Ozzy Osbourne’s undying ‘Crazy Train’ wasn’t played through Chapman Hill Ice Arena’s sound system Saturday night. The hosting Durango Roller Girls Derailers might have been happy it wasn’t; a previously-unseen talent, skating for the opposing squad, may have thrived even more had she heard it.
The end result might have been even more weighted in the Salida-based Arkansas Valley High Rollers’ favor, which ended up beating the Derailers 213-76.
Whereas multiple teammates were frequently content to terminate a two-minute jam session early after lapping the pack just once and earning four points, Bronwyn ‘Track Sabbath’ Henry proved an exception, usually right when Durango could ill afford it.
Seeing her first derby action outside Chaffee County, her first dash around the track produced 16 points and rapidly increased the High Rollers’ early lead to 32-13 with roughly 20 minutes left in the opening 30-minute half – which Henry polished off with an 12-point push, swelling the guests’ advantage to 104-29.
“It was definitely a relief,” Arkansas Valley’s Michelle ‘Ravage’ Jones said, of building up a commanding lead – thanks in large part to a bout-breaking 56-0 run putting AVHR up 88-20 – before halftime. “We have a really deep bench of really experienced people, so … the load gets shared and everyone has a little time to rest. But that really made it so that we had the opportunity for anyone who wanted, to get a position they don’t normally play …. and try some new things.”
AVHR then registered the first 14 points after intermission before the Derailers used a timeout with 25:57 remaining. Behind Tatum ‘Noodle’ Schmidt and Kelli ‘Atomic’ Henry, Durango outscored ArkValley 11-3 after the restart, but then saw the High Rollers go on a bout-clinching 26-0 run, helped by a 12-point Bronwyn Henry boost with roughly 17 minutes to go.
“I know she was showing off on a couple of those jams,” joked AVHR teammate Morgan ‘Tonka Tuck’ Scott, “but … she just came up from juniors; we were really excited to have her actually be able to go do travel bouts, and she just absolutely caught fire.”
The skilled prospect wasn’t finished; with 3:50 left, she skated over to the visitors’ bench, happy over a 16-point burst ballooning ArkValley’s lead to 198-64. After Derailer Henry and High Roller Jessica ‘Shook Me All Night’ Shook went for broke during the penultimate minute and skated out the clock with each scoring points, the final margin of victory read 213-76.
“This was my first away bout … so that was scary. We’ve played against Durango before – and they’re always fun to play against – but I was nervous,” said Bronwyn Henry, voted the High Rollers’ top jammer in the bout. “I live, like, 45 minutes outside Cañon City, way out in the boonies, so it takes me about an hour and 45 minutes to get to practice, so I don’t go to many. So hearing that I did all right was really nice!”
“Our ‘sister’ team … we love them; they just bring such great energy to the track … that it’s just about us being able to really test our newfound skills,” Durango’s Henry said. “This was a lot of our skaters’ first league bout – and our first league bout of the season – and I think a lot of our newer skaters have leveled up extremely since last season; they’ve really turned the jets on and put that aggression out there that we really want to see on the track. I’m super proud of all of them.”
Fittingly, a fresh face earned Most Valuable Jammer for the Derailers: Jo ‘Jo Mama’ Florence, who complemented veterans like Schmidt, Henry and Katie ‘Skidmark’ Moody well, with Kelsey ‘Eager Beaver’ Beaver serving as one of the crew’s coaches.
“Those are big shoes to fill,” said Florence. “But Beaver’s believed in me in her coaching, and jamming is just so fun. I think it’s more fun than blocking because I don’t have to think; I just go forward. So it was kind of nice that they were obviously going to win; I could just let go and have fun.”
The rematch between Durango and Arkansas Valley is scheduled for Aug. 23. Start time at the Chaffee County Fairgrounds, just east of downtown Poncha Springs and a couple of miles west of Salida, is set for 7 p.m.
“We actually have a team that we’re having tryouts for, and it’s exciting to be part of that,” Durango’s Henry said. “It’s fun to have friendly competition on the team, and this being one of our first bouts … we’re starting to see where we need to improve.”
