Local high school mountain bikers pulled out their best punches at the Haymaker Classic.
The Animas High School and Durango High School teams crushed the Colorado High School league Sept. 27 at the third race of the season in Eagle.
The teams competed on the 5.4-mile trail constructed specifically for the high school league event, and the same course will host the state championship races Oct. 25.
The course was in worse shape than usual, leading to a lot of wrecks and mechanical failures, and coach Sarah Tescher called it the dustiest, roughest and hottest course of the league’s history.
“The Haymaker was a rough course this year,” head coach Garrett Alexander said in a news release. “The final descent is usually a smooth, fast bermed descent, but chunks of the berms were missing, creating potholes.
The course was covered in fine chalk-like dust that really did its number on drive trains and bike parts, leading to many mechanicals. Numerous riders were coming through the feed zone covered in white dust, indicating a crash.”
Add to that equation high temperatures that had riders battling heat exhaustion, and you’ve got a recipe for one tough race.
The rough conditions didn’t prevent the two local teams from turning out results, though. Animas High School placed first in front of Salida and Columbine in Division I, and Durango took first in Division 2 ahead of Evergreen and Crested Butte.
The varsity and junior varsity boys completed four and three laps, respectively.
Varsity Animas riders Keiran Eagen and Keenan Desplanques competed against Durango’s Will Berger and Bryce Gordon among many more riders. Eagen claimed sixth, Gordon repaired a flat and a skipping chain to finish seventh overall, Berger took 13th, and Desplanques took 20th after fighting a mechanical.
The junior varsity pack caught up to the varsity peloton, with Durango’s Quinn Simmons blazing past many varsity riders to take third in the JV race.
Durango’s Lucas Robbins was ninth in JV, with Animas’ Perrin Kileen taking 13th and Domi Fridger right behind him in 14th.
Durango’s Andrew Middleton was 23rd in the JV race, and teammate Tye Sandavol fought off illness the night before took 30th. Animas’ Shane Ellis was 37th with teammates George McQuinn 46th and Geoffery Steiner 78th.
Durango JV rider Jimmy Pope suffered a scary crash and had to be emergency evacuated off the course and taken to a hospital. He was released later in the day and allowed to travel home with the team.
“It’s a coach’s worst nightmare, really,” Tescher said. “To know one of your riders is being evacuated off a course and not knowing the condition of your rider is really just one of the worst feelings.”
Pope’s helmet cracked, but his spirits were high.
The varsity girls race featured Katja Freeburn, Camryn Sippy, Ellen Campbell and Ava Hachmann. Freeburn went out strong, chasing Salida’s Harper Powell. Sippy and Hachmann joined the chase group along with two other Salida riders.
Freeburn held on for second place, with Hachmann a strong sixth followed directly by Sippy and Campbell in seventh and eighth.
The girls junior varsity race featured overall series leader Maya Zarlingo, who won the race to maintain her commanding season lead. Mikayla Wright took 12th, and Emily Vierling completed the first race of her career for 19th.
“I think the highlight of the day was watching (Vierling) cross the finish line,” Tescher said. “Each team member has their individual goals, and when you are new to a sport, new to racing and have asthma, crossing the finish line happy but breathing hard is a huge accomplishment.”
The freshmen boys race featured Andy Munroe and John White, who completed two laps of the course against 72 riders.
“Watching the freshmen boy start, I just knew it was going to be one of those days with lots of dirt faces, dirty bikes, mechanicals, crashes and possibly tears,” Tescher said. “We needed to send the message to the team that they just need to put their heads down and finish, as it was going to be a struggle for everyone whether they were front of the pack, mid or back.”
White ran with his bike through the finish line because of a mechanical but crossed in sixth. Munroe claimed 14th.
The day concluded with the girls freshmen race. Animas’ Cecilia Compton, Sadie Shafer and Alma Wolf raced together to take third, fourth and fifth, respectively. Shafer maintained the overall leader’s jersey with one race to go.
On the way home, the team stopped at McClure Pass to watch the blood moon eclipse Sunday night. Before the state championship event, the team will race one more time at Nathrop at the fourth event of the season, and that will determine if the two Durango teams maintain their No. 1 overall status.
“I’m not sure the highlight for these guys is the podium, they just love being with each other, whether it is riding, racing or huddled under the stars,” Tescher said.
Alexander added: “Spirits always remain so high with this crew. These are bonds that will never be broken. Relationships and memories that will last a lifetime, and that’s why Durango excels. You may be suffering, but you’re suffering with your friends.”
heraldsports@durangoherald.com
