The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
“We had a great season”
It’s been a long season for the Crested Butte Alpine Orthopaedics high school bike team. The riders saddled up to begin training back at the beginning of August and put a close to the 2012 season on Sunday, October 21 at the state championships in Fruita.
While Fruita does have its fair share of primo singletrack with a sufficient amount of climbing and downhills, race organizers opted for a different kind of course for the high schoolers, one that did not necessarily favor the Crested Butte contingent. Nevertheless, the Titans finished their season strong.
“The course was pretty flat and fast,” says coach Torrey Carroll. “It wasn’t necessarily the best course for us but we still had a great weekend.”
Senior varsity racer Josh Gallen posted his top result of the season in his final race as a high schooler. Gallen raced the entire summer leading up to the high school season and suffered some fatigue issues, but a break from training refreshed his legs for one final push to finish in sixth place and 10th overall for the season.
“That was great,” says Carroll. “He had a great third lap.”
Senior Lizzie Curvin left it all out on the course in her final race to take third place and finish the season in third overall.
Curvin was close to a minute off the leader after the first lap but stomped on it on the final lap to close the gap down to 10 seconds, crossing the finish line and then collapsing, earning a trip to the first aid tent.
“She dug really deep,” says Carroll.
Junior Cristo Church closed his season with his top result of the year, placing 13th and finishing in 14th place in the overall standings.
Junior German exchange student Jan-Leo Kaak had not made it to a race since the first one of the season and came into the final race with a goal to start in last place and see how many people he could pass. In the end he managed to move up 30 spots over the course of the race.
Junior Tristan Kraatz put the hurt on his peers and himself through the first two laps. After firing off his strongest race effort of the season through the first two laps, Kraatz eventually ran out of gas, losing some time on the final lap.
Carroll believes sophomore Derek Schomler had the race of the day among the Titans.
Schomler placed sixth in Fruita, a full six places better than his previous best finish, and spent a lot of the race pulling a line of other riders.
“He’s a power rider and the course was good for him,” says Carroll.
Oz Scott, who finished in fifth place overall for the season, was right behind him in seventh place. Emerson Wohlers placed 10th to close the season in sixth place in the overall rankings.
“It was really cool watching those three work together in the race,” says Carroll.
Colton Schnaitter laid down a fast first lap to come in 25th place among the sophomore riders.
Kai Sherman had the top freshman result, placing fourth in Fruita and fifth overall, while Patrick Curvin recovered from a crash on his first lap to move from last place to ninth and close the season sixth overall. Ben Swift joined his teammates in the freshman race to post a 27th-place finish.
“We had a great season,” says Carroll. “Every single kid enjoyed being on the team and stuck it out the entire season and learned to push themselves harder than before. For the most part, 80 to 90 percent improved on their results throughout the season.”
