The Middle School Killer Whales Mountain Bike Team took first place on May 17 in the Washington Student Cycling League State Championship Race at the Flying Horseshoe Ranch in Cle Elum, Washington.

Fourteen middle school teams from across the state participated in the four-race league, which runs from January through June.

Killer Whale team members include Blue Heron students Nathan Cantrell, Sam Kuznetsov, Eli Lupton, Jakob Minor, and Davis Tyler; and West Sound Academy student Elliott Drewry. Team championship and individual placement are based on points earned over the course of the four league races.

Individual overall results are:

Davis Tyler, first place overall in eighth-grade division; Jakob Minor, second place overall in eighth-grade division; Nathan Cantrell, second place overall in seventh-grade division; Elliott Drewry, sixth place in the Flying Horse Shoe Classic Race; Sam Kuznetsov, second place overall in sixth-grade division; Eli Lupton, third place overall in sixth-grade division.

“Our team is unique in that we have two riders in each division, sixth, seventh and eighth, and they are all extremely fast,” said head coach Matt Tyler.

The league victory was very close, Tyler said.

“Everyone going into the championship race knew that they had to ride their best if we were to have a chance, because we were two points down from the number-one spot going into the race, and only three points up from the number-two team, Mount Si, after the championship race. We earned over 1800 points, so a three-point margin is not much,” he said.

Two riders faced mechanical difficulty in the final race. Nathan Cantrell’s gear shifter seized and he had to race in one gear, and Jakob Minor suffered a broken spoke and his wheel was rubbing. “If either of these riders had just given up in the face of difficulty, or backed off at all, we would not be state champions right now, we are all so proud of all our athletes. It was an incredible season and we have an amazing team,” Tyler said.