Three Durango High School cyclists finished first in their races Saturday at the Snowmassive Chase in Snowmass. With 11 teammates also finishing in the races’ top 10, Durango won its third race in a row in the Colorado High School Cycling League’s Division 2.
Animas High School used three top-10 varsity finishes and a third-place finish to place second in Division 3.
The Demons got wins from Chase Connors, Kai Lokey and Betty Holcomb. Holcomb, Emmett McManus and Quentin DeLuca maintained their points lead, or took over, in the Piedra League.
Connors won the varsity boys race by 26 seconds in 1 hour, 5 minutes and 9 seconds. Teammates Liam Bezek (fourth, 1:06:07), Bryan Hastey (ninth, 1:09:51) and Orrin Bleth (11th, 1:10:46) weren’t far behind for DHS while Brayden Harms of Animas crossed 10th in 1:10:44.
Max Johnson of High Desert Composite in Cortez finished third (1:06:01), but is still the Piedra varsity points leader heading into the final regular season race Oct. 9 in Nathrop. Johnson had a 1-second lead over Connors after the first lap, but Connors passed him on the second lap and maintained his lead on the third and final lap.
In the girls varsity race, Riley Huston of Durango challenged Rose Horning of Leadville and finished just over a minute after her in second place (1:15:47). Animas riders Maddy Glotfelty (fourth, 1:24:39) and Julia Glotfelty (eighth, 1:31:45) also raced.
In the junior varsity boys race, less than five seconds separated Lokey and McManus at both the midpoint and at the end. Lokey ended up taking the win in 42:30, but McManus held on to the leader’s jersey with a second-place finish (42:35). Chase Grom placed 11th in 47:45 while George Hudson (48th, 54:34), Axel Adams (84th, 1:01:51) and Animas’ Kadence Marion-Wagoner (85th, 1:02:04) also competed.
In the junior varsity girls race, Manhattan Adams placed 23rd in 1:21:46.
In the sophomore boys race, DeLuca and Kolby Landen of Cherry Creek had a photo finish, but Landen finished .3 seconds ahead of DeLuca to take the win. DeLuca finished second in 46:41, but took over as the division’s points leader.
Cedar Bremner (fourth, 47:56), Dylan Timmerman (fifth, 48:15), Zach Oliver (18th, 52:26), Wyatt Johnson (20th, 57:20), Alex Mackenzie (57th, 1:04:20) and Colton Leroux of Animas (68th, 1:18:15) also raced in the sophomore boys competition.
Holcomb, meanwhile, won the freshman girls race, her third win in three races this season, to tighten her grip as the Piedra league’s points leader in the classification. Holcomb won Snowmassive by over 3 minutes in 52:47. Holcomb’s two-lap time was faster than both the sophomore and junior varsity girls winners. Her teammates also fared well, and Tilia Clausen finished third (56:00), Rowan Lott placed fourth (57:29), Ellie Shaw finished fifth (59:49), and Maple Damien crossed seventh (1:03:42).
In the freshman boys race, Animas bikers Liam March and Joseba Izaguirre finished 58th in 1:09:28 and 61st in 1:11:17, respectively.
Durango won the Division 2 team title with 5,232 while Grand Junction (4,541), Taos (4,323), Douglas County (4,318) and Pagosa Springs (4,232) rounded out the top five. High Desert Composite finished 11th (2,954) with all eight of its riders scores counting toward the team total. Sophie Eschallier led the Hgh Desert girls with a sixth-place finish in the junior varsity race (1:04:43).
Leadville took the Division 3 crown with 2,403 points. Animas finished second with 2,337 while Fountain Valley (2,191), San Luis Valley (2,137) and North Fork (1,984) finished third through fifth.
Salida won the Division 1 title with 6,779 points, beating Conifer (6,190) and Chatfield (5,013).
Buena Vista High School will host the final regular season race for the Piedra League on Oct. 9 in Nathrop.
