Five HPHS graduates provided foundation for continued growth
As cycling gained widespread popularity during the pandemic in 2020, perhaps it’s no coincidence that the Highland Park cycling team was launched a year later.
What’s considerably more surprising, however, is that the club — based in a community with a lack of off-road trails — has since grown to include more than 55 young athletes.
Competitive success has quickly followed, as the Scots finished as the runner-up this spring in the Texas league of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.
The rapid rise has been fueled by a group of recent HP graduates who were freshmen when they joined forces to turn a hobby into a collective passion.
“Riding around town on your bike, doing tricks and silly stuff, it eventually develops into doing cycling as a sport,” said HP’s Nikolas Milanovic. “It was fate that five guys all in the same grade happened to be interested in riding bikes, and had the opportunity to compete in something you would usually do for fun.”
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The team competes on grueling rural mountain-bike courses of uneven terrain featuring climbs and descents, along with natural obstacles such as rocks, tree roots, and jumps. Each race consists of multiple laps, covering several miles total and typically requiring more than an hour to finish.
“It’s not traditional by any means,” said Milanovic, who won an individual state title in 2024. “That’s part of the appeal.”
The Scots primarily race a NICA schedule, which runs from February through May and culminated this year in the state championship race in Burnet, about 60 miles northwest of Austin. HP’s Eli Young was the individual champion, with teammate Andrew Brinkman in third.
HP cyclists agree their high-intensity workouts, held near White Rock Lake among other locations, help push one another.
“I feel like I’m an internally motivated person. That was a big part for me,” said Jack White, one of several riders on the team who have competed in national races. “The sport reflects how much work you’re putting in. You’re doing workouts but you’re having fun at the same time.”
The NICA team is one component of the broader HP cycling club, meaning not all riders have to participate in top-level races. The coed roster also includes cyclists as young as fourth grade.
“You can take it as seriously or as casually as you would like,” said Elizabeth Kerr, who hopes to increase club participation among girls. “When we were in eighth grade, we didn’t know where this was going to go. We definitely want to grow it as much as we can.”
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