CORONA DEL MAR TODAY

CdMHS to Add Mountain Biking Team

Corona del Mar High School mountain biking students will be able to join a new team that will begin in spring of 2012, school officials have announced.

Students in ninth through twelfth grades of all levels may join the team; there will not be tryouts.

“Everybody participates,” according to an email sent to parents. “Everybody races. There is no ‘bench, (only a small seat, and it’s going to be moving).”

An informational meeting is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday June 11 in Room 322 for anyone with questions.

“The team will be managed and coached by volunteer staffers who will offer organized training and skill-building exercises,” according to a school email. “Formal training starts after winter break and leads up to competition in a local high school race series operated by the Southern California Interscholastic Cycling League…”

New high school mountain bike leagues are growing in popularity throughout the country, the email states. The SoCal league has been operating for three full seasons after spinning off the NorCal league, which has existed more than a decade.

“Here at CdM, students have been competing in SoCal mountain bike races as members of the Newport Beach Composite mountain bike team for the last three years,” the email states. The students have performed well, and organizers believe the time has come for a school team to form.

The SoCal league races are cross-country mountain bike races, and there are no downhill or free ride categories.

“The races generally go to the athlete who is light, strong, and fit and can handle a bike on the single-track downhill as well,” the email states.