By Shannon Lukens for Steamboat Radio News. Photos courtesy SSWSC. Photos courtesy Matthew Rochon.
The Steamboat Mountain Bike Team defended its home turf with a Division 1 victory at the Showdown at the ‘Boat. It was the Colorado High School Cycling League Championships at Howelsen Hill over the weekend. The Steamboat team won the Yampa Region, beating out Boulder and the Summit for the top three spots.
Senior Whitney Warnke won the whole thing for the Varsity Girls. Sydney Soard was fourth and Lucia Magnotta seventh.
Quinn Dressen was 2nd overall for the Varsity boys. Odin Gruben was third and Jackson Rosencrantz seventh.
In another top finish, sophomore Fritz Gamber won the Sophomore Boys category.
Press Release from Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club; Sept. 14, 2026.
Steamboat Mountain Bike Team Defends Home Turf with Division 1 Victory at Showdown in the Boat
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. — The Steamboat Springs High School Mountain Bike Team defended its home trails Sunday with another strong all-around performance, winning the Colorado High School Cycling League Yampa Region Division 1 competition at the Showdown in the ‘Boat.
Steamboat scored 7,634 points, finishing ahead of Boulder with 7,307 and Summit with 6,998. The victory gives Steamboat two consecutive Division 1 wins to open the four-race 2026 regular season. The team produced 16 top-10 finishes, five top-three performances and two individual victories.
Racing on familiar terrain did not make the challenge easy. The race traveled through the Emerald Mountain Trail Network, combining technical singletrack, doubletrack and dirt roads. The 5.5-mile lap included approximately 684 feet of climbing, with Varsity racers completing three laps and the remaining high school categories racing two.
Senior Whitney Warnke delivered one of Steamboat’s biggest performances, winning Varsity Girls in 1:21:25.60 and taking over the category points lead. Sydney Soard finished fourth and Lucia Magnotta seventh, putting three Steamboat riders inside the top seven.
The Varsity Boys were equally strong. Quinn Dressen finished second, only 1.68 seconds behind race winner Taavi Snapp of Centaurus, while Odin Gruben took third. Jackson Rosencrantz added a seventh-place finish.
Sophomore Fritz Gamber earned Steamboat’s second victory, winning the Sophomore Boys race in 52:44.89. Andrew Melzer finished fifth and Nicholas Tanyuk ninth, giving Steamboat three top-10 riders in the category.
Steamboat’s younger riders added significant points. Samara Lambert finished fourth and Zoe Chase ninth in JV Girls, while Jayden Hargis took eighth in JV Boys. Sasha Wodnik finished fourth in Freshman Girls.
Freshman Boys produced one of Steamboat’s deepest performances of the day. Paddock Whitten finished third, followed by Grip Goldstein in fifth and Emmett Neely in sixth.
Goldstein’s race also earned him the Slingshot Award, which recognizes a rider who makes an exceptional charge through the field by gaining positions from their starting position during the race. It provided another highlight from a Freshman Boys group that placed three Steamboat riders in the top six.
Steamboat’s depth ultimately separated the team from its competition, with its 15 scoring riders combining for a 327-point victory over Boulder.
The Showdown was the second of four Yampa Region regular-season races. With victories in both Frisco and Steamboat, the defending state champions are 2-for-2 to begin the season.
The Yampa Region next races Saturday, Sept. 26, at the Haymaker Classic in Eagle, the third stop of the regular season.
The Steamboat Springs High School Mountain Bike Team is run through Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. The Colorado High School Cycling League, now in its 17th season, consists of more than 160 high schools. The 2026 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.
Category/Place Name Grade Total Time
Varsity Girls
1 Whitney Warnke 12 1:21:25.60
4 Sydney Soard 11 1:28:51.42
7 Lucia Magnotta 11 1:31:36.96
15 Allie Reznicek 12 1:37:18.18
17 Lindsay Berke 12 1:39:02.98
Varsity Boys
2 Quinn Dressen 11 1:13:44.13
3 Odin Gruben 11 1:14:50.95
7 Jackson Rosencrantz 12 1:17:34.37
13 Robbie Wodnik 11 1:20:59.50
15 Henry Davis 11 1:22:28.59
23 Oscar Libin 12 1:28:16.91
30 Soren Shepherd 11 1:31:25.57
JV Girls
4 Samara Lambert 10 1:01:08.24
9 Zoe Chase 12 1:06:00.12
12 Ellis Dressendorfer 11 1:06:24.50
18 Della Cunningham 11 1:11:54.78
JV Boys
8 Jayden Hargis 10 55:06.24
13 Mateo Rodriguez 12 57:33.23
19 Logan Drury 12 59:31.00
78 Mason Lipscomb 11 1:17:38.84
94 Morgan Garrett 12 1:32:47.79
Sophomore Girls
20 Zoe Finnegan 10 1:17:59.61
Sophomore Boys
1 Fritz Gamber 10 52:44.89
5 Andrew Melzer 10 53:38.43
9 Nicholas Tanyuk 10 56:18.12
12 Oliver Nylen 10 56:35.93
31 Miles Chase 10 1:02:23.77
49 Mason Sloop 10 1:10:36.87
Freshman Girls
4 Sasha Wodnik 9 1:05:15.05
Freshman Boys
3 Paddock Whitten 9 59:53.74
5 Grip Goldstein 9 1:00:46.86
6 Emmett Neely 9 1:01:10.07
19 Archer Middleton 9 1:05:58.83
ABOUT SSWSC
Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club (SSWSC) provides sports and youth development programming for nearly 1,200 athletes in Steamboat Springs. SSWSC believes in the fundamental value of sport for the individual. Our mission is to create champions on and off the mountain by developing life skills and personal growth through sports. Our vision is to be the nation’s model community youth sports organization, inspiring every individual to achieve their highest level of personal and athletic potential. 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. Founded in 1914, 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 108 Olympians. U.S. Ski & Snowboard named SSWSC Club of the Year five times, more than any other club in the country. For more information, visit www.sswsc.org.