Taos Composite High School Team on the PODIUM at Colorado League State Championships

This race report is a bit longer than usual due to so much incredible news to report…photos at the end!

Taos Composite attended the Colorado League High School Mountain Bike State Championships in Glenwood Springs on October 17-19. A record 14 out of 17 team members qualified for the event across several different race categories. The course is a favorite for many of the athletes with a well-balanced mix of climbing, descending, technical sections, flow trail, and passing zones requiring a complete mountain bike athlete. Athletes need a high level of fitness and strong bike handling skills. This is a course that pulls out any weaknesses and forces each rider to find their best. The team’s energy was high and the camaraderie was unparalleled. Some athletes camped at the venue where the nighttime and mornings were quite cold, and others stayed with their families in town. This race weekend was sponsored by the Holm Family, a former Taos Composite family whose son, Tor, was a Legacy Rider for Taos Composite. Three of our 5 Seniors who raced at State are “Legacy Riders,” the term used by the Colorado League to recognize athletes who competed all four years.

In each race category, the top 40 riders from each of 4 regions qualified to race. This meant that many races had 2 start waves with up to 80 riders in each start. If you have never been in a large start with a bunch of hungry and fast high school peers, it is crazy. The crowds at State are huge and loud, the pace off the start is super-fast, and the energy is electric. Keep in mind that athletes who generally finish in, for example, 10^th place in our region would now potentially finish around 40^th with all 4 regions combined. Yes, there are that many fast high school racers in Colorado.

The first chance Taos had to line up was the Freshman Boys race with 148 in the race. Rio Johnson earned the honor of front row call up to the start with Jaden Rand lining up (21), Gray Shepherd (51), and Olin O’Reilly (129). The pace off the starting line was super fast and Rio found himself chasing from the start. He put in a huge effort and rode super strong to a 3^rd place podium finish. Notably, this is the highest finish a Taos athlete has ever had at State! Jaden turned in yet another very solid result, finishing 13^th. Gray was absolutely ripping the corners and descents and having a great race until his shift lever fell off about half way through his second lap. He kept charging as best he could and finished 36^th with his second lap still less than a minute slower.  Olin started in the 2^nd wave and was on a mission, passing 35 people, not an easy feat on this course to finish 94^th.

Eleanor Breier and Flora Mack, our JV girls, showed their depth of determination. Eleanor had her best race ever, riding at another level and passing several people and even winning a sprint finish (94^th). Always smiling, Senior Flora Mack rode with confidence and stayed in contact with other riders throughout the race (100)

Ryan Edmonds and Silas Conn were both in the second wave of the JV Boys race. Senior Legacy rider Ryan missed his pedal off the start after being on the front row. He recovered quickly and proceeded to pass a whole lot of riders throughout the race. He was clearly having fun in his last high school race as he flew through the turns while riding in the front of his group to finish 36^th out of 146 racers after starting in 77^th. Silas also passed many riders from his start position of 95 to finish 54^th. To give you an idea of how closely the racers are packed, Silas was just 1 ½ minutes back from Ryan but 18 places. Each of these riders moved up 41 positions from their start which is a great accomplishment on this course.

The Sophomore Girls race was exciting as Bernice O’Reilly and Abby Thornton showed their skills, fitness, and mental resilience. Bernice was able to keep the pace high in spite of one crash and finished in 7^th, less than 1 minute off the podium. Abby had a rough start but was able to lock in for the second lap, with her laps only 2 seconds apart, finishing in 20^th.

Jane English and Senior Legacy rider and Team Captain, Isla Chavez, had a fast and competitive 3-lap race with all the top girls in the State. Jane implemented a couple of small but important changes based on some lessons learned from the last race. She lined up feeling like she had a good warm-up and was able to set a solid and consistent pace. She rode strong and consistently to meet her goal of a 16^th place finish. Isla also paced herself well, realizing she needed to back off a bit on the second lap to then be able to finish with a faster third lap as she wheelied across the finish to finish in 52nd. It’s great to finish out her high school mountain bike racing career with her 2 best races, showing her progression in both fitness and skills.

Senior Legacy rider Keaton Verswijver gave us one of the most exciting races of the day as he methodically picked off some of the very top riders in Colorado to work his way up to 4^th place and a podium finish in his final high school race. He rode an incredibly smart race, being patient when he needed to be and attacking at just the right times. “I was able to use everything I’ve learned over the last four years in today’s race,” said Keaton. Senior Luke Rand used his strengths to move up 10 places from his start position to finish 55^th. As a third-year athlete on our team racing at the top Varsity level, Luke has shown dedication and huge improvement over the years.

The final race of the day was the first ever Colorado League Coaches Race! With 83 teams at State and one coach allowed to race from each team, it was a big and chaotic start, complete with multiple crashes. Our fearless Head Coach, Sean Cassily, decided (with a bit of encouragement and insistence from the kids) to participate. The crowds for this race were bigger than even the Varsity races with every athlete and all the families out on course to cheer on their coaches. “Every time I thought I could back off on the intensity a little, there were more Taos athletes screaming at me so I really couldn’t relax. It was so much fun!” said Sean. He was giggling the whole way as he struggled to find energy after a long race weekend of coaching. This was one of many highlights of the weekend for everyone.

This year, the Taos Composite high school team competed in Division 2 due to the size of our team (17 riders total). With every Taos athlete giving it their very best at State Championships, the team was able to earn 3^rd place in the Division out of 26 teams, sharing a stacked podium with mountain bike powerhouse teams Durango and Grand Junction. Every athlete, parent, and coach of the entire Taos Composite high school and middle school program can be proud of this. In 11 years of competing at the Colorado League State Championships, we have never been even close to a team podium result. This fantastic accomplishment work shows the depth, work ethic, talent, community, and spirit of this team. Congratulations to everyone!