News & Stories

Melvin Russell at a mountain bike race

Henri Nguyen (left) and Timothy Vang testing out their new bikes.

Sherman Powell (right), William Munnich (left)

Each year, the Loppet Middle School teams, Anwatin, Nellie Stone Johnson (transfering to Franklin starting this fall) and Northeast, have patterned their programs into a year-round Earn-A-Bike system. The Loppet’s fleet of mountain bikes are lovingly used from April to October, and are ready for a warm home after a year or two of service. In the fall, our middle school team athletes are challenged to keep above a high standard of attendance, not only throughout the winter ski season, but all the way through the spring and summer as well. Points are earned through attending practices, races and volunteering. All those who keep above the minimum points bar are eligible to earn a mountain bike, and after last year, when there was an unsustainable number of kids achieving this standard (we barely had enough bikes!), we decided that this year the top six kids from each team who made it above the points standard would earn a bike.

This year, from the Nellie Stone Johnson team, Sherman Powell, Kemari Williams and Melvin Russell earned a mountain bike of their very own. The Anwatin team had six earners, however four athletes were repeats from last year and therefore already had a mountain bike. Henri Nguyen and Timothy Vang took home bikes, and the remaining four, Doua Thao, Emily Kral, William Munnich and Tome Vang, have been offered a rollerski or cross-country ski package in substitution. The Northeast team declined to offer bikes this summer in response to a transition in coaches.

We are very proud of our bike (and ski) earners! Earned bikes are pretty handy for commuting to and from school, hitting up the Wirth trails after school, on weekends and of course at practice, and generally looking flashy. Keep up the good work, kids!

Henri Nguyen on the pump track