Competing in division two (division one was for open ages), Chevalier’s team won the gold medal while Southern Highlands Christian School riders claimed the bronze.

Held at the Yellomundee track in the lower Blue Mountains, both teams completed 15 laps of the 4.5km course, but Chevalier did it in a time of 4.04.07 while the Christian school’s riders took an extra eight minutes.

Upper Hunter United split the two Highlands schools in second place.

Chevalier’s team was made up of Alex Delamont, Hayden Streeter, Robert Kell and Harry Herne.

Herne got the team off to a blistering start with a 14-minute first lap before Delamont, Streeter and Kell shared the remaining laps between them.

Chevalier also entered a division one team that finished fifth.

Southern Highlands Christian School’s team was led off by Zac Wilson, while Daniel Phillips rode second and Zac Bollinger was the third rider.

The team shared the laps evenly among them.

All seven riders are members of the Southern Highlands Cycling Club or ride with the club regularly.

SHCC has had a huge increase in junior mountain bike riders with more than 50 new members in the past 12 months.

The club plans to get even bigger and has approval from a land owner to build a new mountain bike track near Bowral, but the development application is yet to go before Wingecarribee Council.

The growth has been fuelled by the positive atmosphere of the club, local bike shop owners and the success of a number of young Highlanders in recent years like Charlton Durie and Shaun O’Connor.

Durie and O’Connor are both in Europe competing on the World Cup circuit.