The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Places third overall
by Than Acuff
It appears the CB Devo high school mountain bike team will be battling for one of the top three team spots at races all season long. They tested the waters of the larger, more competitive division in the first race of the year two weeks ago and finished fourth as a team.
They stepped onto the podium as a team placing third overall at the Cloud City Challenge in Leadville on Saturday, September 10. The team result came together as nearly every rider improved drastically on their finishes from their first race of the season two weeks prior.
Coach Torrey Carroll had a feeling it would be a good day for his riders as workouts were solid leading up to the races and the kids like the Leadville venue.
“It’s one of the kids’ favorite courses,” says Carroll. “There’s three miles of really fun single track through the woods and everybody was psyched.”
Furthermore, after placing fourth as a team in their first race in the larger Division I category, they were chomping at the bit for their second race in Division I.
“They were encouraged by their results from the first race, motivated and confident,” says Carroll.
Lone varsity racer James Bivens was one of numerous Crested Butte riders to make a jump in his results, moving up six spots from the first race to finish in 12th place in Leadville.
Ian Eldridge was embroiled in a battle for his entire JV race and it came down to a sprint finish at the end, as Eldridge placed third.
Sophomore girl Marion Chater had the most impressive individual result of the Crested Butte riders. Chater crashed in the first race of the season and was therefore forced to start the race in Leadville at the very back of the pack and spent the race passing riders left and right to finish in third place.
“That was super cool to see,” says Carroll.
The sophomore boy riders were on point as well, led by a surprise effort from JC Patterson. Patterson finished the first race of the season in 31st place but crushed the course in Leadville to move up to a ninth-place finish.
“I didn’t see that coming—he had a really big result,” says Carroll.
Liam Elliot and Ethan Carroll joined their sophomore teammates with improved results as Elliot placed 10th and Carroll jumped 13 spots to finish in 15th.
Meanwhile, the freshmen riders remained steady from the first race to the second race in Leadville. Ruby Laemmel and Olivia Gordon finished in seventh and 10th place respectively, while Dane Defrates, Dylan Alagna and Owen Berv crossed in succession, placing ninth, 10th and 11th.
With such a drastic jump in results from the first race to the second race of the season, the Crested Butte team brought home some hardware for the trophy case with their third-place finish as a team.
“That was a big highlight, getting third place as a team,” says Carroll. “It was such a cool day and such a positive environment with everybody cheering each other on.”
The team will head to Granby this weekend for the third race of the season, and while Carroll doesn’t expect such a massive jump in results again, he feels that second place as a team is well within reach.
“I think the kids still have room to move up and I think the potential to get second place as a team is there,” says Carroll. “The kids are having so much fun and there’s a good atmosphere for them to really go out and test themselves.”
