By Spencer Inglett ’19

THE ROUNDUP

The Mountain Biking Team has developed from a club to a competitive sport going into its sixth year on campus and hopes to become a varsity sport next year.

Mr. Cooper Davis ’10, the moderator and head coach of the team, has trained the team into competitive contention.

Mr. Davis said that there were twelve cyclists who raced this year and were split into different divisions based on skill level.

“We practice four times a week during the fall,” said Mr. Davis. “We do trail rides every Thursday and Saturday and have sellout spin classes every Tuesday.”

The team competes in the Arizona Cycling League, which has over forty teams and four hundred students racing.

The league is managed by the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA), which oversees mountain biking programs for student-athletes across the country.

Mr. Davis said that the team is combined with Xavier, and has seen rides as big as thirty people.

“The door is open to anyone who is interested, just talk to me, but I recommend going to our Tuesday spin classes to improve your coordination before you ride the trails,” Mr. Davis said.

Mr. Davis said that the spin classes are quite popular.

The team has five races throughout Arizona, and its home trail is Trail 100 in the Phoenix Mountain Preserve.

The other races are in Flagstaff, Prescott, Sierra Vista, Mcdowell Mountain Regional Park and White Tanks Regional Park.

Evan Hasson ’19 has been mountain biking since the age of twelve and has been on the team since freshman year.

“It started with me just riding near my house, but now I love to travel all around the Phoenix area riding my favorite trails,” said Hasson.

Hasson said he always considered competitively racing, but never had the opportunity to do so until he came to Brophy.

“It is a great way to get involved on campus. The whole community is very friendly and the group of guys are great,” Hasson said.