Gold and Bronze for Kona Riders at New Zealand High School Championships

This past weekend, the annual Cycling New Zealand High School Champs went down in Wainuiomata, New Zealand. Kona Ambassador Elliot Smith and his cousin Malachi Smith were in attendance representing Onslow College along with 330 kids from all over NZ. The traveling circus descended on the small town at the bottom of the North Island for three days of full-on racing, with DH kicking things off on Friday, XC on Saturday, and the Enduro finishing things off on Sunday.

Elliot, whose high school basketball season had only just wrapped up a week prior had spent very little time on his bike over winter and he didn’t have high expectations of any amazing results. At the DH on Friday though, he finished 6th, just narrowly missing out on the podium. The strong finish gave him hope for his main event, Sunday’s three-stage Enduro.

Strong competition from two of New Zealand’s top junior XC racers kept things spicy. After the high-speed and super technical first stage, just five seconds separated the three riders. Stage two was a massive run, linking the longest track in the park, with one of the most fun trails, Elliot (and the race leader) would post the fasted equal time on this stage of 7:05 which left things very tight. Just four seconds separated the three racers heading into the final stage, a last-ditch effort saw Elliot finish second on the stage and make some time back, but it wasn’t enough and he’d have to settle for third place, just one second back from second place and six seconds off first place.

Elliot’s cousin and fellow Kona rider Malachai Smith would finish 18 seconds back, a time fast enough to earn the gold medal in the Under 17 category and fourth overall!.