Jack Iles was a winner in the season’s last B.C. Cup downhill mountain bike race to wrap up the 2012 series title in the U17 expert men’s division.

The Whistler resident finished first by nearly 15 seconds in the finals race at Hemlock Valley Resort on Sept. 2, securing the B.C. Cup crown with his fifth win of the summer series.

Fellow local Adison MacDonald also hit the podium in third, finishing just 13 hundredths of a second behind Fernie’s Nik Dunn. With the result, MacDonald jumped two spots in the B.C. Cup standings to finish fifth this year.

In the U15 men’s category, Whistler’s Finn Iles finished second for the season with a runner-up finish at Hemlock. Local rider Alex Auger did not race the final event, but also had a strong season, finishing fourth in the B.C. Cup standings. Whistler’s Bracken Camilleri finished the year eighth.

Zander Geddes also missed the series finale and wound up sixth on the season in the junior expert men’s division. Bowen Irvine was Whistler only other racer at Hemlock and placed eighth in the U17 sport men’s class for his best result of the season.

Wheelup to wind down season

The cross-country mountain bike race season will wind down on Saturday (Sept. 15) with the 19th annual Westside Wheelup, a fundraiser event for the B.C. Disabled Ski Team.

Matt Ryan is the five-time defending champion of the event, which is now the longest-running mountain bike race within Whistler. He beat out Neal Kindree in a sprint to the finish in 2011 to keep his streak intact.

Sign-up starts at 10 a.m. at the Whistler Brewing Company with the start scheduled for noon. Riders will head out from Function Junction for a tour of the Westside trails before arriving at the finish line in Rainbow Park, where a barbecue and beer garden will be waiting.

Entry for the race is $25. The first finishers are likely to arrive at the park around 1 p.m.

Grizzlies drop debut

The Grizzlies football team got a rough introduction to high school football in the U.S. on Saturday (Sept. 8), being held off the scoreboard in its first-ever contest against Washington’s Orcas Island.

The Grizzlies were in an early hole after turnovers gave Orcas Island a short field to work with on its first few possessions, though the squad of Pemberton and Whistler residents seemed to find their form for the final two quarters, said coach John Burleson.

“It was a tough outing, they learned a lot,” said Burleson, whose team fell 65-0 in its debut. “They performed well later in the second half like they are capable of performing and I think the folks in Orcas realized the early mistakes were initial stage fright.”

Burleson credited the Grizzlies linemen on both sides of the ball for strong games, as the team did not allow a sack and limited the Orcas Island rushing attack, while the Sea to Sky squad also had some bright spots on kick returns.

The Grizzlies were faced with a brutal travel day on Saturday due to GranFondo delays on the highway and stepped off the bus into a carnival-like at the game venue that was a lot for first-time players to take in, said Burleson. The team travels to Oregon to play the Colton Vikings on Friday night (Sept. 14).

“We’ll rebound this week,” said Burleson. “The kids are really looking forward to getting down there and showing what they can do.”

Orienteering event coming

Whistler residents will get a chance to learn more about the sport of orienteering next week, with an introductory clinic planned to preface the B.C. Championships later this month in the resort.

The Greater Vancouver Orienteering Club is putting on an ‘Orienteering 101’ clinic at Spruce Grove Park on Tuesday (Sept. 18) between 5 and 7 p.m. Participants will go through short exercises providing the knowledge necessary to compete in any event, followed by a race on a “scatter” course around Lost Lake.

The clinic is designed for people of all fitness levels aged 15 and older and costs $10. Participation also provides a discount on the provincial championship events going Sept. 22 and 23 in Whistler.

Three races of varying lengths, held at Lost Lake, the Village and Whistler Mountain alpine will be staged during the Canada Cup-sanctioned B.C. Championships.

Visit www.zone4.ca to register, or check www.gvoc.whyjustrun.ca for more details.

Disc golf provincials in Whistler

Whistler will host 100 of the province’s top disc golf talents this weekend, as the B.C. Championships will take place Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 15 and 16) on the local Powerline course.

The 60-hole tournament is a Tier C-level Professional Disc Golf Association event featuring two rounds on Saturday and the final round on Sunday at 10 a.m.

The B.C. Disc Sports Society will also hold its AGM at Myrtle Philip Community School on Saturday at 6 p.m.