The Southern California Interscholastic Cycling League successfully completed its inaugural four-race series with the Cowpie Classic event, held at the Stump Grinder Dirt Club private mountain bike area, in the rolling hills near Los Olivos, May 4.

Quintin Easton, president of the SoCal League, said, “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.”

The SoCal series, which is funded primarily by the Easton Sports Development Foundation II, attracted more than 100 high school students from 14 school and composite teams in its inaugural four-race series, beginning March 8. 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.

Varsity Boys
After finishing second all season, Eric Landman (Independent) finally got the win. He tells the story. “Right at the gun I took off. It was a little hotter than I thought. I thought ‘if I stayed hydrated this will be good for me,’ so I just tried to push the pace. I was thinking some of the others might get a little overheated. I live in Lakeside, East County San Diego, where it’s often over 100 degrees, so the heat’s pretty good for me…. After the first lap it was down to me and Zach switching off, and then I finally got the better of him on the last lap going up the climbs.”

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.

Eric Landman claimed second place in the series, with Matts Hanssens (Newport Beach Composite) third.

Varsity Girls
Tiana Row was not able to be at the final but still won the series. She said, “I’d like to thank Jason Ranoa, and Matt Fritzinger, and Quintin Easton, and all the parents for making this series happen. I loved racing this year, it was super-fun. I can’t wait to race again next year; it’s going to be even better!”

Junior Varsity Boys
After a hard-ridden contest that lasted all four races of the series, Tucker Trotter (Yucaipa) held onto a slim lead over Quint Berkemeier (Rim of the World High) to claim the title. A lot rested on the final race, and perhaps it was nervousness that led to a twitchy start. Trotter recalls, “Right off the bat, the 1-2-3 riders took a spill at the S turns. Then I passed Quint at the berms. It looked like he fell. On the first stretch up the long fire road I took off (got the lead) and never really looked back… I expected Quint to be up there with me today, he’s been my main competition in the series, but I never saw him after that early spill.”

This win sealed Trotter’s series, surprising none more than he. “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,” he said. Berkemeier took second in the series, and David Pretzinger (Rim of the World High) was third.

Junior Varsity Girls
Amanda Duarte (Independent) won all three series races that she entered, and having competed here at Los Olivos only a week earlier felt she was at an additional advantage. The treeless expanse of the venue worked in her favor too. “It was really good the course was open, because I could see how far my competitors were from me,” she recalled.

Amanda has gained considerable empowerment through her biking. “The series win means a lot to me. I used to be slow and hesitant on the trails, but I’ve been getting better and better with my handling skills and overall speed. I’ve surprised myself with what I can do, sometimes cleaning difficult sections on a course that I hadn’t pre-ridden. So for me it’s a big personal accomplishment.”

Amanda points to something that many members of this league might relate to: “A lot of kids in my school don’t understand mountain bike racing, or any bike racing. So it’s an inner feeling of confidence. There’s something you can do that kids around you haven’t reached for and haven’t achieved.”

Jasce Goldsmith (Hemet) took second place in the series, and Shaylee Quezada (Channel Islands) finished equal on points with Kelsey Johnson (Hemet) in third place.

Frosh/Soph Boys
In the ultra-competitive Frosh/Soph Boys category, Ricky Riedl (Palos Verdes Composite) entered the final with Brady Kiss (Yucaipa) and Peter Morris (Newport Beach Composite) only nine points behind him. “I was very nervous going into the final,” recalls Riedl, who produced an outstanding ride to claim the series title.

“It was my best race ever! I was so happy when I won, I did really well personally, I was totally wiped after the race, I couldn’t have given any more,” he said.

Pre-race, Riedl spotted a tough section on the first climb and practiced riding that. “In the race I didn’t have to get off my bike. Right behind me, I saw Brady Kiss dismount, and he lost some time there. That’s pretty much what made the break,” said Riedl who won the two –lap race by a little over 30 seconds from Kiss.

Brady Kiss took second in the series, and Peter Morris, who finished in the unfamiliar position of mid-pack – for unknown reasons – was third.

Frosh/Soph Girls
The highly talented 15 year-old Leila Carrillo (Newport Beach) is looking forward to jumping up to Varsity next year after winning all of her races this year. Rachael Somerville (Newport Beach), who had the unenviable job of competing with Leila, finished second.

“Next year I’m going to be in Varsity. That’ll be fun! I think any of the varsity chicks will be tough competition,” said Carrillo.

Rachael Somerville will move up a category too. “I can’t wait to see what we come up with next year and I can’t wait for the state championships this year. Next year I’m going to be up in JV, and I want to see if can start winning some of these. Second place is fun, but I definitely want to be up on top of the podium!”

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