Over 1,000 of Australia’s best school-aged mountain bike riders competed over five days and five events at the 23rd Australian Mountain Bike Interschools Championships
The students from over 220 schools flocked to Thredbo where competitors aged from eight to nineteen years of age battled it out across five events: Maxxis All-Mountain Assault, Fox Flow Motion Cup, Oakley Cannonball Downhill, Rockshox Pump Track Challenge and Osprey Cross Country.
With the sun shining all week long, Thredbo attracted a record number of entries all ready for five days of exciting Interschool gravity mountain bike action from Wednesday 23 March to Sunday 27 March.
Day one saw a huge day of practising on Thredbo’s network of gravity and cross-country trails, with many of the school-aged children dialling up their skills and testing their times down the trails.
Making its MTB Interschools debut, the Maxxis All-Mountain Assault kicked off on Thursday with competitors making it down the gruelling 4km undulating descent.
On Friday, the Fox Flow Motion Cup saw the biggest number of competitors battling it out for glory down the 4.5km track that descends 465 vertical metres through a mix of open berms and long undulating straights.
Saturday saw the Oakley Cannonball Downhill take place with the bravest and most talented mountain biking students from all over Australia testing their downhill skills down the challenging and iconic Cannonball trail. The day ended with three students from each school per division selected to compete in the crowd favourite, the Rockshox Pump Track Challenge.
With the sunshine continuing and rounding out an incredible five days of competition, Sunday saw the final event of the competition, the Osprey Cross Country test the cardio capacity of the competitors with a 2.5km loop around Friday Flat with a ratio of 70/30 uphill to downhill.
The oldest competitors rode five laps of the loop, while the youngest competitors tested themselves with two laps.
It was Jobe Gentle from Snowy Mountains Grammar School and Poppy Pollock from St Mary Star of the Sea College who took out the Overall King and Queen of the Australian MTB Interschools Championships, winning the overall Division 1 Boys and Girls categories (Years 11 and 12).
Archer Henness and Madeline Lloyd, both from Snowy Mountains Grammar School took out the youngest Boys and Girls age category, Division 4 (Primary School competitors).
The overall Champion School was Snowy Mountains Grammar School, with Heathcote High School and Jindabyne Central School in second and third place. According to Madeline Lloyd, aged ten from Snowy Mountains Grammar School who made the podium in all five events in Division 4 Girls, the event was the highlight of her school year so far. She especially enjoyed having so many female riders from all over the country to compete with.
Caroline Brauer, Thredbo Marketing Manager said, “Seeing the camaraderie and sportsmanship displayed by all the competitors was a tribute to the schools and the students who attended this year’s Australian MTB Interschools at Thredbo.”
“We were overwhelmed by the number of competitors and schools who participated this year. The huge number of entries, together with the incredible talent and skills shown by the students shows just how bright the future of mountain biking as a sport is,” continued Brauer.
