Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy and Eagle Valley go 1-2 at state mountain bike championships

The end of the high school mountain bike season looked a lot like the beginning and the middle for the Vail Junior Cycling squad. Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy and Eagle Valley — the two schools competing under the club’s singular banner — finished first and second, respectively, out of 42 teams competing in the D3 team race at the Colorado High School Cycling League state championships on Sunday in Glenwood Springs.

“We kind of said it all year that we always have a good shot to win with either of the teams. They flip flopped multiple times this year, and it just so happens that VSSA won today. It could have very easily been Eagle Valley,” said program director Dan Weiland. “But that’s what makes it cool.”

“No different than any other weekend,” added assistant coach Christa Baddick. “We all train and race together; in my mind, I don’t see two different teams.” 

VSSA and Eagle Valley went 1-2 at all four regular season meets this season. VSSA took titles at the season opener in Frisco on Aug. 24 and the Haymaker Classic in Eagle on Sept. 21 while the Devils were winners at the Showdown in the Boat in Steamboat Springs on Sept. 8 and the North Fruita Desert Classic on Oct. 6.

The top-25 varsity and top-40 junior varsity, sophomore and freshman riders from each of the league’s four regions (determined by finishes at the four regular-season events) qualified for the state championships, which were held on the Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley campus trails over two days. The top-5 placing riders on each team — across any of the eight categories (freshman, sophomore, junior varsity and varsity boys and girls) — counted towards team scoring. Eagle Valley had nine athletes compete and VSSA sent six representatives, including Yampa Region points leader Eric Asselin.

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The Eagle Valley junior was gunning for a top-10 finish in his first state varsity race (he finished eighth in the junior varsity race in 2023) on Sunday.

“I knew it was going to go out fast,” Asselin said. “It just spread out really quickly.”

Asselin tucked in with the leaders on the opening double-track climb to the top of Spring Valley Summit on the first of three 5.5-mile loops. By the time he finished descending Dreamer, the flowing singletrack which brought the peloton back to the race venue, a lead group had built a 30-second lead on the chasers. Asselin was in a third group, roughly 30 seconds behind them.

“I was trying to sit in and not blow up on the first climb too much, but I think that was kind of a mistake because it got strung out on the singletrack and I got dropped from the lead group.”

In the front, Durango’s Emmett McManus went over the bars on a hard crash which bent his right brake 90-degrees. The senior mounted his carbon steed quickly and caught up to his teammate, Kai Lokey.

“I was shaking,” McManus said. “I was a little in my head. (But) I knew I was the strongest on the climbs.”

The Durango duo blasted the opening lap in 22 minutes and 27 seconds. Only Austin Leigh could hang on, but on the second lap, the Air Academy junior — who would finish third overall — lost 44 seconds. McManus gapped Lokey over the technical section at the top of the largest climb and grew his lead to more than 30 seconds by the end.

“Kai was really strong, but I just led the climb, rode my race and in the end I managed to get it,” said McManus, who was ninth in the freshman race in his first state appearance, third in the junior varsity race in 2022 and fourth in varsity last year.

“This has been the most fun four years of my life. It means so much,” he said regarding his state title. “It’s really amazing. I’m not really one to get emotional at races, but that one meant a lot. I pictured that in my head for so long.”

McManus finished in 1:08:25.45, with Lokey coming through in 1:09:02.83. Leigh was 1:40 back to round out the podium. Asselin split 24:10 on his first lap, 24:51 on his second and 26:42 on his third to finish in 1:15:44.92. The other two Vail Junior Cycling club riders in the varsity race, Andrew Lombardi (1:20:13.66) and Alex Current (1:22:45.31) finished 63rd and 84th, respectively. Even though he was hoping for more than his 23rd-place finish, Asselin remained positive.

“First lap mentally was hard. Second lap I got my mental back. Third lap, I think I didn’t manage my nutrition very well and then I just kind of lost it and got passed by some people,” Asselin said. “I’m not happy with it, but I think for what it was, I raced well. It’s racing, so things go wrong every time and it’s kind of how you overcome it. It will definitely motivate me for next year.”

Asselin’s fall postseason is only beginning. The junior will compete at the regional cross-country championship this Friday, where the No. 5-ranked Devils are looking to defend the program’s first regional title. No. 4 Summit is the favorite to win.

“(They) have a really strong team,” Asselin said of the Tigers. “I think if we want to win regionals we need to have the race of our lives.”

Vail Junior Cycling didn’t have a girl compete in the varsity race this year, but Weiland and Baddick are hoping to continue to grow the female side of the program in the future.
“One of the best things for me is the camaraderie we’ve built as a women’s team,” Baddick said. “It’s been really fun to get the girls to enjoy riding their bikes together. I think it’s really important that we have friends that we can ride with and that’s what I hope this team is for these girls.”

Heidi Treichel finished sixth overall in the junior varsity girls race and Eva Klesner scored for the Devils as well, placing 21st in the freshman girls division. Katie Lombardi placed 23rd in the junior varsity race for VSSA.

“I think all in all, they rode pretty well,” Weiland said after VSSA claimed its second-straight team title, finishing a mere nine points up on Eagle Valley, which was third last fall.

“It’s lovely that we were 1-2,” Baddick said. “That’s where we should be because that’s where we were all season.”