Alabaster BOE honors mountain bike team members

Published 1:57 pm Tuesday, June 4, 2019

By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster City Schools students who helped the Shelby County Composite Mountain Bike Team take home second in the state earned some time in the spotlight during a recent Alabaster Board of Education meeting.

During a May 13 meeting, Alabaster School Superintendent Dr. Wayne Vickers honored four ACS students who competed on the composite team, which placed second out of 21 teams in Division 2 at the Alabama Interscholastic Cycling League state championship at Tannehill State Historic Park on Sunday, May 5.

The Shelby County Composite Mountain Bike Team is 22-member team comprised of sixth-through-12th-grade student athletes from Helena, Chelsea and Alabaster schools and Coosa Valley Academy.

The team competes on a statewide level under the Alabama Interscholastic Cycling League.  The Alabama Interscholastic Cycling League was organized in 2015 to provide mountain biking programs for students across the state.

With the cooperation of local volunteer coaches, schools, league partners and sponsors, the Cycling League works to provide a high-quality youth development program fulfilling its mission of getting more kids on bikes. As of this year, the league has grown to 30 teams with approximately 500 student athletes.

Alabaster students Alex Ruiz, Nathan Ruha, Lauren Hammett and Lauren Moon were honored during the BOE meeting, with Hammett finishing the season second in the state for sophomore girls and Moon finishing the season fifth in the state for freshmen girls. The team was coached by Jason Ruha.