On November 4, 2018, Trek Trails was the final race in a five race season that found some amazing local athletes riding their way to the top.
Wausau East, which had won three races, placed second at Nordic Mountain, and third at Trek, found themselves at the top of the podium.
With the win, East became the fourth Wausau area team in five years of racing to earn the title, state champs. This was East’s second title; the first was in 2016.
Points are earned by combining the best finishes from both girl’s and boy’s results. No one sits the bench at MTB races; instead, everyone is on their bike, charging for the finish.
East team athletes are: Adam Bautsch, Bergen Anderson, Bodee Beversdorf, Charlie Place, Ellerie Cover, Erin Bennett, Jack Place, Jack Lynch, Lorissa Thorpe, Nicholas Bodner, Ollie Liss-‘s-Gravemade, Parker Faust, and Porter Thorpe.
Lauren Lackman, part of the Wausau Composite varsity girls, defended her individual D2 title with five first place finishes.
Alex Gosse had a wild finish to win the JVII individual state title Sunday afternoon. After suffering a mechanical failure on his bike, he decided his best option was to run his bike to the finish line. Alex finished in second place, only 8 seconds behind first place. His effort resulted in his first state championship.
High school mountain bike teams are geographically based to provide training opportunities for students 6th grade through 12th grade. Composite teams contain student not only from any school in the area, they also include home school athletes as well.
Once a team has enough students to represent their school, they are scored as such. When the Wisconsin league started, Wausau Composite had students from Rhinelander, Tomahawk, and the Wausau area.
For more information the Wausau United Ride Composite Facbook.
Contributed photo
