Steamboat High School Mountain Bike team took home five podium finishes, and the team was 1st place in Division 2 at the first race in The Colorado High School Cycling League race series on Sunday, August 27, in Frisco, Colorado. A total of 25 racers from Steamboat High School and Steamboat Mountain School raced either one, two, or three laps of a 5.9-mile course, including a mix of singletrack, double track, and dirt roads. Mary McLarnon won the varsity girl’s race, and Eva Minotto was 2nd; both girls are sophomores in high school and race varsity. Aiden Haack was 2nd place for the varsity boys in a sprint finish to the line. In the junior varsity category, Ryan Montgomery came in 4th, and Whitney Warnke won the freshman girls category.

Racing started early on Sunday, with the sophomore boys racing first at 8:15 a.m. The weather started out perfectly with sunshine and cool temperatures. The four sophomore boys racers had solid finishes: Luke Bedell was 7th, Mason Kemp was 20th, Elliot Nance was 40th, and Jackson Sloop placed 71st after a misfortunate flat tire, but he persevered, fixed the tire, and finished the race. Anna Boness raced her first high school mountain bike race and finished 20th for the sophomore girls. Next up were the varsity boys and girls - Steamboat High School Mountain Bike team’s largest category with a total of 11 riders.

In addition to Haack coming in 2nd for the boys and leading for most of the race, Thomas Miller was 17th, Primo Famiglietti was 18th, Kyan Strong was 25th, Curtis Zanni was 26th, and Jace Rebesa was 28th. In the varsity girls category, in addition to McLarnon and Minotto holding the top two spots for the entire race, Wren Capra was 7th, Jesse Weaver was 16th and Liz Lipscomb was 17th. The junior varsity boy’s race was cut short due to lightning and scored after only the first lap. Ryan Montgomery was 4th, Ian McLarney was 19th, Samuel Thomas was 46th, Stovin Briggs was 48th, and Xavier Knott was 87th. For the freshman boys and girls, the first race of the year is always an individual time trial and the Steamboat riders had stellar performances with Whitney Warnke winning the freshman girls race, Allison Reznicek in 10th and freshman boys, Rowan Hanaughan was 7th and Oscar Libin was 8th. FULL RESULTS HERE.

The next race in the series will take place in Steamboat on September 9.