New MTB coach strives to continue winning tradition

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Alec Levy-O'Brien, Reporter

“Kill them with kindness” This is one of the popular mottos of the mountain bike team, who are defending State and Norcal Champions. The team has grown exponentially and is ready to tackle another season on the trail.

Now equipped with the strongest and largest force of 14 female riders, the team believes they will be able to dominate the competition in more than just freshman and sophomore boys.

“I think it’s great that the Drake team has so many girls. It creates a great team environment and gives us an edge over teams who have been less successful in recruiting girls.” said Dylan Fryer, who will be racing varsity in his junior year.

In previous years, the team has not been able to enter a single rider into the freshman or sophomore categories due to lack of female riders.

After a change of leadership, and a new set of captains for the team, confidence is on the rise. Rob Reed, the new Co-Head Coach, has brought new ideas on organization and equality to the group, promoting better practices in relation to group coordination, cooperation, and communication.

Reed took over for Sarah Starbird who retired at the end of the 2016 season for personal reasons.

Reed has introduced a new way of interacting with individual competitors and their families to make new riders feel more comfortable. There will now be group communications and a new, improved buddy system in the form of a direct messaging system connecting riders with coaches.

“Since my freshman year we have gotten more and more people to join the team and it will only get better from there.” Fryer said.

The Pirates will once again be racing other Division I schools such as Tam and Redwood for the NorCal championships. The first race, which took place in Fort Ord on Feb. 26, saw Tam take first place followed by Drake and Woodcreek.