XCO National Champion and Olympian, James Reid of Team Spur also attended the Western Cape Finals and riders had the opportunity to interact with him throughout the day.
On Sunday, 9 October Western Cape schools will team up for the SASC Interprovincial Competition whereby the best 10 results will be tallied to crown the best province. The North West Province are the current defending champions.
The following riders have been selected for the Western Cape provincial team: Montana High School’s WG van der Walt, Samual Swart and Johann Trotzky; Paul Roos Gymnasium’s Matthew Lochner, Jamie Penfold and Joshua Laughton; DF Malan’s Stefke Tolmay, Carla Hollander and Mulder Oosthuizen; Michaela Beaton of Rhenish Girls High; Johan Kruger of Durbanville High; Allison Morton of Westerford High; Julia Marx of Springfield Convent; with Parel Vallei sporting five riders – Carla Steyn, Jana Barry, Matthew Keyser, Joshua de Freitas and Ico Coetzee and Southern Cape represented by Charlissa Schultz of Langenhoven High School, Tristan Nortje of Outeniqua and York High School team mates Kirstin Roelofse and Amy Tait concluding the team.
Photo: Chris Hitchcock
The founding sponsor of the League, Spur Steak Ranches has again committed to a bigger and better season offering a R10 000 rand contribution to school teams that win their respective age categories at the National Inter-schools Finals. “Seeing the continued growth of the program is something we as Spur Steak Ranches are very proud of and we decided to offer this bonus to foster healthy competition and promote teamwork between riders and within schools, as well as increase participation across all skill levels and abilities,” said Andrew Cronje, Spur Market Development Manager.
For more information and results visit www.spurmtbleague.co.za and be sure to like the League on Facebook at Spur Schools League and follow @spurMTBleague on Twitter for more information.
Source: Peridot Communications
