High school bike team hits podium at state

Tristan Kraatz earns Legacy Athlete Award

The Crested Butte High School bike team had one big goal in mind as they headed to the state championships on Sunday, October 20, the podium.
They were in a solid position to reach that goal as they were ranked third out of 21 teams after three regular season races but the fourth-ranked team was not far behind, so Crested Butte needed to finish strong.
“That was definitely our team goal,” says coach Torrey Carroll. “Hold onto third place and make the podium as a team.”
In the end, they did just that despite some minor turmoil among their top racers on the team during the race.
The course in Eagle was designed primarily to host the high school state championships, and while a majority of it was smooth and twisty singletrack, the start was a bit dubious.
“The start was basically a bumpy grass field that was mowed down and had a left turn about 30 yards into the race,” explains Carroll. “When you’re racing four across, that first turn presented some issues.”
Kai Sherman came into the race second place in the overall rankings among JV racers with a first-, second- and third-place finish in the three regular season races. Sherman’s plan was to go out with a bang and win the race at state but back issues hampered him as the three-lap race progressed.
“His lower back was killing him,” says Carroll. “He said his legs felt fine but his back kept him from pushing it.”
Sherman pushed through the pain as best he could to place seventh out of 83 racers and maintain his second-place overall ranking.
Patrick Curvin had the comeback race of the day. After falling victim to the first turn, getting cut off by another racer, then getting run over by two other racers and losing his chain, Curvin got back on his bike in 83rd place, dead last. Down but not out, Curvin managed to pass 75 kids on the mostly singletrack course to finish in ninth place and finish the season in seventh place overall among JV racers.
“If he hadn’t of done that, we would have lost our podium position,” says Carroll. “He saved his own race and saved our podium spot.”
After spending a week in Florida and showing up to the race late the night before, Cristo Church managed to push through to a 15th-place finish in the JV race and closed the season and high school racing 15th overall.
“It was good way to finish off his high school career,” says Carroll.
Oz Scott was primed for a big day and punched it off the start line to mix in with the heavy hitters in the JV race for the first two laps. Things were moving along swimmingly until his tank ran dry and he spent the third and final lap to hang in for a 31st-place finish. Nevertheless, Scott had such a solid season that he remained in the top 15 overall, coming in 13th place.
Colton Schnaitter placed 35th, Derek Shomler 44th, Emerson Wohlers took 51st place and Tristan Kraatz completed his high school career with a 52nd-place finish in the JV race.
“He was pretty psyched when he crossed the finish line,” says Carroll.
In addition, Kraatz was one of 36 riders to be awarded the Legacy Athlete Award for racing in all of the four years the high school bike racing season has been in existence.
Meanwhile, Brennan O’Hagan concluded her high school racing career with mixed emotions. While she didn’t finish quite as well as hoped, she did have a solid result, coming in 25th to finish 21st overall among JV girls.
“She had a good day but she was hoping to do better,” says Carroll. “She still finished her high school career on a positive note.”
Will Johnson had his own taste of trouble as well but persevered. After dumping his bike mid-race, Johnson pulled it together to finish ninth in the freshman race and ninth overall on the season.
With a podium finish for the boys team, Carroll sees the season as the most successful to date and as the team gears up for next season, they will have three riders qualified for the varsity class, with Scott, Curvin and Sherman all making the next big step in high school bike racing.
“I think it was a really successful year,” says Carroll. “They’re riding better and harder and I think they had a blast. Some of them kind of caught the bug. They learned to suffer and actually enjoy it.”