By Neto Baptiste
Conroy Thomas was crowned king in the Elite Male category of the East Side Raiders King of the Hill cycling competition held on Sunday.
Riding for Team Terminix, Thomas registered a time of 2:02:18.91 to beat his only competitor, Newell Mack of Team Pillars Cycling. Mack clocked a time of 2:06:14.67 in the grueling event that took competitors up some of the country’s toughest climbs including Shirley Heights.
There was tough competition as well in the Sports Class with Vipers’ Cosmos Richardson finishing at the top of the pile after clocking an overall time of 1:58:34.25. Marcus Ozuna of Little Rascals was second in a time of 2:00:01.54 with Jason Adams, who rode as an independent, grabbing a bronze medal finish with his time of 2:13:37.17.
Meanwhile, Tahje Brown and Jayonte Joseph, both of Wadadli Cycling Academy, went head to head in the Junior Male category with Brown coming out on top in a time of 1:54:04.02. Joseph showed a fighting spirit to finish in the second position with a time of 2:24:06.47.
In the Cadets 14-17 age category, Jomari King of Vipers (1:58:29.15) and Dejaun Francis (2:15:42.39) of the Wadadli Cycling Academy were first and second respectively. Elite Thomas was the lone competitor in the Cadets 11-13 category, clocking a time of 40:37.79.
Veteran Ira Fabian who rode as an independent, captured the Masters Class with a time of 2:06:04.43 with Edward Henry of the Andre Simon Cycling Academy finishing second in a time of 2:11:47.12.
Telesha Choy of Vipers was the lone female on show, registering a time of 1:49:45.97.