Beimborn Medals at State Championship

Congratulations to the Trail Sharks Mountain Bike Team. It was their fifth and final race for the season on Sunday, October 19 at Trek Trails in Waterloo for the State Championship. There were over 1,300 registered student-athletes for the weekend festival activities – a new record – with over 1,170 racing. The festival activities included two nights of adventure riding, pump track riding and more. The Trail Sharks had 31 athletes representing the team at Trek. This is a fun yet challenging venue from rocky terrain, steep technical single track hills, tight cornering and slalom. This venue is typically closed to the public – only open for special events, Trek employees and their pro riders – making it a favorite athletes love to ride.
This season ended fairly soggy. It rained early Saturday and then again all Saturday night into Sunday morning. The races were delayed by an hour due to how wet and dangerous the race course was. The league officials decided to modify the course for the athlete’s safety. It was quite a muddy mess for the 4-lap and 3-lap race categories. Athletes seemed to slide out on corners the most, but most were able to get right back on and keep riding. There wasn’t a clean bike coming through the finish line for those morning categories. As the day went on and the sun shined, the course started to dry out, and it turned into a perfect fall day with a cool breeze and falling leaves. No matter the weather the crowds of spectators pile into the woods and all along the course to cheer on the athletes – ringing cowbells, cheering at the top of their lungs, and some wearing costumes. It is always a sight to behold.
The team had two athletes on the podium bringing home medals for their individual races. Since this was the State Championship, overall race season medals go to the top five athletes in 2-4 lap categories and team trophies were awarded based on points earned from the five races for the top three teams in Division 1 and Division 2.
From Kewaskum, Gracelyn Beimborn placed third, earning one of the two medals.
There is one more race opportunity the high school athletes have for the WI NICA League. For the first time, there is a Central Regionals event being held. It is Nov. 8-9 in Fayetteville, Ark. A few of the Trail Shark athletes will be attending and joining with others from around the state representing Wis.