A day after Keegan Swenson and Christopher Blevins finished first and second in Thursday’s time trial, they did the same in Friday’s short-track cross-country mountain bike race, only this time they flipped position on the podium.
Blevins of Durango won Friday’s short-track race at the Soldier Hollow Bike Festival in 20 minutes, 9.5 seconds. He was 0.5 seconds ahead of Swenson of Heber City, Utah. Durango’s Stephan Davoust was third in the same time as Swenson.
Also for Durango, Cole Paton of Fort Lewis College cycling placed sixth in 20:10.2. His FLC teammate Henry Nadell was 11th in 20:10.5. Benjamin Sonntag of Durango was 20th in 20:11.1. Nash Dory of FLC placed 22nd in 20:11.2, and Daniel Johnson of Durango was 23rd another 0.1 seconds back. Colton Sacket of FLC was 29th, Durango’s Keiran Eagen, a current FLC rider, was 30th, FLC’s Jason Rowton was 36th, Harrison Buckley was 42nd and Levi Kurlander placed 46th.
The UCI elite women’s pro race was won by Boulder’s Erin Huck in 19:27.5. Katernia Nash of California was second in the same time, and FLC alumna Sofia Gomez-Villafañe also was in the lead group in third. FLC’s Savilia Blunk, who won the Thursday time trial, finished eighth in 19:28.2. Durango’s Katja Freeburn placed 15th, and FLC’s Stella Sisneros was 23rd.
Durango’s Ruth Holcomb backed up her time trial win in the girls Category 1 age 15-16 race with another win in short-track. She again edged Durango’s Lauren Aggelar for the victory.
In a return from injury, Durango’s Madeline Robbins won the junior women’s 17-18 race, as she edged Madigan Munro for the win. Durango’s Aleah Austin won the Category 2 race for girls age 15-16.
The weekend of racing will continue Saturday with cross-country racing and Sunday with marathon-distance backcountry racing. The elite men and women along with the UCI juniors are competing for crucial UCI points for this Olympic cycle.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
