The Summit Tigers mountain bike team has officially begun its fall season, competing in two Colorado High School Cycling League races over the first month of the team’s schedule.

Although not a varsity-level sport recognized by the high school, the Summit Tigers mountain bike team is composed of athletes that attend Summit High School and other schools within Summit County.

After working to develop a good amount of fitness in local races throughout the summer, the Summit Tigers started its season close to home with the Frisco Bay Invitational on Aug. 24.   

Taking place on the trails that make up much of  the Frisco Peninsula, the Summit Tigers confidently navigated the course and started the season with several finishes upon the awards podium. Making impressive work of the three-lap course, junior Fiona Florio led the way for the Tigers in the girls varsity race. Florio spearheaded the race through the first lap, maintained her position on the second lap and then rocketed to the finish line over the final lap.

Florio crossed the finish line in 1 hour, 27 minutes and 3.96 seconds to be crowned the champion of the race. Boulder’s Rylie Cahill took second in 1:27:12.78 before Summit senior Aila Harmala took third overall in 1:29:25.62.

Summit put several more cyclists within the top 10 in the boys varsity race. Junior Finn Brown led the performances with a fifth-place finish (1:16:12.09) while senior Isaac York barely snuck into the top 10 with a ninth-place finish (1:19:56.23).

York was followed by senior Nicholas Bonta in 14th (1:20:19.94) and senior Eli Love who finished in 21st place (1:22:30.62).

Outside of the varsity races, the Tigers had three more athletes secure top-10 finishes. Sophomore Trent Granshaw placed third in the two-lap sophomore boys race with a time of 53:36.60. In the freshman girls race, Marin Little took sixth (1:08:06.40) while Nico Florio finished as the runner-up in the freshman boys race (55:58.46).

Due to the team’s impressive performances, Summit took first overall in Division 2 as a team with a total of 4,983 points. Steamboat took second (4753) and Nederland finished in third (3927).

Riding high from the team’s victory in Frisco, the Tigers then traveled to Steamboat for the Showdown in the Boat mountain bike race on Sunday, Sept. 8.

Similar to the first race of the season, Summit continued to produce impressive performances which put the team at the top of the results.

After taking third in her race in Frisco, Harmala added another top-10 finish to her resume for the season. Putting together three fast-paced and well executed laps, Harmala finished fifth overall in the varsity girls race with a time of 1:36:01.37.

Fiona Florio succeeded Harmala with a strong performance of her own, taking seventh overall (1:38:31.11).

York was the only Summit athlete to punch into the top 10 in the varsity boys race, placing fifth overall in 1:20:27.45. York was followed by a strong pack of teammates also racing in the varsity boys race. Noah Dippenaar finished 19th (1:26:14.78), Mason Wescott took 20th (1:26:58.38) and Bonta finished in 21st (1:27:18.25).

Nico Florio continued to display his expertise on the bike, taking seventh overall in the freshman boys race in 55:21.33. Other notable results from the day of racing included Piper Rabinowitz taking 16th in the freshman girls race (1:20:00.62), Heidi Frey finishing 13th in the sophomore girls race (1:18:00.90) and Devin Mumford placing 19th in the junior-varsity boys race (58:13.52).

With a total of 4,626 points, Summit took second overall in the Division 2 team rankings. Steamboat won its home competition with 4,998 points and Nederland took third for the second straight competition with 3,942 points.

Summit will now enter the latter half of its four-race regular season schedule. The Tigers will race the Haymaker Classic in Eagle on Saturday, Sept. 21, before competing in the final regular season race on Oct. 6, in Fruita.

The state championship race is slated for Oct. 19-20 in Glenwood Springs.