The Summit Tigers mountain bike team is off to a great start. 

After moving up to the Division I level of the Colorado High School Cycling League’s Piedra Region over the offseason, the Tigers competed in its first race of the season — the Frisco Bay Invitational —  on Sunday, Aug. 24. 

With some experience competing in Division I in the past, the Tigers pedaled up to the start line eager to take on new and challenging teams. Although Summit saw some team wins at the Division 2 level, the program has never captured a win while competing in Division 1.

With fans rallying behind them and rain intermittently falling from above, Summit delivered a historic performance, securing its inaugural Division I team title.

Leading the performances were seniors Finn Brown and Fiona Florio in the varsity boys and varsity girls race, respectively. The two riders were able to each score 523 points for the team by placing seventh overall in their respective races.

Brown took on a highly competitive varsity boys race that included three, 5.9-mile loops around the trails that cut across the Peninsula Recreation Area. As a seasoned veteran, Brown rattled off fairly consistent lap splits, completing the first revolution of the course in 24 minutes, 22 seconds and ranking seventh overall. 

After the first lap, Brown increased his effort, moving up to sixth as he entered the final lap. Leaving it all out on the course, Brown crossed the finish line in a time of 1:15:27.76 for seventh place overall. Animas’ Jake Sandau took first in 1:13:41.41.

“I really enjoy the Frisco race, so I thought it went fairly well,” Brown said. “In the new region, the competition has increased with Grand Junction, Fruita and Durango. It made it a lot more difficult, but it increased the level of competition.”

Brown was soon followed by two of his teammates in junior Trent Granshaw and junior Devin Mumford. Granshaw took 10th (1:18:34.83) for a total of 502 points, and Mumford finished in 16th (1:23:09.16) for 465 points.

Lining up against a stacked varsity girls field, Florio surged from the start line and attacked the race. Florio clocked a time of 29:45 to rank fifth overall on her first lap before falling back one place on the penultimate lap. Florio eventually crossed the finish line in seventh place with a total time of 1:34:26.70. 

The race was won by Animas’ Delyla Kroenung in 1:24:57.84.

With thunderstorms making their way into the area, the majority of the afternoon races were abbreviated to one, 5.9-mile lap. Despite the switch up in distances, Summit rose to the occasion and put several athletes at the top of the results. 

The team’s first individual win of the season came in the sophomore girls race, where Marin Little controlled the contest from start to finish, claiming victory in 31:21.38. Due to her first-place finish, Little is now the points leader for the sophomore girls.

Piper Rabinowitz finished behind Little in fifth (33:07.67) with Sonja Waldes taking 19th (1:05:44.23)

Nico Florio got close to placing within the top three in the sophomore boys race, but came up one place short in fourth. Racing two laps, Florio finished the race in 56:10.99. Colt Benedict finished in 28th place in a time of 1:08:59.95.

Junior Braydon Ernst was at the forefront of Summit’s junior-varsity races. Ernst took third overall in the junior-varsity boys race with a time of 54:10.03. Junior Gabi Bonta took 18th (59:40.29), junior Jude Kaltenbach finished in 31st (1:01:06.83) and junior Abe Baniewicz rounded out the results in 36th (1:01:25.92).

Summit had four girls finish within the top 25 in the junior-varsity girls race. Taking 13th in 35:05.78, junior June Baniewicz recorded the best finish among her teammates. Junior Heidi Frey took 17th (37:01.40), senior Kate Williams finished in 18th (37:04.04) and junior Charlotte Wolf took 23rd (39:25.85).

Perhaps Summit’s most impressive results occurred in the freshman boys and freshman girls race. In the two separate races, the Tigers put a total of seven athletes within the top 10 with two riders finishing on the podium. 

It was Lucy Greenwood who notched the highest finish among her freshman teammates. Over the one-lap race, Greenwood recorded a time of 30:46.48 for second place overall. Greenwood was soon followed on the podium by Maeve Niemkiewicz in third place (32:57.01).

Kaia and Kita Riter also placed within the top 10 of the freshman girls race. Kaia finished in eighth (33:55.96) and Kita took ninth (33:56.71).

Three riders placed within the top 10 of the freshman boys race. Elliot Drumwright took fifth overall in 27:52.04 with Ryan Levi following in eighth (28:21.80) and Benjamin Gervais taking ninth (28:52.34).

With a total of 7,169 points, Summit not only secured its first team win of the season, but also its first in Division I. Chatfield took second with 6,633 points and Montrose took third with 6,319.

“I thought it went really well for the team,” Brown said. “Devin was a big help to the rest of our varsity riders. He got 16th, but he also rode the entire race with a broken shifter. That was pretty impressive. Our freshmen did pretty well all across the board. … It was a lot of great stuff.”

Summit will now prepare for the Haymaker Classic in Eagle on Saturday, Sept. 6. For a full list of results from the Frisco race, visit ColoradoMtb.org.