After winning the Southern Conference Championship last season, mountain biking began the new season off with a first-place win on September 10 in Flagstaff.
“Since it was the very first race of the season, it’s very exciting,” said mountain biking head coach Rich Perrott.
Mountain biking started in 2011 with Rich Perrott and Mark Manson as coaches. They started with four students, consisting of four Brophy boys and no Xavier girls. Since then they have expanded to 45 members, 15 being girls.
“We’d just like to keep growing and keep getting more popular at Xavier,” Perrott said.
Xavier’s portion of the team has the largest mountain biking girls’ team in Arizona. They have had as many as 56 members of Xavier girls and Brophy boys on a team in the last three years. The team’s goal is to have a 50/50 break of Xavier girls and Brophy boys and they are very close to achieving that.
When asked why Xavier girls should join, mountain biking assistant coach Kate Hill said, “It’s really fun. It’s a great way to meet other girls and there’s awesome team spirit.”
Perrott says, “One of our Xavier girls, Mary Hill, has been with us for seven years. She started in sixth grade and this is her last season. She is a senior and we’re so excited to watch her podium at the last race in her last season.”
Mary Hill ‘24 moved to varsity her sophomore year. For the past three years, she has been the top point-scorer, which determines team podiums, being the biggest contribution to the team.
“I just love watching the girls enjoy mountain biking and the challenge of it,” Kate Hill said.
Mountain biking has practice almost every day which includes various types of training, including the spin room at Xavier, trail rides and weights at Brophy. “We expect them to always give us 100%, be on time and work hard,” said Perrott.
When it comes to race days, the team starts the day early at 7 a.m to prepare. They are split up into groups of four, later heading off to races that start at noon. Depending upon level, freshmen do two laps, JV does three and varsity four.
Mountain biking is the only co-ed team at Xavier and Brophy. “We are really proud of that,” Perrott said.
Mountain biking is doing well right now, with its recent win in Flagstaff. It is currently No. 1 in the Southern Conference. “This is the best team we’ve ever had,” said Perrott.
“We not only want to win the South Conference Championships, which we did last year, we’d also like to win state this year,” Perrott says.
Kate Hill says, “These girls have been working very hard and they have earned it and we’re super-excited to see what they can do the rest of the season.”
After getting 2nd place on September 24 in Prescott, the team hopes to win the next race. “We always look to the next race,” says Perrott. Mountain biking’s next race is October 8 in Snowflake.
