The Fannin Composite Mountain Bike Team competed in their first race of the 2021 season Saturday, September 11, through Sunday, September 12, in Rome, Georgia, at Kingston Downs.
The course was a five mile trail through woods and fields. The middle school teams rode one lap for a 5 mile race, while freshman high school, and junior varsity members rode two laps for a 10 mile race.
The team is part of the Georgia Cycling Association (GCA), a middle and high school league with 68 teams across Georgia which began in 2014 with just over 100 high school athletes. In the years since there has been explosive growth, today there are over 1,000 middle and high school athletes. Currently, there are 68 teams from over 300 schools across the state of Georgia.
The GCA is based out of Fannin County with the association headquarters located in downtown Blue Ridge.
Reese Murphy led the way for the team as she finished in fourth place among sixth grade girls.
It has been three years since Fannin Composite has had a top five finish.
In the highly competitive eighth-grade boys division, Brevan Hennessey finished 21st of 118, and Aiden Carder finished 27th.
More results from the race are as follows:
Seventh-grade girls
• Kate Freeman, 14th of 23;
• Audrey Veal, 17th of 23;
Seventh-grade boys
• Dawson Elliott, 34th of 84;
• Tony Aiello, 57th of 84;
Eighth-grade boys
• Brevan Hennessey, 21st of 118;
• Aiden Carder, 27th of 118;
• Caleb Sheffield, 32nd of 118;
Ninth-grade boys
• Lukas Guay, 72nd of 116;
• Landon Kaylor, Mechanical DNF;
• Rodney Hyde, 100th of 116;
Junior varsity boys
• Griffin Disser, Mechanical, DNF.
The Fannin Composite Mountain Bike Team members attend Fannin Middle School, Fannin High School, Union Middle School in addition to homeschoolers and one from Union and one from Cherokee County NC.