When Mount Si High School students mount up for their first race of the Washington High School Cycling League season in March, it will be as part of an already winning team.

That team, comprised of 15 Skyline High School freshmen, had an excellent showing in last year’s inaugural season of the mountain biking league, finishing fifth overall in the state.

This year, the team will include a handful of Mount Si riders, thanks largely to the efforts of Upper Valley parents Luke Talbott and Karen Auletta.

Talbott, the creator of Compass Outdoor Adventures,  (www.compassoutdoor.org) and Auletta, a self-described “motivated parent advocate, who wants to see this get set up so my sons can be on a mountain bike,” have long wanted to add mountain-biking to Mount Si’s sports or club offerings. It just made sense to Auletta.

“We’ve got these amazing trails, and we’ve got lots of kids who mountain bike,” she said.

Until last year, liability concerns kept the sport off the school-sanctioned activity list, but “Washington State has since joined the national mountain biking association for high school teams,” Auletta said. “That kind of opened the door for us.”

Talbott hosted a student meeting in December to gauge interest, then set up a registration table one day during Mount Si’s lunch periods, to sign up students and provide information.

They also connected with Phil Therrien, coach of the Skyline team, about adding other schools. He immediately agreed, saying it’s a great opportunity for students who might not choose more traditional sports.

Also, the team needs girls.

Mountain bike races are scored individually, and by  team, Therrien explained, and the team score is a combination of the scores of the top finishers for boys and girls.

Last year, the team was all boys and for the state rankings, “We had to have a best composite score for male and female so we took a zero on the female side,” Therrien said.

Registration is still open for interested riders, and organizers are actively recruiting all riders, but especially girls. Therrien encourages anyone who is interested to try it.

“We would characterize it as a ‘no-cut’ sport,” he said. “We’re going to tailor our practices so all the kids are getting what they need.”

Practices will begin in early February, and will include parent-led rides twice a week during the weekdays, with longer rides on the weekends. The Saturday before each race, so the team will ride the course together, then discuss how to handle its obstacles.

Therrien is not worried about school rivalries on the team because mountain biking is not a mainstream sport, he says.

“While the kids are competitive and want to do well, it’s also a very internally supportive community,” he said. “We’re there to support each other no matter what place they finish.”

Mountain biking is a lifelong sport, organizers say, with lasting benefits.

For league information, go to www.washingtonmtb.org.