BELIZE CITY, Tues. June 4, 2019– The C-Ray Cycling Club hosted our fourth annual HIGH SCHOOL CYCLING SERIES. This program is geared towards populating the junior category at the highest level of cycling in the country with both male and female participants, as well as to introduce these student athletes to cycling and get them inducted into the sport.
This year, we had eight participating schools: Wesley College, St. John’s College, Gwen Lizarraga High School, Sadie Vernon High School, Edward P. Yorke High School, St. Catherine Academy, Maud Williams High School, and ITVET.
The series ran for five consecutive Thursdays in the month of May. Races commenced at 4:00p.m. at the Marion Jones Sports Complex. Considering that it was a series inside the track, it was run on a points system with heats. There were 6 participants in each heat. Winning your heat earned you 6 points; second place, 5 points; third place, 4 points; fourth place, 3 points; fifth place, 2 points; and sixth place, 1 point. At the end of the series, points were tallied, and the student cyclist with the most points won overall. Student athletes were divided into two categories, Category A and Category B; Category B being novice cyclists, and Category A being the more experienced cyclists who are already racing.
Overall winners for Female Category B – 1st Gabrielle Gabourel (St. Catherine Academy); 2nd Essenie Vernon (Gwen Lizarraga); 3rd J’Lique McKenzie (Wesley College); 4th Abbie Leslie (Edward P. Yorke); 5th Fernesha Patterson (Wesley College).
In the Female Category B, there were 30 registered participants, of which 18 actually participated. They were competing for the top 5 podium spots. Dominating this category was first former Gabrielle Gabourel from SCA, going through the entire series undefeated, just as her teammate, Edel Villanueva did in both 2017 and 2018. Gabby has made her mark on the cycling scene; and with these stats, she can become the first person to go for a four-year consecutive winning streak.
Overall winners for Male Category B – 1st Michael Bowen (Sadie Vernon); 2nd James Lewis (Wesley College); 3rd James Lozano (Gwen Liz); 4th Deyon Watters (Wesley College); 5th Denfield Guzman (Gwen Liz).
In the Male Category B, there were 42 registered cyclists, of which 30 actually participated. They were competing for the top 5 podium spots as well. In this category, there were many returning participants from last year, as well as many new faces.
Overall results for Male Category A – 1st Patrick Williams (SJC); 2nd Brian Mangar (Sadie Vernon); 3rd Randy Azueta (SJC); 4th Maleek Wagner (Maud Williams); 5th Tyler Gillett (SJC).
Nine registered cyclists were in the Male Category A, all of which are currently junior cyclists racing under the Cycling Federation of Belize (CFB). Of the nine, 5 of them are a product of these C-Ray cycling initiatives.
School Awards
For the school awards, Wesley College repeated their win for the “Best Female Team” and the “Most Outstanding School” for the fourth consecutive time.
Individual Awards
There were four individual awards. “Most Outstanding Female” trophy was won by Gabrielle Gabourel from SCA; and “Most Outstanding Male” trophy was won by James Lozano from Gwen Liz.
We introduced two new awards this year: “Fastest Catt” and “Most Determined.”
Being that the Cattouse family is known for speed, we wanted to highlight the sprinters, hence the award “Fastest Catt;” this was won by Michael Bowen of Sadie Vernon. Whenever it came down to a sprint finish, Michael never lost, and his races were always crowd pleasers.
The “Most Determined” award was won by Abbie Leslie of Edward P. Yorke. Regardless of the outcome of her races, she persevered; she returned every week with the same great attitude, and displayed great sportsmanship while being super competitive.
“Fastest Lap” trophy was awarded to Tyler Gillett of SJC, who was just off the record by one second.
Weekly Fastest Lap Winners
Individual medals were also given to winners in each category for their weekly performances:
Patrick Williams of SJC still holds the record for the fastest lap, completing a lap in one minute twenty seconds (1:20). This record was set in 2016.
Thank You
The C-Ray Cycling Club would like to say a big Thank You to the following people/businesses who assisted us to make the series possible: David Banner, The C-Ray D. Banner Cycling Team, Ordonez Bike Shop, Mr. Anthony Mahler at Smart, KV Events Planning, Cattouse Trucking, Bruce Bike Shop, Ian Jones at National Sports Council, Hao Cheng Lee and Jason’s Online Warehouse, Jason Badillo at Bowen & Bowen, Kaya Cattouse Sporting Events, Thereque Leslie, Sheldon Lynch, Joshua Fuller, Kelsyon Tillett, Mr. Keith Madrill, members of the BEL Cycling Club, and all the sports coordinators and student cyclists from the eight participating high schools.
Next on the calendar is the C-Ray Summer Series!