With the sun still high in the sky on the longest day of the year on Wednesday, June 21, mountain bikers powered past the historic Tiger Dredge boat amid the start of the third Summit Mountain Challenge race of the summer.
Titled the Hungry Hippo race because of the Hippo trail located in the hills surrounding the Tiger Dredge trailhead, mountain bikers of all ages crowded Tiger Road and the trailhead parking lot while awaiting to jet off the starting line for their race.
The pro open men and expert men were the first athletes to stir up dust on the course and attempt to navigate a jarring and rocky start to the race. With several bike tires slipping on rocks and near crashes, the men’s pro and expert race fields pedaled into the hills where the dirt was smooth and less abrasive.
Avon’s Truett Bennett, 17, and Summit County’s Taylor Shelden, 36, led the men’s field, battling throughout the course until Bennett was able to break away from Shelden. Bennett crossed the finish line a little over three minutes ahead of Shelden with a time of 47 minutes, 42 seconds.
Shelden followed for second (51:08) while Castle Rock’s Nathanial Vacura placed third (51:09).
In the women’s pro and open field Nina Schamberger, a recent The Peak School graduate and University of Utah Nordic skiing commit, crossed the finish line in first place with a time of 54:57.
Schamberger was followed by Silverthorne’s Alyssa JRingo (57:32) while Ann Stanek placed third (58:39). Breckenridge resident Solvei Schwenzfeier just missed the awards podium, placing fourth overall (1:21:16).
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In the expert men races, several Summit County locals and young riders made the podium. In the expert men’s 16- to 39-year-old race, Bode Kier, 17, won the race (51:24) with Breckenridge’s Jeffrey Kepler placing second and Dillon’s Bart Davidson placing third.
Jason Reyonolds of Highlands Ranch led a close expert men 40- to 49-year-old race. Reyonolds finished in a time of 54:12 to beat Breckenridge’s Thomas Messerchmitt of Avalanche Sports in second (54:15) and Breckenridge’s Kris Carlsted in third (54:18).
Dillon’s Scott Campbell won the expert men 50+ race with Breckenridge’s Tim Faia following close to a minute later in second place.
In the women’s 16+ sport division, Becky Waiter placed first overall (1:09:46) with Breckenridge’s Justina Liss placing second (1:11:31).
The women’s open 45+ race was won by Dillon’s Cristena Ward (1:09:33) with fellow Summit local Catherine Kivlan finishing in second place (1:18:11).
The night of racing concluded with the junior-age competitors completing on either the 4.31 mile kid course or the 7.1 mile short course.
Tessa Jacobs, 10, was awarded a gold medal in the junior girls 10-and-under race, finishing in 31:56 with Taylor Sorensen, 9, placing second and Annika Krum receiving a bronze medal.
In the boys 10-and-under race, Gabe Loomis placed first followed by Miles Drumwright and Leo Gilbert in second and third, respectively.
Breckenridge’s Lucy Greenwood won the junior girls 11- to 12-year-old race in 25:46 with Maeve Niemkiewicz placing second and Caroline Brownson finishing in third. Frisco’s Crosby Hume won his second race in a row by close to two minutes, completing the junior boys 11- to 12-year-old race in 23:24.
Hume was followed by Cooper Osborn and Iker Coig.
Finley Stanek placed first (43:18) in the junior girls 13- to 15-year-old race with Sophie Dinse crossing the finish line in second. Summit High School sophomore Carter Niemkiewicz took the junior boys 13- to 15-year-old race in a time of 31:35. Parker Osborn placed second while Seth Sutton placed third.
The Summit Mountain Challenge mountain bike race series will now take a brief break ahead of the Fourth of July holiday where the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race will take place. To sign up for the Firecracker 50, visit RaceBreck.com.
The Summit Mountain Challenge race series will resume on July 26 with the Copper Mountain Melee. To sign up for the race, visit RaceBreck.com.
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Griffin Hill competes in the third Summit Mountain Challenge mountain bike race on Wednesday, June 21.
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Team Summit’s Leo Gilbert begins the Hungry Hippo mountain bike race on Wednesday, June 21.
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Agent Watkins navigates a rock field during the third Summit Mountain Challenge mountain bike race on Wednesday, June 21.
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Catherine Kivlan competes in the Hungry Hippo mountain bike race on Wednesday, June 21.
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Breckenridge’s Justina Liss competes in the Hungry Hippo mountain bike race on Wednesday. June 21. Liss placed second in the women’s sport 16+ race.
Cody Jones/Summit Daily News
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Summit’s Lili Zygulski finds a steady pace during the third Summit Mountain Challenge mountain bike race on Wednesday,, June 21
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Hanna Erickson pedals her way to a third-place finish in the sport women 16+ race on Wednesday, June 21 in Breckenridge.
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Mikael Virta begins the third Summit Mountain Challenge mountain bike race on Wednesday, June 21.
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Frisco’s Roger Werner navigates the rocky start to the Hungry Hippo mountain bike race on Wednesday, June 21.
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Silverthorne’s Alyssa JRingo begins the Hungry Hippo mountain bike race on Wednesday, June 21 with the remains of the Tiger Dredge boat behind her. JRingo placed second in the pro/open women race.
Cody Jones/Summit Daily News
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Nina Schamberger leads the women’s pro/open race on Wednesday, June 21 with the remains of the Tiger Dredge boat behind her. Schamberger won the race in 54:57.
Cody Jones/Summit Daily News
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Michael Funk smiles while competing in the Hungry Hippo mountain bike race on Wednesday, June 21. Funk placed first overall in the singlespeed men’s 18+ race with a time of 58:35.
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Frisco’s Arthur Whitehead competes in the Hungry Hippo mountain bike race on Wednesday, June 21.
Cody Jones/Summit Daily News
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Silverthorne’s Dave Miller begins the third Summit Mountain Challenge mountain bike race on Wednesday, June 21.
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Duncan Koehn, front, leads a group of mountain bikers up Horseshoe Gulch trail on Wednesday, June 21.
Cody Jones/Summit Daily News
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Dominic Baker begins the third Summit Mountain Challenge bike race on Wednesday, June 21.
Cody Jones/Summit Daily News