NICA High School Cycling News Round-up - March 27, 2012

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Nadina Junozovic of the Westlake Composite Team was the first student athlete in the Texas League to complete a lap.(Image credit: Tyler C Ferguson)

It's the end of March, and the 2012 National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) racing program is going on in four leagues across the USA: NorCal, SoCal, Texas and Washington. It's mountain biking, which means that weather sometimes dictates the play. But they're mountain bikers so they are dealing with it. Here are the March stories from each league.

If the darkest hour comes before the dawn, for Vance McMurry, the founding chair of the Texas High School Mountain Bike League, the sun is now up. In early March, the first-ever high school mountain bike team race in Texas had to be postponed after double the March monthly average precipitation fell in just 24 hours on Reveille Peak Ranch in Burnet, Texas, shortly before the March 11 event. With four inches of rain and temperatures in the 40s, "It was one of the most difficult decisions I had to make after spending two years to get to that point," said McMurry. However, the health and safety of student athletes, and the preservation of trail systems took priority.

The positive response to the event was more than McMurry had dared to hope for. "Ramon Avina, Team Director for the Laredo Composite Team, said that the Rocky Hill Roundup was run like a World Cup mountain bike race. Scot Pemberton, Team Director for the Lake Travis HS Team, told me that in 27 years of bike racing, this was the best race he has ever seen. Many parents of independent riders left Rocky Hill Ranch saying they were going home to start a team to bring to the next races. After the trials of the March deluge I am very grateful to everybody for sticking with us. I feel like this is the start of something big," he said.

Washington State Parks provided Fort Flagler State Park, an outstanding venue, the County Sheriff’s Department served as course marshals, and the two local emergency response teams were in attendance. In addition the local cycling club, the Killer Whales, rolled out the red carpet by providing a community spaghetti dinner, movie night (complete with vats of popcorn), and race day breakfast for all attendees.

Vanessa Hauswald, executive director of the NorCal League, said, "This season we've been excited to watch all of our teams step up their level of organization and athlete support. We're seeing lots more kids on trainers warming up before their races, parents in the feed zone with team spreadsheets to organize their feeds and coaches effectively managing a spectrum of riders from beginners to junior professionals. Of course, the increased camaraderie between riders and teams is also great to see."

The SoCal league, now in its fourth season, has seen 315 student athletes compete so far this year. The League hit an early season high point in reaching an agreement with the California Department of Parks and Recreation to hold an event at Wildwood Canyon State Park, its first ever mountain bike race in a California State Park. SoCal League executive director Matt Gunnell said, "The park and racing were beautiful, and we showed that we are a top notch organization with a top notch membership!"

"For the first time, almost across the board, the bar has been raised. While we have more riders, approximately 100 new riders so far, the most noticeable change has been in the level of competition and sophistication of the teams. The great news is that this is not happening at the cost of losing the soul of the League! We have better camaraderie amongst the riders and coaches than ever before and everyone knows that while the racing is top notch, the program is so much more than just racing."