Natasha Oldcorn won the 2008 Ontario Cup, clinching the title at a race in Midland last weekend. She won four of seven races in the Cadet Junior age 15 to 18 division of the Ontario Cycling Association this season, including her final two.

For Natasha, her success is result of hard work and a lot of training. Not one to shy away from pressure, at only 15, she is already beating competitors that are older than her, likely in part because of her strong will and drive to succeed.

"I like that it is an individual sport - It's better than team sports because it's nobody's fault but yours. You don't have to rely on anybody (but yourself)," she said.

Natasha has been racing mountain bikes for the past four years, and already the sport has taken her across North America. She has competed in Ontario and Quebec, and western Canada, as well as trained for weeks at a time in California and South Carolina, where she rode a combined 1,600 kilometres plus.

To keep up with the stiff competition, Natasha puts in about 10 hours of training a week, she said. Most of it consists of interval rides, mixing in different components, such as sprinting. For Natasha, who is a student at Banting Memorial High School and also has a part-time job at Dairy Queen, finding the time to train is the most difficult part.

But she has set some lofty goals, and it drives her to keep up the training regimen. This year it was to win both the provincial title, and the national title. She won the provincial title, but fell short at the nationals, coming in a respectable third. Next season she is setting the bar even higher.

"I'm trying to shoot for the worlds next year," she said.

As for the distant future, Natasha isn't sure what it holds. Like many athletes, the Olympics are always a possibility - but she is realistic with timelines.

"Most mountain bikers who go to the Olympics are 30 to 35, but that is certainly a goal for me."

E-mail reporter Kurtis Elsner at kelsner@simcoe.com