Lake Villa teen wins debut on pro BMX circuit
NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT September 8, 2011 8:26PM
BMX rider Felicia Stacil of Lake Villa during practice at Henry Pfau Callahan Park off York House Road in Waukegan. | Michael Schmidt~Sun-Times Media
Updated: September 9, 2011 2:39AM
Win some. Lose some.
So it went for 16-year-old Felicia Stancil of Lake Villa over Labor Day weekend.
The junior at Grayslake North High School did plenty of winning, as she finished first in a couple of different races while racing as a professional for the first time in BMX competition.
As for the losing ... well, let’s just say that now that she’s a professional BMX racer and already is cashing winner’s checks, she’s probably lost the right to talk a friend into giving her 65 cents for a bag of chips in the cafeteria at Grayslake North.
The teen has been the dominant female BMX racer in her age group for years, and has won nearly a dozen world titles. She even spent part of August at the Team USA training facility in Colorado training for what may be a future Olympic bid.
Though she’s now a pro, she’s still eligible to compete in the Olympics in 2016, and also remains an amateur in terms of sports at Grayslake North.
The UCI is the world governing body for BMX racing — similar to what FIFA is to soccer.
The UCI held what it called its Class-5 Pro Spectacular races over Labor Day weekend in Louisville, and that’s where Felicia chose to make her pro debut.
Her big win came in the Junior Women’s Division, though she also crossed the finish line first in other events.
She races for a team called “Speed,” which explains the name on the front of her racing jersey.
The structure of BMX racing is complicated, but Felicia’s making it simple.
She races. She wins.
The 2016 Olympics can’t get here fast enough.
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