The Animas and Durango mountain bike teams erased the competition and claimed podium spots at the Chalk Creek Stampede in Nathrop last Sunday.
After three races, Durango leads Division 2 with 14,986 total points. Animas is a close second with 14,181 points in the Colorado Cycling League’s south conference. The CCL is part of the National Interscholastic Cycling Association.
Animas High junior Riley Amos, who was second place at the previous two races of the season, found the top step of the podium Sunday in the varsity boys division. His four-lap time of 1 hour, 40 minutes, 57 seconds was nearly a minute faster than Durango’s Cobe Freeburn, who was second in 1:41:45.22. Amos retained the overall leader’s jersey for the south conference of the CCL. Amos is the reigning junior age 15-16 national champion in cross-country and short-track mountain biking. He now leads Freeburn by 53 points in the overall standings.
Durango sophomore Ruth Holcomb made it three wins in three races in the varsity girls division. She rolled to the finish in 1:26:02.31 after three laps of tough racing. Animas’ Sage Davis, a junior, was second in 1:26:53.36. Holcomb leads Davis by 64 points in the overall standings.
Animas’ Abbey Shepard placed second in the junior varsity girls race. She completed two laps in 1:00:47.36. Chatfield freshman Mia Aseltine finished in 58:51.24, and she is the series points leader. Shepard is only 30 points behind Aseltine in the standings. Ainsley Haggart of Animas is fourth, 100 points behind.
Durango’s Aaron Clark had the top-area finish in the junior varsity boys race. He was eighth in 1:24:42.63 after three laps of racing. Manitou Springs’ Eli Bennett won in 1:20:07.62, and he is the series’ overall leader. Animas’ Trevor Harms was 10th in 1:25:11.44.
Durango’s Aleah Austin was in a tight race with Evergreen’s Alyssa Leifer in the sophomore girls race, and Austin prevailed in the two-lap race with a time of 1:04:50.45. Leifer was second in 1:05:07.62. Durango’s Kelsey Nicholson was fourth in 1:07:25.40. Austin is the sophomore girls points leader. Austin has an 82-point lead on Salida’s Cassidy Gillis in the overall standings.
In the freshman boys category, Durango’s Ivan Sippy tasted victory with a two-lap time of 51:14.18. He beat teammate Ian Kutzleb, the points leader who was second in 51:54.37. Durango’s Riley Jaber was fourth in 53:39.51. Kutzleb’s lead is 18 points in front of Sippy. Jaber is 88 points behind.
Durango girls took second through fourth place in the freshman girls division. Crested Butte’s Sarah Bivens, the points leader, won in 1:02:59.84. Lauren Aggeler was second in 1:03:02.71, as she sprinted to barely edge teammate Hannah Garvey by 16 hundredths of a second. Bailey Cioppa was fourth in 1:05:43.93. Affeler is only nine points behind Bivens in the standings, while Garvey is 45 points back and Cioppa is 88 points behind.
The next race is the south conference championship Oct. 7 in Eagle on the Haymaker Trail. Durango will host the state championships Oct. 20-21.
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
