Liberty Bell High School senior Stella Scholz, the defending girls’ state champion, hopes to defend her title when the Methow Cycling Team hosts this year’s Washington Student Cycling League state championships on Sunday.
Somewhere in the neighborhood of 350-500 teenaged mountain bikers are expected to invade the valley this weekend as the Methow Cycling Team hosts the 2023 Washington Student Cycling League (WSCL) state championships on Sunday (June 4).
The Sean McCabe Trails complex on the Methow Valley School District campus is the site as racing gets underway at 9:45 a.m. with the sixth- and seventh-grade age group. The eighth-grade class starts at 11 a.m., and the high school aged kids hit the course at 12:30 p.m.
Headlining the event is local rider Stella Scholz, a senior at Liberty Bell High School and the defending 2022 state champion for girls. Aran Connolly of Seattle, last year’s boys’ champion, is also expected to defend his title on the local course.
The WSCL holds a state championship event each year, rotating the sites. The Methow is their fourth and final scoring stop on the season. The tour began on April 16 in Gig Harbor, and followed with races in Ephrata on April 30, Spokane’s Riverside State Park on May 14, and will wrap up with a non-counting fun race on Galbraith Mountain near Bellingham graduation weekend on June 11.
While the race categories are divided up by middle school, JV and varsity levels, the WSCL is not affiliated with the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association, the governing body for interscholastic sports in Washington. As a result, club names are identified more by geographical location and not tied to a specific school or district.
The Methow set-up is unique to the cycling league as it is the only track located on public school district property. The arrangement is similar to the district’s relationship with the Methow Nordic Ski Education Foundation. Superintendent Tom Venable, who has a history of searching for collaborative opportunities to benefit local youth, is predictably supportive of the partnership with Methow Cycling.
Venable, in an email with the Methow Valley News and Methow Cycling, recently wrote, “I couldn’t be more impressed by the way in which the program, trail system, and level of participation has evolved in such a short period of time.”
Local contenders
Jeremy Newman, head coach of the local cycling program, identified as Methow Composite, is excited to be hosting this year’s season ending meet. “We have no less than 10 racers who are major contenders for a state title this year,” said Newman.
Scholz is a favorite to be atop the standings come Sunday afternoon. She recently returned from Fall River, Wisconsin, where she raced in the Englewood Open. Sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale, riders from all over the United States competed in the race. According to Newman, Scholz placed 10th in the junior women’s category, racing against some of the best junior cross country racers in the U.S., according to Newman.
Scholz’s father, Hanz, is one of the founders of the local mountain bike club and continues as a volunteer assistant coach.
This will be Scholz’s last race in the WSCL as she heads for southern Colorado to attend college at Fort Lewis College in Durango and pedal for their nationally prominent mountain bike team. Two recent Liberty Bell grads, Cody Cupp and Kavi Mitchell, are Fort Lewis alumni. Cupp was also a member of the Fort Lewis cycling team during his college days a few years ago.
Newman is optimistic about his team’s chances on their home course. “The Methow girls have been dominating the WSCL this season, so watch for them to go for the sweep on the home turf,” he said.
Ila Newman, Josie Bolinger, Sisu Clark and Wylie Smith have been regulars on the top five results boards in varied categories for the girls. Ben Kaufman, Logan Hughes, and Jackson van Bueren show up regularly in the boys’ top five lists.
