By Amy Jespersen
The Soldier Hollow course proved challenging but not unconquerable for the Carbon Composite MTB team last weekend. Despite a few crashes and bike malfunctions, they rallied to bring home another first place team medal as well as several individual medals.
In the Junior Devo division, Malia Smith led the Advanced Girls for much of their race until she crashed on a tree stump, setting her back to a second place finish. Naomi Smith hit the same tree stump as a rider was passing her during the Intermediate Girls race, resulting in a crash and dropping her off the podium for a seventh place finish. Beginner Girls rider Brynlee Tullis finished her season with a fifth place finish and another medal. All three girls had an amazing season.
The Junior Devo boys saw Matthew Blackburn and Grayson Sherman swap places on the podium in the Intermediate 7th Grade Boys race. Blackburn took home the second place medal and Sherman added a third place medal to his collection.
In the high school division, Tacoma Smith and Andrew Loveless provided another exciting JV-A race for the spectators. Smith sprinted into the lead early with Loveless and a Provo rider on his tail for much of the first lap. Smith was able to pull away and establish a healthy lead over both riders for the first place finish. Loveless wasn’t far behind and took third place.
Another podium finish for Carbon was Matthew Stromness in the Freshman C race. Stromness had an incredible race, starting out in 21st and finishing strong for a fifth place medal. Max McCourt and Teagan Robinson saw continued success in the SLR race, finishing in first and third, respectively.
Nearly all of the Carbon riders moved up in position in their races, but Kayden Dunn had a particularly incredible race. Dunn started dead last at 97th due to moving up to a more challenging class. He didn’t hold back, passing 89 riders in the Freshman B class and many more in the Freshman A to pull out a jaw-dropping eighth place finish.
“It’s so rewarding to see our riders work so hard and get stronger and faster over the season,” coach Mark Jespersen said about his team. “They overcome challenges during the races and keep riding until the finish line. They leave everything on the course. All of our coaches are extremely proud of these kids.”
Carbon’s next race is in Herriman on Oct 7.
