Mountain biking season gets rolling with ‘Rally in the Valley’ at Canaan State Park – with full gallery

By Matthew Young, RealWV

DAVIS, W.Va. – The West Virginia Interscholastic Cycling League (WVICL) got 2024 rolling on Sunday, as Canaan Valley Resort played host to the first mountain biking race of the season. The “Rally in the Valley” consists of a nearly six mile trail through rugged forest terrain.

Some 318 student-athletes between grades six and twelve came out to compete in the race, including 18 members of the Greenbrier Valley Hellbenders Youth Mountain Bike Team. Led by Elizabeth Gannon’s second-place finish, Liam Laird and Annabelle Holt’s fourth place finishes, and Levi Faerber’s fifth place finish, nearly every Hellbenders’ rider successfully finished the race. 

In the Varsity Girls Division (three laps), Putnam County’s Haley Ellison and Jordan Ellison finished in first place and second place respectively. Haley Ellison completed all three laps in a total time of one hour, 25 minutes, 42.36 seconds (1:25:42.36) – more than three minutes ahead of second place finisher, Jordan Ellison.

Rounding out the top five were Harrison County’s Ashley McBrayer in third place, Highlands’ Emma Ujvagi finishing fourth, followed by her Harrison teammate Delaney Stull in fifth. 

Competing in the JV3 Girls Division (two laps), Elizabeth Gannon completed her first lap around the nearly six-mile trail in 32 minutes, 58 seconds. In her second lap, Gannon slowed by just shy of two minutes, finishing in 34 minutes, 53 seconds, for a total race time of  one hour, seven minutes, and 52.44 seconds (1:07:52.44). 

With a total time of one hour, five minutes, and 23.85 seconds (1:05:23.85), Sofie Gaull of the Kanawha River Composite team finished first overall. Rounding out the top five in the JV3 Girls Division were Gaull’s Kanawha River teammate Abby Myers in third, Athens County’s Phoebe Wooster in fourth, and Northern West Virginia’s Darcie Gardill in fifth.

In the JV1 Boys Division (one lap), the top four finishers were separated by just 27 seconds. With a race time of 51 minutes, 17.53 seconds (51:17.53), Huntington’s Fisher Thompson took first place, followed by Putnam County’s Walker Unroe in second, and River Cities’ Mitchell Marra in third. Peyton Nicola of Morgantown finished in fourth place, and the Eastern Panhandle’s Kylar Roach took fifth place.  

Greenbrier Valley’s Tad Elkins’ time of 56 minutes, 10 seconds (56:10.00), earned him a 10th place finish with 12 seconds to spare. 

Competing in the JV2 Boys Division (two laps), Liam Laird completed his first lap in 27 minutes, 20 seconds. Laird slowed by nearly four minutes on his second lap, finishing in 31 minutes, 12 seconds, for a total race time of 58 minutes, 33.23 seconds (58:33.23).

With a total time of 53 minutes, 33.06 seconds (53:33.06), Mitchell Ferrell, also of the Kanawha River Composite team finished first overall. Rounding out the top five were Morgantown’s Zealon Wight-Maier in second place, Highland’s Oscar Wolpert in third, and the River Cities Composite team’s Wesley Freed in fifth.

In the JV3 Boys Division (two laps), Morgantown’s Will Ferguson took first place with an overall time of 50 minutes, 03.09 seconds (53:03.09). Huntington’s Noah Lunsford finished second, Highland’s Gavin White finished third, Taylor County’s Isaac Young finished fourth, and Athens County’s Lewis Broeker came in fifth.

In the 7th Grade Girls Division (one lap), Harrison County’s Olivia McBrayer took first place with an overall time of 29 minutes, 48.07 seconds (29:48.07). In second place was Putnam County’s Katie Doerner, in third place was Morgantown’s Zuri Wight-Maier, Sasha Gregis of Harrison County finished fourth, and fifth place was taken by Athen’s County’s Adrianna Clapp.

Finishing in seventh place with a race time of 37 minutes, 2.40 (37:02.40) was Greenbrier Valley’s Haley Leatherman. 

Competing in the 8th Grade Girls Division (one lap), Greenbrier Valley’s Annabelle Holt finished in fourth place, with a total time of 34 minutes, 20.54 seconds (34:20.54). 

With a race time of 33 minutes, 25.06 seconds (35:25.06), Pocahontas County’s Brynn Clutter took first place. In second place, and more than a full minute behind Clutter but still an impressive time, was Shiloh Ellison. Third place was taken by Morgantown’s Evelyn Webster, and finishing fifth was Webster’s Morgantown teammate, Eileen Parks.

In the 7th Grade Boys Division, with a time of 31 minutes, 8.37 seconds (31:08.07), Putnam County’s Luke Ellis took first place. Second place was earned by Morgantown’s Henry Hinnant, while third place went to Hardy County’s Ryan Olsen. Ellis’ Putnam County teammate, Aaron Doerner, came in fourth, and Jackson County’s Quinton Arthur finished fifth.

With a race time of 35 minutes, 32.89 seconds, Greenbrier Valley’s Jackson Isenberg grabbed a top ten finish with five seconds to spare. 

In the 6th Grade Boys Division (one lap), a time of 36 minutes, 56.97 seconds was strong enough to earn Greenbrier Valley’s Levi Faerber a fifth place finish. However, with a time of 32 minutes, 04.53 seconds (32:04.53), Pocahontas County’s Tyler Faulkner dominated the race by a full four minutes against the second closest finisher. 

That second finisher was Kanawha River’s Benjamin Myers, while third place was taken by Taylor County’s Benjamin Horne. Rounding out the top five finishers was Morgantown’s Rhett Stocking in fourth place. 

Two other Hellbenders earned their way into the top ten. Finishing in sixth place, with a time of 37 minutes, 03.60 seconds (33:03.60), Nathan Bromley missed the top five by just under seven seconds. And just over 30 seconds behind his teammate, with a race time of 37 minutes, 18.20 seconds (37:18.20), was Andrew O’Dell in eighth place. 

Also racing for the Greenbrier Valley Hellbenders were Braden Teaney, Whitley Mabry, Andrew Blake, Beck Tremann, Amelia Wiley, Emil Applegate, Conrad Laird, Vitale Derouen, and Lucas Hughes. 

The WVICL is open to students in grades six through 12, and is designed to build character and change lives through mountain biking. The Hellbenders are a chapter of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA), and are committed to helping young people be the best version of themselves. 

The Hellbenders Team Director is Sarah Elkins, and the team is led by Head Coach Max Hammer, owner and operator of Hammer Cycles in Lewisburg. Additional coaches include Ben Isenberg, Mark Thompson, and Clay Elkins. 

For more information about the Hellbenders, you can find them on Facebook, @ Greenbrier Valley Hellbenders Youth Mountain Bike Team, or visit their website, at westvirginiamtb.org. To learn more about NICA, including all other regional West Virginia mountain biking teams, visit nationalmtb.org.