Competition was fierce amongst the more than 350 riders at the regional finals with very small margins separating the top riders in a number of categories and the final race determining overall series winners.
Lydenburg High School secured four podium spots with Simone van Wyk winning the sub junior girls, Reinhart Viljoen finishing second in the sub junior boys, Rikus Booyens achieving second place in the youth boys 16 years and Kaylee Lindeque taking third place in the youth women 16 years. Nelspruit High School finished in second place with 549 points, followed by Uplands College in third with 409 points and Secunda High School fourth overall with 318 points. The top three Lowveld schools as well as the top Highveld entry – Rob Ferreira High that finished overall fifth with 310 points – will represent Mpumalanga in the Spur Schools Mountain Bike League National Finals on 8 and 9 October at Bekker School in Magaliesberg. Penryn Preparatory walked off with the Primary Schools trophy of the 2016 Spur Schools MTB League.
Other podium winners that qualified for the Mpumalange Provincial Team and a spot in the national finals are Richardo van der Merwe of Rob Ferreira (third in sub junior boys), Rozel Montgomery of Curro Bankenveld (second in the youth women 15 years), Zandri Strydom of Rob Ferreira High School (winner of the youth women 16 years), Marnique de Swart of Secunda High School (winner of the junior women’s finals), Jeandre Gautier of HTS Witbank who clinched the overall top spot in the youth men 15 years and Liam de Klerk of Penryn College (junior men’s winner).
This year has also seen the introduction of Team Spur, James Reid and Ariane Kleinhans, who play the important role of encouraging League riders to follow their dreams and showing the reality of becoming sponsored athletes. Local riders got the opportunity to get some handy hints and tips from Olympic rider James Reid at the Mpumalanga finals.
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