Mountain bikers from Williams Lake delivered strong performances at the BC School Sports High School Provincial Mountain Bike Championships held in Powell River on May 22 and 23.
Riders from both Lake City Secondary School and Columneetza Secondary School represented the region, with several students earning top finishes among hundreds of competitors from across the province.
Evan McMath, representing Lake City Secondary, claimed second place in the Junior Boys Enduro event. The category saw a field of 389 riders. Rhys Vath, also from Lake City Secondary, took second place in the highly competitive Senior Boys Enduro event, which had 393 participants.
Columneetza Junior Secondary was also well represented. Kalan Vath secured fourth place in the Bantam Boys category, while his schoolmate Matthias Goodrich finished 11th in the same race. A total of 166 racers competed in the Bantam Boys event.
Nadia Wallin was the only female athlete from Williams Lake to compete. She finished sixth in the Senior Girls Cross Country (XC) event out of 123 riders and placed 14th in the Senior Girls Enduro event, which included 103 participants.
In total, 14 students from Lake City and Columneetza travelled to the Sunshine Coast to compete in both the enduro and cross-country races.
The enduro competition challenges riders with both uphill and downhill segments, but only the downhill sections are timed. This format emphasizes technical descending skills while still testing overall fitness. In contrast, cross-country races are timed continuously over the full course, requiring both endurance and strategy.
Williams Lake’s riders demonstrated strong skill and determination, proving they can compete at the highest level of high school mountain biking in British Columbia.