Most high schoolers in Squamish will head to Howe Sound Secondary School (HSSS) come September.
But Rhys Verner plans on being very far from home for the back-to-school season.
The Team Squamish member has been selected as part of Team Canada and will head to Scandinavia to compete in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Hafjell, Norway from Sept. 3 to 9.
Verner has had an excellent 2014 season, with several strong Canada Cup finishes and great showings at the Test of Metal and Orecrusher races in Squamish. Verner placed second at the Canadian XC Nationals in Ontario on July 19, finishing just 23 seconds behind winner Marc-Andre Fortier from Quebec.
Team Squamish member Luke Di Marzo also competed in Ontario and placed eighth overall, finishing five minutes and 50 seconds off the pace.
In downhill biking news, Team Squamish’s Harry Head travelled to Golden, B.C. for the fifth BC Cup race and placed fifth in the Junior Men division at the event. Head’s time of 4:27.16 was one second off the podium and 14 seconds away from winning it all.
Head posted the fastest speed of all riders in his division in the timed speed zone area, posting a speed of 52 kilometre per hour. Next up for Head will be the festivities in Whistler during Crankworx in mid-August.
Meanwhile at the BC Summer Games, several other Squamish youth participated against the province’s best in Nanaimo earlier this month. Squamish’s Hunter Verner placed fourth in the Boys 1,500 metres run with a time of 9:49 and finished 13th in the Boys Triple Jump. Also competing at the Games was Yamato Chiyasu, who placed 19th in the Boys Golf final.
Stay tuned to The Squamish Chief for continued coverage of local youth athletes.
