Southern Utah based youth mountain bike development team, ACCEL Cycling, has brought home a team high school National Championship last summer from Winter Park, Colorado. The USA Cycling Event saw youth from all over the United States shredding the mountain trails at 9,000+ elevation while competing for individual and team awards.
USA Cycling held this first-ever high school-geared mountain biking competition in conjunction with its long-standing national championships with Elite- and Pro-level races.
Head Coach, Jason Ranoa, known to his riders as “Coach J,” joyfully said, “I knew the ACCEL team was capable of landing on the podium because of the depth and strength of its members.”
Since starting this team in January 2021, Coach J and team manager, Brandon Price, have worked to help these athletes rise to the goal of competing at the national level. Most of the team had experience racing with their high school clubs and they were looking forward to advancing to the next level.
St. George locals, Hadden Beykirch and Emi Dorman, brought home individuals medals, as did their ACCEL teammate and Park City native, Abigail Pruyn. Dixie High graduate Gwen Sepp had a strong race, and many other team members helped by securing overall points.
Utah has loads of untapped mountain biking talent and youth looking for the knowledge and skills to progress. Right now, the state has approximately 6,000 high school age youth participating in mountain biking teams, clubs, and races.
ACCEL Cycling is looking forward to a great future of mountain bike racing in more national and local races.
