BOUNTIFUL—It’s a tough sport but members of the Bountiful Mountain Bike team are passionate about it. The team had a sweet victory over the weekend as they won the state championship. 

“It’s the largest high school sporting event in the country,” said head coach Randy Beyer. “There were 2,256 student athletes participating at state. That broke the record this year.”

It’s a non sanctioned sport but it is the largest high school sport, he said. “We have 115 kids on the team. The only sport behind it would probably be football.”

It started out as a composite team, said Beyer. “The team was made up of kids from Woods Cross, Bountiful and Viewmont. The schools split into their own teams and Bountiful’s official season started in 2020. It’s our fourth season as the official Bountiful Mountain Bike team.”

The sport operates under the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA), he said. “There are leagues throughout the U.S. Utah is the largest league in the nation with 7,000 cyclists in Utah.”

The program has a junior development program made up of seventh and eighth graders. They can’t compete at state until high school but they can participate in three of the region races before state. The fourth race is for kids in high school and determines who goes to state.

“Last year we finished fourth in state and took first place in state this year,” Beyer said. “There are six regions but it’s not based on the size of the school. It’s by team size, not school size.”

Individuals can take state as well as the team, he said. “You can combine points to become the team winner in varsity girls and boys races. The team only competes against teams their size and individuals compete against other individuals in their division.”

Bountiful High senior Megan Youngberg is the champion of her racing group, JVB Girls. “I just started biking last year,” she said. “I heard about the team my sophomore year and thought it sounded great. I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was eight so it had been a long time. I’d never ridden a mountain bike before.”

Youngberg won with a time of 56 minutes. “The next girl came in just 30 seconds behind me.”

Members of the Bountiful Mountain Bike team at the ribbon cutting of the Bonniville Shoreline Trail in Mueller Park. Photo by Roger V. Tuttle

The course was made up of different terrains, she said. “One trail was sandy. That kind of sucked. Another was an open dirt road for about a mile. There were two super steep uphills and there was slick rock we had to go through.”

“It was a successful weekend,” said Bountiful High senior Sam Brady, who took ninth out of 225 varsity racers.

This is Brady’s sixth year riding. “A friend of mine was on the Woods Cross team and wanted someone to do mountain biking with,” he said. “I’d mountain biked a tiny bit and I thought it would be fun to try. I kept doing it and started riding and training every single day. It’s just nice to get up in nature and when I’m stressed at school I can hop on my bike and forget it for a while.”

Brady said mountain biking is a great environment. “What I love a lot is how supportive the team is. Everyone just loves each other. We’re not competing against each other. I love the coaches. It was amazing when I came through the finish line I fell off my bike and into Randy’s arms. He said ‘Sam you did it.’ It was great to see how happy the coaches were.”

“I’m definitely going to keep biking,” said Youngberg. “I love it.”

“Of all the things I do every day, week or year this is probably the most rewarding,” Beyer said. “It’s so much fun to see the kids’ smiles. What it’s done for my own kids is remarkable. It’s an amazing sport. It helps them physically, mentally and keeps them active. It blows my mind the things they’re able to do under pressure.”