June 23, 2023 By Bob Gold, Photos by Jason Tracey
Over 450 youth mountain bike riders and over 500 coaches, volunteers, and spectators weathered a mix of rain, clouds and even some sun at the sixth, and final, event of the New England Youth Cycling (NEYC) season on Sunday, June 18 at Wompatuck State Park. Local riding team, The Wompatuck Warriors, served as hosts for the race and supplied many volunteers while fielding a group of 35 riders at their home course. Riders were split into 8 different classes with separate podium finishers recognized for male and female participants. In the Junior Series (8th grade and below) riders competed in 4 different classes: JS Varsity (12 miles), JS Junior Varsity (8 miles), JS 3 (8 miles) and JS 4 (4 miles)). In the JS Varsity race, Roman Lin from the Midnight Riders team took first place with Dylan Vaugn of the Wompatuck Warriors coming in a close second. Abby Cole from the CT Chain Links team was the fastest female in the division. In the JS Junior Varsity division, both the male and female winners were from the Midnight Riders team with Victoria Svatek first among the female and Eli Svatek first among males. The Wompatuck Warriors had great finishes in this race with Tucker Fortin taking third among males and LiLi Schow placing fifth among females. A total of 82 riders took part in the JS 3 race and 91 made the field in JS 4. The Senior Series (9-12th grades) was also split into 4 featured races: SS Varsity (17 miles), SS Junior Varsity (11.5 miles), SS 3 (8 miles) and SS 4 (4 miles). In the fastest race of the day, Ryan Avery from the Bobcats took first with James Falconeiri of the Wompatuck Warriors finishing a strong third in SS Varsity. Kelli Harrington of the Shire Shredders was first of the female riders. A total of 76 riders took part in the SS Junior Varsity race and 67 participated in the SS 3 and SS 4 races. Team awards were handed out for the season with the CT Chain Links taking first and the Wompatuck Warriors placing second out of 33 teams. The Warriors will be back in action at Wompatuck for the Landmine MTB Classic on Sunday September 10. The Landmine is a premier mountain bike race run by the Friends of Wompatuck State Park, Bikebarn Racing, and SE Mass NEMBA.
