Middle Schoolers Shine at Punchy Pigg & Virginia State Mountain Bike XC Championships

3Cats Cycling
Jun 8
2 min read

What a day!

We show up together, feel like family, and sometimes get a little wild. Chicken fights in the pool, I am looking at you. Some days just click, and lately, it feels like we’ve had more than a few of those. We don’t chase medals or podiums. We celebrate effort. The middle schoolers have been there for the high schoolers all season.

Today, it was about them, and we are all so overjoyed to celebrate everything that they are!

At the Virginia State Championships, Seth Kidd and Lia Hultgren each earned Virginia State Championship titles in the Junior 13-14 divisions. Both riders also placed 3rd on the overall podium against strong regional competition. In the Junior Boys 15-18 race, Dylan Russell raced his heart out to a top-10 finish.

Up and coming young racers from CRC Junior MTB Team, Nehemiah and Amaris, also had strong podium rides with Nehemiah scoring a cool new helmet for his efforts.

But my favorite moment happened long before the finish line.

The course was classic Virginia mountain biking: relentless climbing, roots everywhere, rocky descents, tight turns between trees, berms, jumps, and just enough chances to make a mistake if your focus wandered for even a second. One section featured a rocky, rooted downhill that dropped directly into a sharp 90-degree turn over a bridge. Even some adults chose to walk it.

Seth and Lia didn't.

After twenty years around bike racing, I know the look. Seth and Lia had it. They were ready to give everything. Legs, minds, focus. They were completely locked in. Watching Lia blaze down the descent and pass another racer ONTO the bridge was amazing to watch. Having mentors like their CRC teammate Lily Agnew blasting off obstacles in World Cups must’ve been inspirational to all of them.

It made all the packing and unpacking of tents and nutrition bags worth it.

Temperatures hit the 90s and the humidity rivaled last year’s Endurance Nationals so while I was out in the woods, it was all hands on deck in the feedzone with ice socks, dump bottles, whatever it took to keep our team moving. By the end, the stream crossing was a relief, not an obstacle.