The Gauteng Leg of the Inter School Eliminator Series wrapped up the 9 event nationwide series with some very explosive and exciting racing. Riders showed an immense amount of talent with incredible bike handling skills, speed and power and were tested over three vastly different courses presented at Sutherland High School (Centurion), Northern Farm (Diepsloot) and King David (Linksfield).
School team tactics very quickly came into play which added to the excitement with very close proximity racing and the odd handle bar connecting and causing the occasional spill. Riders also new the benefit of finishing top two in round one and advancing straight to round three getting extra time to recover and rest the legs. This resulted in hard racing action from the very first heat!
86 riders from 18 different schools spread right across Gauteng and even stretching into the North West Province competed amongst the 3 age groups u/14, u/16 and u/19 in both girls and boys.
As in all competition, there can only be one winner and after three hotly contested events, champions were crowned. The u/14 girls had three different winners at the various events, in the end it was consistency in podium finishes that paid off for Danielle Muller being crowned victorious over Abigail Alexander and Kaylin Prinsloo respectively.
- Danielle Muller (Hoérskool Hartbeespoort)
- Abigail Alexander (Dainfern College)
- Kaylin Prinsloo (Hoérskool Hartbeespoort)
In the u/14 boys, it was a clean sweep of three from three for Jean Pierre Lloyd finishing ahead of a consistent finalist Zander Du Preez who bumped out Michael Moore to third place.
- Jean Pierre Lloyd (Hoérskool Zwartkop)
- Zander Du Preez (Laerskool Fairland)
- Michael Moore (Heronbridge College)
There was a great tussle between Zama Kunene and Phutuma Nyaka at the last two events for the u/16 title. Unfortunately with Phutuma missing round one her points weren’t high enough to put her into contention for the top step with Zama taking the overall title ahead of Gillian Hale and Phutuma rounding off the podium.
- Zama Kunene (Diepsloot MTB Academy)
- Gillian Hale (Sutherland High School)
- Phutuma Nyaka (Diepsloot MTB Academy)
It was a dominant performance by CJ Van Eyk in the u/16 boys who won all 3 events ahead of a charging Deon Du Toit and Jared Cowan who bettered his results with every event to stand on the podium.
- CJ Van Eyk (Hoérskool Zwartkop)
- Deon Du Toit (Hoérskool Montana)
- Jared Cowan (Sutherland High School)
As in u/16, the u/19 ladies had a two way race for the top step with Lebo Pebane edging out Chanté Fourie who missed the first event and Robyn Grobler finishing in third.
- Lebo Pebane (Diepsloot MTB Academy)
- Chanté Fourie (Hoér Volkies Potch)
- Robyn Grobler (Sutherland High School)
Each event in the u/19 boys had a different winner and the overall results came down to the final heat and a mere 90 points(one position different) separated the eventual champion Johan Hartzenberg and runner up Hugh Webb with a consistent performance over the three events placing Johannes Masetla in third.
- Johan Hartzenberg (Hoérskool Hartbeespoort)
- Hugh Webb (Hoérskool Zwartkop)
- Johannes Masetla (Diepsloot MTB Academy)
In the Schools division it was a dominant performance by the ladies which helped contribute to the overall win of the Diepsloot MTB Academy from Hoérskool Zwartkop who entered a small but very potent team placing them narrowly ahead of Sutherland High School.
Thank you to the amazing support we received from the sponsors throughout the series, in Gauteng alone, product to the value of R70000 was handed out to the finalists as well as a few lucky draw prizes from: Catlike Helmets, Enjoy Fitness, Fox Racing, Skullcandy, OGIO, World of Heroes and Rockets, the local bike shops VeloLife, RADCycles and Bruce Reyneke Cycles, as well as MTB Skills vouchers from Danny Fowler.
Thank you to all the riders and parents that came out and supported the events – One Movement are looking forward to presenting the plans for 2015 soon, so follow them on Twitter at @One_Move_Ment.
