More than 825 Utah student mountain bikers, representing 35 junior high and high school teams, broke in a new race course in Vernal, Utah, for the second race of the 2016 season for Utah High School Cycling League (USHCL).
Park City High School edged out Skyline by just 82 points, and Bingham High School placed third in the team results. Despite the Park City boys dominating the varsity race by sweeping the top three spots, and scoring four riders in the top ten, Skyline finished in second place by just 82 points. Varsity teams earn points using top girl and boy finishers.
The race was the first for USHCL’s North Region, and the second race for the 2016 season. USHCL has created enormous growth of organized scholastic mountain bike racing in Utah, and this year split the League into North and South Regions. Utah’s League is the largest in the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) with more than 81 teams and 2,326 athletes.
Uinta head coach Jesse Atwood designed the course, and the city of Vernal built the course specifically for the Utah League. The flowy, and at times dusty, course covers 5.1 miles, with 286 feet elevation gain. Riders completed different maps based on their level.
Individual Winners
Girls Varsity (three laps)
Sienna Leger Redel, Park City High School, 1:05:49
Anika Heilweil, Skyline, 1:07:53
Kira Crowell, Riverton High School, 1:09:12
Boys Varsity (four laps)
Matthew Behrens, Park City High School, 1:13:51
Connor Patten, Park City High School, 1:13:53
Thomas Fendler, Park City High School, 1:16:27
From the race results, one could easily think the Park City High School boys varsity team strolled their way to victory. But the start of the race showed it was far from smooth sailing, as leading Park City rider Connor Patten spun out on an early turn, and suddenly found himself in last place early in the first lap. No one panicked, and that calm temperament paid off as Patten teammate Matthew Behrens understood a lot of time remained in the race, using some strategy to help Patten catch-up.
In the lead pack, Behrens helped control the pace so it was seemingly fast enough to break away from the rest of the field, but slow enough to allow Patten to catch-up. After the main hill climb in the first lap, Patten was back with his teammate. The Park City riders began to slowly pick up the pace, and soon had gapped the rest of the field. Over the remaining laps, the two increased their lead, while teammate, and third place finisher Thomas Fendler focused on a steady, and hard pace to secure the team’s sweep.
The Girls Varsity race for the poduem played out more like individual time trials, with individual efforts and strength being on display. Park City’s Sienna Leger Redel built over a minute lead after the first lap of the three lap race, and only built upon it. Second and third place winners Skyline’s Anika Heilweil, Riverton High School’s Kira Crowell, each sustained hard, steady paces to secure their spots. HeilWeil found herself gapped between first place winner Leger Redel, and the rest of the pack after the first lap, and simply pushed herself to the finish.
After the race, Heilweil talked about how important the League has been to her. “I’ve made some many great friends, and now biking is one of my favorite things. I am looking at colleges with mountain biking programs, and hope to continue competing after high school.”
For more information on the League, visit www.utahmtb.org.
Editor’s note: Brad Rutledge is a board member of Utah High School Cycling League.