The Summit Tigers high school mountain bike team is soaking up its time on the trails as the team officially began its competitive mountain biking season on Sunday, Aug. 27, at the Frisco Bay Invitational.

The first of five races in the Colorado High School Cycling League season, the Summit Tigers high school mountain bike team hosted both the Crystal and Yampa regions in at the Frisco Adventure Park in Frisco from Aug. 26-27 for two full days of competitive mountain bike racing.

As part of the Yampa region of the Colorado High School Cycling League, the Summit Tigers mountain bike team took to the trails on Sunday and put down several impressive performances. 

Consisting of a two-lap, 11.8-mile race, the freshman boys and girls race saw some finishes within the top 25. 

Devin Mumford led the freshman boys race and completed the course in a time of 1 hour, 4 minutes and 16.68 seconds to place fifth overall. Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy’s Freedom Bennett placed first overall in 57:32.21.

Mumford was followed by fellow classmates Austin Johnson in 14th (1:08:01.78), Braydon Ernst in 17th (1:08:30.49) and Gabi Bonta in 19th (1:09:42.82). 

Jude Kaltenback crossed the finish line 1:15:32.35 for 20th place, and Ever Smith finished in 1:16:03.97 for 33rd place. 

The freshman girls race only featured Summit’s Heidi Frey, who placed 17th overall in a time of 1:28:49.07.

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With a strong group of sophomore boys, the Summit Tigers mountain bike team managed to put four athletes within the top 15 of the sophomore boys race. 

Summit’s Finn Brown put more than a minute between him and Boulder’s Joseph Hellen through lap one of the nearly 12-mile race which was enough for Brown to secure a first-place finish in the first race of the high school mountain biking season.

Brown split lap times of 26:08 and 26:44 to finish in 52:52.47, and Boulder’s Owen Verner followed in second with a time of 53:13.49. 

Summit’s Noah Dippenaar placed fourth overall (55:09.01) while Carter Niemkiewicz managed to place sixth (56:34.12) after racing a Summit High School cross-country race the day before. Alex Crawford rounded out the top 15, placing 14th in 58:55.12.

Despite being the sole Summit athlete in the sophomore girls race, Kate Williams placed seventh overall with a time of 34:35.84. 

Leaning on the fitness she built over a summer of mountain bike racing, Summit sophomore Fiona Florio cruised to a first-place finish in the junior varsity girls race with a time of 29:16. Florio beat Estes Park’s Nora Harriosn by over 90 seconds (30:47:31), and Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy’s Jolene Edelmann rounded out the podium in third (30:50.29).

Summit junior Ali Adkins also had an impressive season-opening performance, placing 13th overall with a time of 37:18.98.

Three Summit athletes finished within three places of one another in the junior varsity boys race. Siblings Nicolas and Mateo Bonta placed sixth and seventh, respectively. Nicolas finished the course in 14:10.94, and Mateo followed a little under seven seconds later in 14:17.74. 

Summit junior Reid Litwiller followed the Bonta siblings in ninth place with a time of 14:42.54.

Rounding out the performances for Summit, five athletes placed within the top 35 of the boys and girls varsity races. Juniors Eli Love and Isaac York spearheaded the performances in the 17.7-mile boys varsity race. Love placed 19th in 1:23:18.57, and York placed 20th in 1:23:21.15. Junior Mason Wescott finished in 23rd place (1:24:21.19), and senior Luke Brewer ranked 31st (1:27:48.92).

With three consistent laps, junior Aila Harmala placed 11th in the varsity girls race with a time of 1:41:25.69. 

With a total of 4,835 points, Summit placed second overall in Division 2 of the Yampa region. Steamboat Springs placed first with 5,080 points, and Stargate rounded out the podium in third with 3,918 points. 

“They are definitely a strong group,” Summit Tigers mountain bike team director Sam Streletsky said. “We have even more varsity racers than last year. The JV and sophomore boys definitely look like they have been working hard, and they are showing up with some good race routines. The kids were really confident, supportive of each other and stoked to go. I think we got off on the right foot for sure.

The Summit Tigers mountain bike team will now put in the final prep work before its second race of the season — Showdown in the Boat — at Howelsen Ski Area in Steamboat Springs on Saturday, Sept. 9. 

“They really like the Steamboat course,” Streletsky said. “They have been working on their climbing. In the Frisco race, the climbing is spread throughout the whole race, but, in Steamboat, they go more all the way up and then all the way down. Building that endurance to sustain that longer climb. The kids are really stoked for it, and it is a really fun course.”

The Showdown in the Boat is scheduled to begin at 8:20 a.m. with the freshman boys race. It will conclude around 2:10 p.m. with the junior varsity boys race.