Vail Junior Cycling teams go 1-2 at back-to-back Colorado High School Cycling League competitions
Linda Guerrette/Courtesy photo
Dan Weiland said the tagline for Vail Junior Cycling has always been “one team.”
But since Colorado High School Cycling League rules require schools with five or more athletes to split into separate squads, Weiland coaches both Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy (VSSA) and Eagle Valley High School athletes underneath the VJC umbrella. At competitions, he doesn’t care which group wins — as long as one of them does.
Two weeks into the prep calendar, the program director couldn’t be happier.
VSSA and Eagle Valley went 1-2 in the D3 race at the league’s season-opening Frisco Bay Invitational on Aug. 24 before swapping positions at the Showdown in the Boat in Steamboat Springs on Sept. 8.
“It’s cool to have our two teams alternate wins,” Weiland said. “There were lots of shining moments and collectively, as teams, we were great. That to me is the most important part.”
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In Frisco, Freedom Bennett and Peter Kan rode to victory in the junior varsity and freshman boys events, respectively, for VSSA. Reiner Schmidt took fourth-place in the varsity boys division, finishing just three seconds behind Eagle Valley junior Eric Asselin, who took third in the 17.7-mile race.
“The league does a great job of managing the different levels. Sometimes when they get to the varsity level, it gets really, really competitive, so those guys’ results there were really good,” Weiland said before highlighting several standout performances on the girls side as well.
Heidi Treichel (junior varsity) and Eva Klesner (freshman) both took bronze medals in their respective divisions for Eagle Valley and VSSA’s Katie Lombardi was eighth in the junior varsity event as a sophomore.
“We have this group of girls I would say is relatively young,” Weiland continued. “They were all pretty competitive.”
Asselin took another third-place to finish as the club’s top varsity finisher in Steamboat Springs while Bennett and Parker Osborn went 1-2 in the junior varsity boys race for VSSA. The Devils finished with 2542 points, just six ahead of VSSA, which was without Schmidt. Unfortunately, the senior dislocated both of his shoulders in an unrelated accident two days before the meet. He showed up anyway — with double slings — to support his teammates.
“That’s the kind of teammate and leadership that you’re looking for,” Weiland commented. “He certainly didn’t have to be there. He’s in a lot of pain and obviously dealing with the fact that he’s not competing — there’s lots of things, but he made the conscience decision to attend.”
VSSA and Eagle Valley compete in the Yampa region, one of four in which the Colorado High School Cycling League places its 90 teams and 2,000-plus riders.
“The atmosphere is cool and the kids thrive on that,” Weiland said of the ever-growing league events, where schools are put in D1, D2 or D3 categories based on team size. D3 team scores are compiled using a school’s top-5 point earners regardless of category (freshman, sophomore, junior varsity, varsity) or gender (with a maximum of four boys). That means every athletes’ performance is important.
“I don’t know if the individual results matter quite as much as a team result,” Weiland said.
The top 25 varsity and the top 40 junior varsity, sophomore and freshman riders from each region (determined by finishes at the four regular-season events) qualify for the state championships in Glenwood Springs on Oct. 19-20. VSSA won the D3 title last year and Eagle Valley placed third.
The Devils have since graduated Aiden Brown, who currently rides for Fort Lewis College. Brown won two of the four regular-season races (and was second in the others) and placed eighth at state.
This year, Eagle Valley — which has a few Battle Mountain athletes as well — has 11 cyclists on the roster. VSSA has nine, including one athlete from Vail Mountain School. Some, like Asselin and Tatum Wells, play a second fall sport in addition to mountain biking.
“It’s good because you never know where you’re going to end up,” Weiland said, pointing to Bayli McSpadden as a prime sports-sampling poster child.
“She was a very dedicated Alpine ski racer for years and years and then she dabbled with cycling and now she’s racing at a very high level with the Bear National Team,” he said.
While its high school numbers are lower than normal, VJC’s middle school program was above average this summer with roughly 60 participants, Weiland said. The caliber of those young riders was on full display throughout the Vail Recreation District town series.
“The future looks bright,” Weiland said.
The 2024 season continues this weekend at the Haymaker Classic in Eagle. Yampa region riders will take to the Vail Junior Cycling club’s home trails on Saturday, followed by the Platte region races on Sunday. Weiland said the 6-mile loop, which includes 600-feet of climbing, favors athletes who can push big gears and generate high power outputs.
“We ride it a lot, so the familiarity is good,” he said before adding that competing in the backyard means fewer variables on race day. “It’s nice to be home.”
Full results: Frisco Bay Invitational; Showdown in the Boat.
