Sports Bainbridge Island
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Friday, March 28, 2014 • Bainbridge Island Review
Our island’s own not-so-easy riders
Bainbridge Gear Grinders break away in season debut BY LUCIANO MARANO Bainbridge Island Review
Last weekend was the beginning of competition season for one of the island’s perhaps least-known youth athletic organizations. The Bainbridge Island Gear Grinders, founded in 2011, is a youth mountain bike racing club with both high school and middle school-aged teams competing in race events around the region. Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review
SPRING ’14
Gear Grinders middle school team Head Coach Jay Abbott performs bike safety inspections at a practice ride. “A lot of these kids are good little mechanics on their own,” he said.
SPARTAN SPORTS PREVIEW
MOUNTAIN BIKING
Originally operated under the National Interscholastic Cycling Association, last year saw the team align with the separate and locally based league, the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, under whose regulations they were finally able to offer a middle school team for the first time this season. The response was immediate. “We’ve got about 18 kids on the middle school team,” explained Gear Grinders middle school team Head Coach Jay Abbott. “We practice for about one-and-a-half hours on Wednesday after school, and we have a longer ride off island on Saturday.” Even being a relatively new team, the high school team finished second in the state last year, said Abbott. Students who attend school on Bainbridge Island are eligible to join the Gear Grinders, regardless of previous mountain bike experi-
erned by a group of dedicated and experienced adult mountain bikers, including many parents of student racers. For more information about the Gear Grinders, and to discover volunteer opportunities with the group, visit www.geargrinders.org. Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review
Gear Grinder Sebastian “Seabass” Belkin rides through a practice session last week. “He is probably our fastest middle school rider,” said middle school Head Coach Jay Abbott. Belkin remains untested in a real race so far this season as he could not ride in Sunday’s event due to a schedule conflict, said Abbott. ence. The team is co-ed, and students are free to decide their own level of involvement as to whether they’d like to simply attend training rides and practice events or take part in the competition events in the spring. The first such competition event took place last weekend at Fort Steilacoom Park in Lakewood. “[More than] 140 racers from all over the state rode in warm sunshine on Sunday,” said Abbott.
“The Gear Grinders had 10 riders, five from the high school team and five from the middle school team. Three varsity riders are veterans from last year and two are firsttimers. This is the first year for the middle school team, so all five were racing for the first time.” Several Bainbridge riders broke the top 10 in their respective racing categories including Anika Vroom (fourth place in High School Intermediate Girls), Tessa Vroom
(fourth place in High School Beginner Girls) and Seb Hagman (ninth place in Middle School Beginner Boys). At the Steilacoom race, as in all youth competitive mountain bike events, the course was run in laps by riders divided into age groups. The older varsity racers must complete more laps, sometimes as many as four or five, totaling up to 25 miles total. The Bainbridge team is gov-
Fort Steilacoom Park Mountain Bike Race Results Racer, Category, Laps, Time, Place Edward Wilson, HS Intermediate Boys, 2, 52:13.287, 16th Albert Ragsdale, HS Intermediate Boys, 2, 59:25.500, 20th Anika Vroom, HS Intermediate Girls, 2, 59:28.773, Fourth Tessa Vroom, HS Beginner Girls, 1, 33:20.753, Fourth Finn Mander, HS Beginner Boys, 1, 30:56.157, 26th Seb Hagman, MS Boys, 1, 28:58.503, Ninth Connor Lacroix, MS Boys, 1, 31:42.500, 28th Mac Schelbert, MS Boys, 1, 33:17.533, 29th Max Hale, MS Boys, 1, 34:16.757, 31st Gabe Fradkin, MS Boys, 1, 35:05.747, 34th
Game No. 2 is second shutout win for varsity boys soccer BY LUCIANO MARANO Bainbridge Island Review
The Bainbridge High boys varsity soccer team were already winning as they entered the final moments of the home game against O’Dea Tuesday, March 25, but it obviously wasn’t enough for them. The Spartans scored four goals in the final 22 minutes, ending the game with a 7-0 win. Those points, in addition to the three goals they scored earlier in the match,
earned them the final score of seven. But it was the impenetrable performance of Spartan goalies Devin Reynolds and Ari Pitasky that assured success, said Spartan Head Coach Ian McCallum. “Everyone busted their butt, but they key moment in the game was the penalty save by Devin Reynolds just before halftime,” McCallum said. “If we were going to give an award, I think we’d give it to Devin.” The Spartans were up 1-0
at the end of the first half when O’Dea got their penalty shot. It was a good kick, but Reynolds moved quickly and managed to keep the visitors off the board. Then, at the 52nd minute of play, the goals began. Tanner Salmon kicked off the Spartan scoring frenzy, assisted by William Economy. Then, at 58 minutes into the game, Economy scored a goal of his own assisted by Keats Hoonan. Moments later, at 69 min-
utes of play, Garrit Mahling scored another one for BHS, assisted by Sam Maracich. The last few minutes of play were marked by not one, but two final Spartan goals in rapid succession. Maracich netted another for the home team at 78 minutes, assisted by Glodi Kingombe, and the final goal came at 80 minutes exactly, unassisted, by Kingombe himself. “I think, a little bit, they just got a taste of the blood, turn to soccer | A23
Luciano Marano | Bainbridge Island Review
Spartan goalie Devin Reynolds makes a critical save during an O’Dea penalty shot Tuesday, March 25.