The Galena Growlers pose for a photo to conclude the 2025 NICA race season. Front Row: Eli Mondics, Margaret Kemnah, Cassidy Murphy, Emma Brooks (Coach), Mckenzie Hagenbuch, Malakai Hagenbuch, Alex Kemnah, Drew Brooks (Coach), Amon Oliver, Damien Murphy Back row: Nick Slack (Coach), Rob Baker (Coach), John Gracey, Andrew Gracey (Coach), Frank Oliver (Coach), Ron Brooks (Coach) (missing in photo Uriah Bugyi) (Submitted Photo), Congratulations to eighth grader Margaret Kemnah on becoming a NYS State Champion and a NICA champion, where she was undefeated through the 2025 race season. (Submitted Photo)

NAPLES – The Galena Growlers Middle/High School Composite Mountain Bike Team, part of the NICA New York Spring League, traveled west to Naples, NY (Ontario County Park) on Saturday and Sunday June 7 and 8 to compete in the Canandaigua XC New York’s State Championship Mountain Bike Race, race number 4 of 4 in the New York Spring season.

The race pre-ride, on Saturday, June 7, was great with all but one Growler present to check out the 3.4 mile race course. Nine Growler mountain bikers raced on Sunday to compete against the other 170 kids from the 19 NICA teams in our NICA NY League. The course was a great one that our kids loved; lots of great rocky / rooty single track, a couple passing zones, and with a couple nice hills that was great for the spectators. The only thing affecting the race was the smokey haze with the air quality not the best due to the smoke from the Canadian fires. And best of all – the rain held off until after the awards ceremony.

This is how race day goes: Kids check in, there’s a 7:30 a.m. course pre-ride for those that missed it on Saturday, there’s warm ups and we start things off with the Middle School girls race, then an hour later, the High School girls race. In the afternoon, Middle School boys race then an hour later the High School boys race. At States, more points are on the line in the race and there’s a bonus of 25 points if a racer has raced all the races in the Spring season. The kids know where they sit going in to the race, and once the races start, it’s kind of chaos out in the woods with so many kids out there racing out on the course. It really keeps us coaches on our game with our radios.

For our two eighth grade girls, Margaret Kemnah finished the two-lap race in first place (48:49) and secured her first place overall as the 2025 season Champion. Margaret finished the season undefeated for 2025. Congratulations!

Mckenzie Hagenbuch finished fifth (51:30) for the day, with an overall sixth place for the season having missed the first race of the season. Mckenzie secured the Queen of the Mountain (fastest uphill climb for eighth grade girls) on the day. Cassidy Murphy, seventh grade, finished second (53:35), and captured second place overall for the season. Cassidy had a great race today having a great start, and finished out her season strong. She said before the race that she loved the course and it showed.

All three of our Middle School girls had a fantastic race day and season!

Following the MS girls, there’s a pause waiting for the boys’ races to start. Following the HS girls are all the boys’ races, starting with the Middle School boys. Our two seventh grade boys were Eli Mondics who finished sixth (48:07) and secured fifth overall for the season and Uriah Bugyi, who finished in 19th place (59:52), finished in 19th place overall for the season; with one race missed.

Our two seventh grade boys worked hard this season. Eli’s finish on the podium for fifth place overall on the season was well-deserved, meeting his goal to make the podium. Uriah, in his first NICA season, learned a lot and improved so much through the spring.

Rounding out the state race was the High School boys. Varsity Boys start first (5-laps), followed 2-3 minutes later by JV Boys (4-laps), Sophomore boys (3-laps) start 2-3 minutes later, and finally Freshman boys (3-laps). The 2-3 minutes gives the kids time to get out ahead and into the woods but it doesn’t take long for all the boys to be mixed together out in the woods. For the Freshman boys, Malakai Hagenbuch finished his 3-lap race in sixth place after three laps (1:04:18) and finished fifth overall for the season. Sophomore boys: Amon Oliver finished his 3-lap race in third (1:02:07) and also captured third place overall for the season. JV Boys: Damien Murphy finished his 4-lap race in 11th place (1:34:12) and finished 11th place overall for the season. Our lone Varsity Boys racer, Alex Kemnah finished his 5-lap (4-laps completed before timed cutoff) race in sixth place (1:22:36) and captured second place overall for the season. All our HS boys had great races in the smokey haze at States.

Taking nine kids out to Naples, NY and having seven come home with medals or trophies for the day and season was a great way to end the season; especially with the strong competition from the other 19 teams in the league. The kids all finished - they were all smiling – and each and every one of them had a great mountain bike season. To our two seniors, Alex and Damien, you both had great seasons and contributed so much to the Growlers – we’re going to miss you two so much!

The team finished in 11th place at States out of the 19 teams in the NY league. Overall, on the season, the Growlers finished in 10th place. The season has ended but we’re planning on Tuesday evening community mountain bike rides at the Quarry every week through the summer – with ride times at 5:30 p.m. Come ride with us. If anyone’s interested in having their kid join the Growlers, reach out at GalenaGrowlers@Gmail.com. Our mission is to get #MoreKidsOnBikes! Again – thanks to all the support from our local community! Go Growlers!

-Information from the Galena Growlers