Reaching the Sac-Joaquin Section Masters track meet as a freshman is an amazing accomplishment for any athlete, but for Roseville High’s Shayna Powless, her trip to the Masters meet ran concurrent to continued success in her other love, mountain biking.

The Roseville High freshman won the varsity girls mountain biking state championship, held at Boggs Mountain in Cobb, Calif. on May 17. Powless edged out Christine Weir of Nevada Union (who had been undefeated in all of her races in 2008 and 2009) and Lauren Catlin of Drake High School (San Rafael) to win the final race and the gold medal.

The growing Nor Cal Racing League, which includes a number of local high school squads, has only been in existence for nine years, but already has a young prodigy right here in Roseville.

Powless was undefeated in all five of her races and has now qualified for the national championships in Colorado later this summer. This was the first varsity girls state championship ever that involved both Northern and Southern California racers.

The state champion credits her mental approach going into the final race for much of her success.

“I didn’t want to crash at all, because I knew that it was a hard course,” Powless said. “I wanted to stay close behind the girl who leads out, and then go hard on the climbs so that I could pull away from her.”

With her busy biking schedule, the most amazing thing may be Powless’ success on the track. She is primarily a distance runner, competing in the 1,600-meter run, the 3,200 and occasionally the 800. She was a member of Roseville’s school record-setting distance medley relay team this year.

During the fall, Powless ran cross country for Roseville, and was named co-MVP for her team. A busy life sees this athlete balancing her training as she runs Monday through Friday and bikes two to three times a week. She trains at the Folsom Lake bike trails, as well as in Auburn and Foresthill to stay in shape.

Just fifteen years old, Powless had a lot of big plans in her sights for the future both as a runner and on the bike.

“I want to break the two mile or the mile record next year, or the year after for track,” Powless said. “For mountain biking I hope to continue on, hopefully have the opportunity to keep with it.”

Three national championships fill her summer calendar. Powless will compete in the USA Cycling Championships on July 17, the USAT Sprint Triathlon National Championships in Los Angeles on July 26 and the XTERRA National Mountain Bike Triathlon held in Utah during September. She was the youngest athlete invited to the XTERRA Championships.