The Summit Tigers mountain bike team came into the 2023 state meet in Glenwood Springs seeking to improve upon the team’s fifth-place finish at the 2022 Colorado High School Cycling League’s mountain biking state championships. 

With warm, late-fall weather still blanketing much of the Western Slope and delaying the ski season, mountain bikers soaked in the dusty trails that surround Colorado Mountain College’s Spring Valley campus from Oct. 21-22.

The freshman girls division was the first group of the athletes to take to the two-lap, 11-mile, course. Heidi Frey was the only Summit athlete featured in the race and put together two stellar laps to place in the top 75.

Frey completed the first lap in 45:40 and split a similar time of 45:36 on the second lap. She crossed the finish line in 1:31:17.17, placing 74th overall. 

Frey was soon followed by the freshman boys race, where six Tigers lined their tires up behind the start line. The team was led by Devin Mumford who notched a 15th-place finish (57:20.24) and scored 396 points for the team.

Austin Johnson and Braydon Ernst both placed in the top 100 with Johnson placing 90th (1:07:32.69) and Ernst finishing in 97th place (1:08:05.80).

Gabi Bonta recorded a quick first lap, but did not have the same power in lap two.

Bonta placed 108th (1:08:53.29) and was followed by Jude Kaltenbach in 126th place. (1:12:02.49). Ever Smith was the last Summit athlete to cross the finish line, placing 129th (1:13:25.57). 

In the sophomore boys race, Finn Brown led the way for the Tigers, placing seventh overall with a time of 54:06.58. Brown’s top-10 finish was in large part because of his huge final lap, where the sophomore managed to finish within three seconds of his first-lap time of 27:01. 

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Noah Dippenaar placed 12th (55:22.42) and Axel Crawford placed 72nd (1:00:09.21).

Brown and Dippenaar both recorded over 400 points for the team’s final score, with Brown scoring 448 and Dippenaar recording 414. 

The Tigers’ best performance of the day occurred in the junior varsity girls race, where sophomore Fiona Florio displayed her large aerobic engine and fitness level. Finishing at the top of results throughout the regular season schedule, Florio finished in the top five at the state meet, placing second with a time of 59:18.01 behind Durango’s Ellie Shaw (59:14.63). 

Florio completed the first lap in 29:24 and held on to finish the second lap in 29:53. Senior Samantha Myers finished in the top 100, placing 92nd (1:33:57.91). 

Florio scored the most points among the Summit Tigers mountain bike team, recording a total of 520 points, with Myers scoring 284.

Nicolas and Mateo Bonta raced in the junior varsity boys race where the two athletes managed to place among the top 100. The junior Nicolas placed 39th (55:40.13) to beat out senior Mateo in 83rd (58:45.47).

Three Tigers competed in the boys varsity and girls varsity races on Sunday, Oct. 22, to conclude the state championship event. Junior Eli Love placed 61st in the boys varsity race (1:24:51.10) and junior Mason Wescott finished in 85th (1:34:46.58).

Junior Aila Harmala may have been the only Summit athlete in the varsity girls race, but managed to challenge a deep field of other talented mountain bike riders. Harmala placed 15th overall in the race (1:33:59.06) to score a total of 471 points towards the team’s final score.

Summit matched its team finish from last year, placing fifth overall in the Division 2 team rankings. The Tigers scored a total of 3,856 points, trailing team champions Steamboat Springs, which finished with 4,443 points.

Air Academy placed second (4,354), Grand Junction took third (4,268) and Rocky Mountain placed fourth (4,022).