Ana Kate DeFoor, 2nd place JV2 Girls East Conference Champion
(Cleveland)- The White County mountain bike teams competed in the fourth race of the season on October 21st, which was also their Conference Championship race.
Jeff DeFoor White County Mountain Bike Team Coach said, “The Raceway Race is a fun and fast course that is always a favorite of our riders. It is flowy and full of berms and gives spectators lots of great places to watch the action.”
White County had their greatest number of podium winners this season with 11 total racers earning a medal.
Yonah Composite finished 1st in the Division II teams out of 17 and finished as the East Conference Division II Team Champion for the series. Eight athletes competed between the middle and high school categories. In the middle school group, Hope Hogan finished 5th in 8th grade girls and finished in 5th place for the series. Rush Chamberlain took 5th place in 7th grade.
The high school group consisted of Freshman Brayden Watkins, who took 5th earning his first spot on the podium this season, and Levi Hogan finishing 42nd. Avery Himstedt had his best finish of the season coming in 25th in the JV1 category. Elizabeth Himstedt took 3rd place in JV1 girls and finished in 2nd for the series. The LaRue sisters, Caitlin and Brianna took 3rd and 5th respectively in Varsity Girls, and Caitlin finished in 3rd and Brianna tied for 4th in the series.
The White County High School team finished 7th in the Division I teams out of 26 and finished in 6th place in the Division I team series. The team had 16 athletes competing between the middle and high school categories.
For the middle schoolers, 8th grader Jesse Bowen took 1st place, finishing 2nd in the series, Chance Miller took 3rd place, finishing 3rd in the series. Also competing in the 8th grade category were Asher Stewart who had his best race of the season finishing 19th, Carter Burford also had his best race yet finishing 28th and Benjamin Witcher finishing 30th.
Hope Hogan, 5th place 8th Grade Girls, 5th in the East Conference Series
Our 7th graders were Diezel Griffin, who took 3rd place and Lucas Johnson finished 13th. In the 6th grade category, Rucker Anderson finished in 8th place and a first time racer, Ben DeFoor finished in 23rd place. Our high school racers had a very successful day. Caeden Allen had his highest finish of the season in 8th place in JV1. In JV2, Evan Adams took 1st place and tied for 1st in the series, earning the title of East Conference Champion. Also in JV2 were Colt Miller finishing 20th, Nathan Witcher finishing 30th, and Alex Wall finishing 55th.
In the freshman category, Joe Murphy had his best race of the season finishing 21st. Anna Kate DeFoor took 2nd place in JV1 Girls and finished 1st in the series, earning the title of East Conference Champion.
Carter Burford, 8th grade
White County will finish up this year’s race series this Sunday, October 29th, with the Peach State Championship at Kingston Downs in Rome. This will be the battle between the state-qualifying athletes from the East and West Conference teams with over 500 racers throughout the categories.
Defoor said, “We have 19 of our athletes qualified, in 8th grade, Jesse Bowen, Chance Miller, Asher Stewart, Carter Burford, Benjamin Witcher, and Hope Hogan all will be representing our teams. In the high school categories, Caitlin LaRue, Brianna LaRue, Caeden Allen, Avery Himstedt, Anna Kate DeFoor, Elizabeth Himstedt, Evan Adams, Colt Miller, Nathan Witcher, Alex Wall, Brayden Watkins, Joe Murphy, and Levi Hogan will be representing our teams trying their best to come home with a State Championship title.”
