Preliminary results are in on this NorCal page, which shows us placing 3rd as a team at Race #3, and holding 2nd place so far for the season!
RACE #3 RESULTS
| PLACE | SCHOOL | POINTS |
| 1 | Redwood High School | 3866 |
| 2 | Salinas High School | 3785 |
| 3 | Sir Francis Drake High School | 3768 |
| 4 | San Rafael High School | 3635 |
| 5 | San Ramon Valley | 3580 |
See Team Results For Race #3
| PLACE | SCHOOL | POINTS |
| 1 | Redwood High School | 11533 |
| 2 | Sir Francis Drake High School | 11458 |
| 3 | Salinas High School | 11429 |
| 4 | San Rafael High School | 11177 |
| 5 | San Ramon Valley | 10697 |
See Teams Standings After Race #3
Thanks to Chris Enbom for the great video!
From Coach Peg Arm Paul:
Howdy!
Well that was one heck of a weekend! I am just now getting myself back together from the exileration of it all. Looks like “Having fun and doing your best” was a good idea seeing as how despite a couple of hiccups, that was our best race of the season. I don’t have specifics as yet while waiting for the results posting, but I do believe there were something like 19 season bests or equivelants including a couple of first time podium standers, congradulations Ben and Nicolette!
Laguna Seca Podium 4/1/2012
Even though they are painful, those Fish-Els really paid off. You have all worked hard at practice and it is really showing at the races. If we can keep this up and catch a break in the misfortune of some of our top riders, we may be able to come back against Redwood. They had a Drake MTB kind of day and we will really need to be on our game to catch them. This is one of the closest 1-2-3 season battles I have been through but this is a typical Drake MTB kind of year where we come on strong at the end of the season. Again, I am very proud of you and inspired by your enthusiasm.
We will be having practice on Tuesdays going forward starting tomorrow. All practices during the week will be at 4PM. Be sure and check the calendar if you have any questions. We will also be having practice this Sunday which happens to be Easter. The Church of Drake MTB will be open at 9AM with our traditional EasterTube hunt with perhaps a few goodies thrown in as well.
We only have less than 2 weeks to get ready for Boggs so there will be an extra dose of single track in the weeks to come as well as some more climbing in preparation for “The Wall” at Boggs. We will also be takling a poll for the Spring Break week prior to Boggs to see how many want to practice or ride on their own or who will even be in town that week.
Congratulations all of you, you deserve it!
~ Coach Paul
From Coach Jeff
Boy, by looking at the results spreadsheet Dan put together you certainly would have thought we won Laguna Seca!
23 personal bests, that’s amazing! Almost all of the riders have made steady improvements from the first race and some have made dramatic improvements. Here are some great examples:
- Conor Briese 8 positions
- Sam McLaughlin 7 positions
- Satchel Cronk 12 positions
- Evan Goldstein 10 positions
- Mick Bruckner 20 positions!
- Dakota Schneider 16 positions
- Peter Dommen 13 positions
- Ryan McCarty 15 positions
- Kyle Kohlbrenner 13 positions.
Many of the riders have made steady improvements, such as:
- Nik Dommen 4 positions
- Jackson Karlenzig 4 positions
- Annika Hoy 2 positions
- Samantha Johnson 2 positions
- Jason Coleman 5 positions
- Kyle Noland 2 positions
- Tyler Noland 3 positions
- Griffin Cronk 1 position.
Then we have those riders who’s gradual improvements are either landing them on the podium or getting them oh so close, such as:
- Carson Benjamin 2nd place
- Oliver Morgen 8th place
- Ben Enborn from 17th place to 5th place
- Sterling Guy 8th place
- Leah Lind-White 8th place
And probably the most fun group to watch has been the dynamic trio of Nicolette, India, and Izzy who are all climbing to the top together. Izzy has placed 11th and 10th, India has placed 10th, 9th, and 7th; and Nicolette has lead the way posting an 8th, an 8th, and a podium placing 5th! Way to go girls.
Speaking of girls, what about our hero and Miss Consistency, Mackenzie Stanley. She has placed 4th, 4th, and 4th! She is a true inspiration to not only the girls, but the whole team!
And speaking of inspiration, Lucas Newcomb and Libby Caldwell, although not having their best days on Sunday, continue to inspire all of us with their hard work and dedication to the sport and the team. You’ll get them next time. We all admire both of you.
This weekend just goes to show that hard work pays off and that everybody contributes to the success of our Drake Mountain Bike Team, because, in my book, this was a very successful day at the races! I’m really looking forward to Boggs!
Roll Pirates! Coach Jeff.
Race Report: Mackinzie Stanley
NorCal #3-Laguna Seca Grand Prix
Varsity girls
4th place
I came into this race looking for some retribution after last years race on this course where I lost a contact lens and my legs and breathing deserted me.
We didn’t get to pre-ride the day before but I checked out the start by foot and Paul and Patty’s details about the condition of the course combined with my own memories were enough to sooth any worries I had from not pre-riding.
Starts have historically been my weak point, but I’m working to remedy that so I made sure to be in a good gear and pedaled furiously from the start, standing up on the climb to position myself into fifth heading into the single track. Sofia Villafane had sped into first going up the paved road but soon dropped back as we cruised down the descent. While everyone was trying to pass her, I got stuck behind and the front three opened a small gap and although I pushed it hard once I was able to pass, I couldn’t close the gap and it only got wider thru the race.
I soon realized that another girl, Cara Woods, had attached herself to my wheel and was following pretty aggressively. This forced me to pick up the pace on the hills, where she was catching up to me, and really dig deep to stay ahead of her. I talked incessantly to myself inside my head, and sometimes under breath, to keep me from giving up and to continue to push harder thru the pain.
The girl made a move going into the second lap and got ahead on the fire road. At this point I started feeling sorry for myself and thinking how much I hated this race. A few minutes later, however, after starting the single track descent, I regained my sense and shredded the downhill to catch up and pass on one of the small rises. For the rest of that lap I struggled to stay ahead, pushing the pace the whole time, hoping that I could outlast her.
When I started the third lap and she wasn’t right on my wheel, I knew I had a chance to create a nice gap. I was faster on the descents and so I focused on riding as fast and as smooth as possible, barely touching the brakes on the descent and then just tried to keep the momentum going into the hillier second half of the lap. I didn’t see her again after that.
The fourth lap was fairly uneventful. I was all by myself so I tried to keep my pace strong and my focus sharp by thinking about catching Shayna and staying away from the girls trying to catch me. For the last rise to the finish I stood up and powered across the line, giving every last bit I had. As I coasted into the finish area a small smile slipped onto my tired face.
I’m extremely satisfied with my race and the way I was able to push thru the hard parts and finish strongly. I’m still hoping for a top three finish at some point, but I felt good during the whole race and surprised myself with the pace I was able to keep without bonking later on. It felt good to have such a successful race at this course.
Thanks Joe Breeze for fixing the squeaky pedal situation-it was wonderfully quiet during the race!
Congrats to everyone who improved or put that little bit of extra effort into the race. It’s going to make the difference in the end.
Looking forward to Boggs next! Its a fun course with lots of climbing and some twisty rocky sections that more closely imitates tamarancho. Plus, its a good course for us to show some Drake power 
~ Mackinzie
Race Report: Allie Stanley
Norcal race #3 Laguna Seca
Freshmen girls 4th place
Howdy,
I wasn’t too happy about not getting to pre-ride the course on saturday and not being able to know what I was going to be racing on the next day, but I tried to make the best of it. At least all the other girls had never ridden it either, since we are all freshmen. It was good that I had my expert sister, Mackinzie, to break down the layout of the course for me.
As the race started, I tried to maneuver my self into a good position. I was sprinting up the first hill with a girl to the left of me and the leader out front, when a girl attempted to pass. She tried to squeeze in between us through a gap of about a foot, ran into my back wheel and handlebar and went down, forcing me to jump off my bike and run to the beginning of the single track. I got back on my bike and tried to push myself hard up the hill so as to not get too far behind the leaders, but once again my progress was impeded. This time some girl just couldn’t make it up and stopped, right in front of me. I had to get off my bike again and attempt to run it up the hill, it was a short, steep, painful climb, but I made it to the top. By that time I had lost some places, and was getting extremely pissed off. The one thing that did make me a little happier, or at least make me smile, was the group of dedicated Drake guys doing the wave as I went around the turn and began the first descent.
I tried to push myself on the downhill section because I knew that was where I had an advantage, but you can only gain so much time back, and I felt horrible, my legs, my stomach, everything. For over half of my first lap I felt like I was about to throw-up. I started up the last steep climb and almost made it to the top, but I had to get off and run when I wasn’t quite there. When I got back on my bike at the top, I realized that I had tried to shift down into my smallest chain ring, but it wouldn’t go. I was not looking forward to the second time up that hill.
Going into the second lap, I felt better, and tried to push myself a little harder, as it was also my last lap. I passed a lot of girls, mostly sophomores and JV. When I was almost to the last hill and trying to figure out how to pass the freshman in front of me, Mackinzie caught up to me. When she passed me, I took full advantage and passed the girl in front of me before she had time to move back over. I tried to keep up with Mackinzie and it almost worked, except that I was forced to run up most of the steep hill as I couldn’t shift down far enough. The last sloping fire road climb was painful, what with the wind trying to push me off the side of the hill, and my Dad yelling at me to go faster when I was already giving it all I had, plus some.
I don’t think I have ever been happier to see a finish line then when I finished this race. I had no idea what place I had gotten, and at that moment I didn’t care, I knew I had pushed myself hard and couldn’t have done better with the circumstances I was given. When I heard I had gotten 4th place I was surprised. I didn’t think I had caught that many girls, but I was happy that my efforts had paid off.
Thanks to everyone who was out cheering on the course, it helped, and also to those that brought the food and prepared it all, food never tastes as good as it does after a race.
Roll Pirates!
- Allie
Race Report: Sam McLaughlin
NorCal #3 at Laguna Seca
Varsity Boys
Placing: 18th
Between the cancelled pre-ride, the fluctuating weather, and the multiple last-minute start time changes, the time leading up to this race was a bit chaotic. There was already a crowd at the start line when I rolled down to staging, so I didn’t get a great position.
I had a fairly good start, sneaking through a hole in the field in front of me to take a few places. The first hill was tough, and the bottleneck at the top had some riders off and running. The field started to separate right away, with the lead group quickly building a gap.
The singletrack was in better condition than I’d expected, but the wind on the ridge was awful. My bike was getting blown sideways underneath me and I was working hard just to stay upright. Other than that, the first two laps were mostly uneventful.
At the beginning of the third lap, following Johnny Kaufman of San Rafael, I crashed on the singletrack descent. Luckily, I wasn’t hurt, and I was able to jump back on my bike right away.
I caught up to Johnny and rode with him for most of the third and fourth laps. Near the end of the fourth lap, I spotted Justin Herrell of Casa Grande ahead of me. I attacked on the steep fire road climb and got just ahead of him.
For the whole fifth lap, Justin and I were wheel to wheel. Coming over the ridge to the finish, I attacked to try to shake him off, but when I looked back Justin was still right there. Justin’s a strong rider and I was expecting him to make a move, so it didn’t surprise me when he took off at the start of the final fire road descent. I just couldn’t recover quickly enough to stay on his wheel, and he got away.
As we came toward the finish line, I sprinted hard to try to close the gap, but I ran out of ground before I could catch up. Still, I’m happy with how my race went – apart from not managing to stay on my bike (still working on that) I rode a good race and it paid off. I know I was less than five seconds back from 17th place, and within sight of 16th place, so I’m hoping that I can keep moving up.
We lost some ground in the overall standings this weekend, but I know that we’ve overcome larger deficits in the past (check the 2010 results if you need proof) and the series is far from over. A lot of riders showed big improvements this race, and we’ve still got a great shot at winning the league title and the state championships.
Congratulations to everybody who scored a new personal best out there, and thanks again to the parents and coaches for making it all possible.
Race Report: Ben Enborn
Norcal Race #3 Laguna Seca Grand Prix
Freshman Boys
Placing: 5th
A lot of people had said that this course is hard with lots of climbing. The weather saturday was on/off rain, so I wasn’t sure if I would be able to preride the course. We arrived at the race and weren’t allowed to so we watched some Miata racing and left for our hotel. After a nice dinner with the team I pinked out my bike, and went to bed.
I woke up the next morning early and headed out to the race course for the set-up. I hadn’t though much about the race prior to Sunday, so I wasn’t very nervous, and I treated it more like a Sunday ride than a race. I watched the girls races all morning and rode around a little bit to warm up. I did a pre-ride with Kevin, which was very beneficial. I headed down to the staging at 12 and was able to start in 14th place, seeing that I was called up.
I felt like this race would go well because I had been called up, so I wouldn’t have to worry about passing the slower riders. We had trained with a lot of climbing, and I also had my new, super light carbon bike, which is a better size and eight pounds lighter than my old bike.
When the race started, I sprinted up the first hill, passing three people. The downhill started and I decided to fly down the downhill, and take it easy on the uphill for the first lap. By the bottom of the downhill I had passed three more freshman, and that put me in eighth place.
Once our line of eight started to climb, two more people dropped back. I stayed in sixth until the steep climb where I passed the person in front of me from Marin Catholic. For the rest of the race I was in this place. I used the same tactic of going really fast downhill and easier uphill, although for the last half lap I sprinted a little faster.
I finally started to get very sore/worn out by the final ten minutes so I felt that I paced myself perfectly, and I got to podium!
