Steamboat High School Mountain Bike Team wins first competition of the season

August 27, 2025 Shannon Lukens

By Shannon Lukens.

The Steamboat High School Mountain Bike Team won their division at the first race of the season Aug. 23 in the Colorado High School Cycling League. The Cloud City Challenge was in Leadville. Thirty-five riders from Steamboat Springs High School and Steamboat Mountain School competed with 367 total racers in the Yampa Division.

Results and pictures are below.

Press Release from Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Aug. 26, 2025.

Steamboat High School Mountain Bike Team Wins Yampa Division 1 at First Race of Season

Team takes home seven top-three finishes.

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. – The Steamboat High School Mountain Bike team took home seven top-three finishes, multiple top-10 finishes, and won the Yampa Division 1 category at the first race of The Colorado High School Cycling League race series on Saturday, August 23, at the Cloud City Challenge in Leadville. 367 racers competed in the Yampa Division race on Saturday – 35 riders from Steamboat High School and Steamboat Mountain School. The course was a 6.2-mile loop with 620 feet of climbing per lap. Varsity riders raced three laps with all other categories racing two laps. Steamboat edged out Boulder to claim the Division I title, finishing with 7,441 points to Boulder’s 7,428. Lakewood, Ralston Valley, and Centaurus rounded out the top five.

Steamboat’s depth across all categories played a key role in the team victory. In varsity girls, junior Whitney Warnke placed second, while teammate Allie Reznicek finished 10th. Their strong efforts helped secure critical points against a competitive field.

The junior varsity girls added to the momentum, with sophomore Sydney Soard winning her race and sophomore Lucia Magnotta close behind in third. Junior Zoe Chase also cracked the top 10, finishing ninth.

On the junior varsity boys’ side, sophomore Quinn Dressen and junior Jackson Rosencrantz went one-two, with sophomore Robbie Wodnik adding a sixth-place finish.

The sophomore boys’ division showcased even more depth. Odin Gruben placed third, followed by Fisher Beauregard in fifth, Henry Davis in sixth, and Soren Shepherd in eighth — all in the top 10.

Steamboat’s freshmen also made their presence known. Andrew Melzer finished third in the boys’ time trial, Jayden Hargis was fifth, and Oliver Nylen placed 20th. On the girls’ side, Samara Lambert took seventh and Zoe Finnegan was 12th.

Steamboat Team results below. Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club oversees the Steamboat High School Mountain Bike team. FULL RESULTS

PLACE	NAME	CAT
FRESHMAN
7	SAMARA LAMBERT	Freshman Girls
12	ZOE FINNEGAN	Freshman Girls

3	ANDREW MELZER	Freshman Boys
5	JAYDEN HARGIS	Freshman Boys
20	OLIVER NYLEN	Freshman Boys
33	NICHOLAS TANYUK	Freshman Boys
53	MASON SLOOP	Freshman Boys
SOPHOMORE
8	ELLIS DRESSENDORFER	Sophomore Girls
17	JULIA BONESS	Sophomore Girls

3	ODIN GRUBEN	Sophomore Boys
5	FISHER BEAUREGARD	Sophomore Boys
6	HENRY DAVIS	Sophomore Boys
8	SOREN SHEPHERD	Sophomore Boys
22	DANIEL CROCKER	Sophomore Boys
27	SILAS SETTER	Sophomore Boys
34	DILLON MIDDLEDORF	Sophomore Boys
44	MASON LIPSCOMB	Sophomore Boys
58	GEORGE BOISJOLI	Sophomore Boys
73	COL CASSILY (pulled due to crash)	Sophomore Boys
JUNIOR VARSITY (JV)
1	SYDNEY SOARD (NEW PTS LEADER)	JV Girls
3	LUCIA MAGNOTTA	JV Girls
9	ZOE CHASE	JV Girls
17	LINDSAY BERKE	JV Girls

1	QUINN DRESSEN (NEW PTS LEADER)	JV Boys
2	JACKSON ROSENCRANTZ	JV Boys
6	ROBBIE WODNIK	JV Boys
15	OSCAR LIBIN	JV Boys
32	LOGAN DRURY	JV Boys
47	MATEO RODRIGUEZ	JV Boys
48	MORGAN GARRETT	JV Boys
75	ELLIOT NANCE (LEGACY)	JV Boys
VARSITY
2	WHITNEY WARNKE	Varsity Girls
10	ALLIE REZNICEK	Varsity Girls

14	LUKE BEDELL (LEGACY)	Varsity Boys
19	SCHUYLER BIGLOW	Varsity Boys

With riders consistently scoring across varsity, JV, sophomore, and freshman races, Steamboat’s balance across grade levels proved decisive.

The coaches were extremely impressed with the team’s efforts. Head coach Paul Majors called the result a reflection of the team’s preparation.“This is a really positive start for us,” the coach said. “Moving into Division I brings tougher competition across the board, and our riders showed they’re ready to rise to the challenge. But it’s only the first race, and we know there’s a lot of season left.”

“This win shows that we have contributors everywhere,” coach Chuck O’Connell said. “We don’t have to rely on one category to carry us. Everyone’s effort adds up.”

Cycling Director Evan Soard noted that the early-season success has boosted team morale. “It feels good to see all our athletes working together and supporting each other,” he said. “It’s a reminder that every rider’s finish makes a difference,” said Soard.

The Colorado League season continues with races throughout the fall. The next race is Showdown in the Boat, September 6-7 here in Steamboat. The Steamboat team will race on Sunday, September 7. It takes a community to support the high school mountain bike races. The Colorado High School Mountain Bike League and Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club is seeking volunteers to put on this race weekend LINK HERE to volunteer! With the Cloud City Challenge in the books, the team is focused on building momentum rather than celebrating.

The team is focused on building momentum rather than celebrating. Majors added, “We’re excited about this result, but we know there’s a lot of racing ahead. The goal is to keep improving each week and see where that takes us.”

The Colorado League consists of more than 160 high schools. The 2025 race series has four regions: Yampa, Crystal, Piedra, and Platte. Steamboat Springs High School students and Steamboat Mountain School students race in the Yampa division. The Colorado League facilitates the development of interscholastic mountain bike cycling teams for grades 9-12. The program promotes positive youth development through interscholastic mountain biking for high school students in Colorado, southern Wyoming, northern New Mexico, and Spearfish, South Dakota.

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ABOUT SSWSC

Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (SSWSC) provides sports and youth development programming for over 1,300 athletes in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, creating champions on and off the mountain. SSWSC’s goal is to be the best in the country at developing the complete athlete—coaching every individual to achieve the highest level of human potential and athletic performance—resulting in healthy, contributing members of our community and skilled, passionate athletes. SSWSC alumni have become Olympians, NCAA champions, collegiate scholars, CEOs, and leaders. Our programs include alpine, cross country, freestyle, freeskiing, nordic combined, jumping, snowboarding, backcountry education, strength and conditioning, cycling, and skateboarding. SSWSC is one of North America’s oldest and most successful winter sports clubs, serving tens of thousands of athletes for over a century, including 100 Olympians with 180 Olympic appearances and 19 Olympic medals. U.S. Ski & Snowboard has been named SSWSC Club of the Year five times, more than any other club in the country. For more information, visit www.sswsc.org.

Photos courtesy: Courtesy Evan Soard

Varsity Girls: Whitney Warnke

JV Girls: Sydney Soard and Lucia Magnotta

JV Boys: Quinn Dressen and Jackson Rosencrantz

Sophomore Boys: Odin Gruben and Fisher Beauregard

Freshman Boys: Andrew Melzer and Jayden Hargis