Indie bikers take state race

The Miners Indie Mountain Bike team closed out the 2007 season with a big win Sunday in the overall Division I team competition at the state championships at Boggs Mountain near Clearlake.

In winning the race, the Miners also captured the 2007 NorCal Mountain Bike League Series Championship, having won five of the six league competitions.

"We had a blast this year," head coach Debra Little said. "The kids worked so hard and arrived Sunday ready to leave it all on the course, and every single one did. Personal improvement is our mission, but the win is admittedly very satisfying."

The medal ceremony saw many Miners on the podium. Senior Sarah Ely rode through an early crash to take second place in the race which solidified her as the 2007 Varsity Women's League Champion. This ended a stellar career for Ely who finished with 18 wins and was twice California state champion.

Her teammate, Christine Weir, raced to become the 2007 California state freshman women's champion and also captured the freshman women's league championship. It was her fifth win out of six races.

On the boys side, Evan Smith rolled to sixth place in the varsity competition. Nate Byrom, the first sophomore in the league to race varsity, followed closely for eighth place.

Chris Convis rode a blistering pace after a late mechanical to catch the leader and almost win the JV race, missing it only by meters. Lawrence Saiyo put in his best performance of the season with a second place in sophomore boys. He was joined on the podium by Greg Hermanson, who came in fourth.

Among freshmen competitiors, David Lowe took fifth place. Ben Prairie, who essentially just started riding mountain bikes this year, rolled in just behind for sixth and Nick Talbot followed him in for seventh place.