The team now moves on to state championships in Northern California.

By Isiah REYES

he Crescenta Valley High School reigning champion cycling team finished in second place at the SoCal High School Cycling League’s five-race series, now in its sixth season.

Last year, CV won its first ever championship in northern California. This year, the winner for the SoCal league was Rim of the World High School, which ended up with 10631 points. CV finished with a close 10630 points.

The coach of the CV team, Jim Rowton, said it was challenging to try to win two years in a row.

“The level of competition is extremely high,” Rowton said. “It’s very difficult to win back-to-back.”

The first race in the series was on Feb. 23 at Lake Perris. The team started the season strong by placing second out of 38 Division 2 teams. CV’s JV girls’ team member Brenna Pratt was first place out of 33 racers, receiving 550 points. Her total time was 39 minutes, 49 seconds. She would go on to win three of five races.

The second race was at Vail Lake Resort, Temecula. CV’s Jason Rowton took second place for JV boys Division 2. Ellis Cobb of Crescenta Valley took second while teammate Brenna Pratt took third. At the end of the second race, CV had 4251 points. They trailed slightly behind Rim of the World High School, which had 4323 points.

The third race was at Carving Canyons, Riverside. CV continued strong, finishing second among Division 2 teams. Brenna Pratt once again finished in first place. After the third race, CV ranked second and trailed behind Rim of the World.

The fourth race was at Lake Isabella. Pratt and Cobb once again did well by placing first and second, respectively. The Division 2 team competition saw CV take their first win of the season by narrowly edging out Redlands East Valley HS (2141 to 2136 points). But at this point they still ranked second overall.

The fifth race was at the Dirt Club in Los Olivos. Although the team won first and second at this race, CV ultimately lost overall by one point.

“Learning how to do your best in everything you do and learning how to come together as a team are some the things these kids really learn,” Rowton said.

The next race for the teams will be the state championships at Laguna Seca, in northern California, on May 11.

  Isiah REYES