Danville-based Hammers race on to regional competition

Nov. 9—As the mountain biking season comes to a close, the Central Susquehanna Valley Hammers are celebrating months of hard work and success.

The season began in July and ended about a week ago when the team won the state competition, but nine Danville students will continue on to race in the National Interscholastic Cycling Association's Eastern Regional Tournament Saturday in Fair Hill, Maryland.

Max Dehart, Hannah Hafer, Benton Crellin, Ingrid McElroy, Jack Marks, Izzy Marks, Lilly Torres, Paisley Crellin and Addison Hafer will all compete in the regional competition which will include 11 East Coast states spanning from Florida to New York, according to Hammers coach Jared Hafer.

Coach Matt McElroy said the regional race is a serious competition where the Danville students will be racing against the best of the best.

Ingrid McElroy, 16, said the team is looking forward to the tournament. "This is the first year we've had it, so I don't know what to expect, but I've been training as usual," she said. "I'm maintaining the fitness I've built and working on smoothness. We are all excited to finish strong."

The team has won the state championship tournament for three years in a row thanks to not only their racing success, but also their dedication to giving back to the hiking, biking and trail running community, according to Hafer.

McElroy explained the way teams are scored.

"Boys and girls race each other in the same age and sex categories and get points for the higher they place," McElroy said. "The team's point total put us second in the state, but they also do an accumulative team effort which is the race points plus Team Trail Corps."

Through the Team Trail Corps, the team works throughout the season to fix and maintain existing trails. Because the trails at Hopewell are where the team typically practices, they focused their efforts there, but also put in time at the trails at Geisinger, according to McElroy.

"Within our community, 90 percent of our efforts are on trails that are enjoyed by the community," McElroy said. "As a coach, I'm most excited about leaving our mark that way and leaving the trails in better shape."

Aside from the service aspect of the sport, mountain biking is also unique in its familial nature. Because practices take place in the woods, the team has one coach for every three players in order to supervise. Most of these coaches are parents, according to McElroy.

"This is one of those unique team sports where we have involvement of the parents helping with practices and I see a lot of value in that too," he said. "It's almost a family thing where parents can ride with children to practices and when our team goes to races, families ride and camp together. It's about racing and doing well, but also about family and building wellness in the outdoors."

Another special aspect of the sport is every rider has an opportunity to shine.

"This team is so special in the sense that we have experienced racers as well as first-time riders on the team," Hammers coach Liz Begosh said. "Like the rest of our league, no one sits the bench. Everyone is out on the trail riding, competing and achieving their goals."

At the state level, several members of the team received individual awards:

* Ingrid McElroy was the overall champion in the women's varsity division.

* Hannah Hafer was the overall champion in the women's JV3 division.

* Max Dehart was second place overall in the men's JV3 division.

* Izzy Marks was fourth overall in the women's freshman division.

* Lilly Torres was fifth overall in the women's freshman division.

Coach Hafer said the team is always looking for new riders and coaches.

"We are very fortunate, but are always looking for additions to the team," he said.