Newhaven College dominates the Downhill at Thredbo

Thredbo recently played host to the Boost Mobile Interschools MTB National Competition, where the best riders from over 300 schools competed for a week in a range of mountain bike trail competitions.

Students from all over Australia descended onto the steep slopes at the summit of the nation in the shadows of Mt. Kosciuszko.

Newhaven College had 22 students make the nearly eight-hour long journey to Thredbo to prove their mettle in competition on those dangerous slopes.

Students raced in specific divisions, divided by age groups, in three different skill areas:
• All Mountain, an arduous, endurance-based cross-mountain journey.
• Flow Trail, a fast-flowing route that incorporates many twists and turns and challenging rock drops.
• Downhill, the most challenging route, a black-run descent that requires speed, skill and technical knowhow.

Newhaven students represented themselves with pride in all three events, eventually achieving a rank of 21 out of the 310 schools that competed.

The highlight of that achievement was the Division 2 (Years 9/10) Boys in the Downhill component of the competition.

These students finished in third place, achieving a Podium finish; third best school finish in the country.

Not bad for students from a little, flat island in Westernport.

A massive congratulations to all 22 riders who competed so well, with a specific shout out to: Maxen Mills, Hamish Dakers-Hock and Miller Micallef in the Division 2 (Year 9/10) Boys; Lucy Thompson in the Division 2 (Year 9/10) Girls; Isla Basterfield in the Division 3 (Years 7/8) Girls; and Will Walker and Fletcher Hennessey in the Division 4 (Years 5/6) Boys for their outstanding individual achievements at the National level.