The Steamboat Springs High School Mountain Bike Team completed an undefeated 2026 regional season Sunday, winning the Royal Gorge Rumble in Cañon City and securing the Colorado High School Cycling League’s Yampa Region Division 1 championship.
Steamboat fielded a team of 32 riders and scored 7,533 points in the fourth and final regional race, edging Boulder by 92 points, with Summit in third The victory completed a four-race sweep for Steamboat this season and extended a remarkable winning streak that began with the first race of the 2025 season to nine consecutive team victories.
The finale was contested near the Royal Gorge on a 5.6-mile course with 500 feet of climbing per lap, combining doubletrack with fast technical singletrack through piñon forest and rocky desert terrain. The course also featured a few fun wooden bridges and expansive views of the Royal Gorge. Varsity riders raced three laps, while the remaining categories completed two.
Steamboat’s Varsity Girls delivered on yet another race with senior Whitney Warnke winning in a sprint finish with Lakewood’s Siri Krum. Lucia Magnotta and Sydney Soard finished 4th and 5th. Senior Lindsay Berke had her best result of the season, finishing 10th. The Sophomore Boys were equally impressive. Fritz Gamber won while Andrew Melzer placed fourth and Oliver Nylen finished eighth, putting three Steamboat riders in the top eight.
Warnke and Gamber’s victories also moved them into the overall series points lead, securing them each individual Yampa Regional titles.
Whitney Warnke with the Varisty Girls Win
Fritz Gamber with the Sophomore Boys Win!
Varsity Boys Podium
Sophomore Boys Podium
Other important results helped Steamboat win the region including Quinn Dressen placing third in Varsity Boys, followed by Odin Gruben in fifth and Jackson Rosencrantz in eighth. Jayden Hargis took seventh in JV Boys. Samara Lambert finished fifth in JV Girls with Ellis Dressendorfer close behind in eighth. Grip Goldstein rounded out the top-10 performances with a 10th-place finish in Freshman Boys.
Facing unexpected adversity due to crashes and illness, the regional championship was also a demonstration of the team’s depth. Varsity rider Oscar Libin, whose 23rd-place finish earned 431 points and became the 15th and final scoring result in Steamboat’s team total. With only 92 points separating Steamboat and Boulder, contributions throughout the roster proved critical.
Other notable overall series regional results include: Varsity Girls Sydney Soard 3rd, Lucia Magnotta 4th. Varsity Boys Quinn Dressen 2nd, Odin Gruben 4th. JV Girls Samara Lambert 5th. Sophomore Boys Andrew Melzer 4th. Freshman Boys Paddock Whitten 5th.
Sunday also saw the Senior Sendoff when the Colorado League honors graduating seniors in a parade lap around the race venue. Steamboat has 10 seniors in the class of 2027.
Now, Steamboat turns its attention to the biggest race of the year, looking to capture its second consecutive Colorado state championship. The Colorado High School Cycling League State Championships will be held October 24-25 at Colorado Mountain College’s Spring Valley Campus in Glenwood Springs. Freshman and JV racers compete Saturday, with Sophomore and Varsity categories racing Sunday.
Varsity Girls
| Place | Name | Grade | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitney Warnke | 12 | 1:18:48.65 |
| 4 | Lucia Magnotta | 11 | 1:20:53.57 |
| 5 | Sydney Soard | 11 | 1:21:02.82 |
| 10 | Lindsay Berke | 12 | 1:23:49.61 |
| DNF | Allie Reznicek | 12 | DNF |
Varsity Boys
| Place | Name | Grade | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Quinn Dressen | 11 | 1:09:31.34 |
| 5 | Odin Gruben | 11 | 1:11:35.84 |
| 8 | Jackson Rosencrantz | 12 | 1:14:08.41 |
| 23 | Oscar Libin | 12 | 1:25:07.44 |
JV Girls
| Place | Name | Grade | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Samara Lambert | 10 | 56:36.85 |
| 8 | Ellis Dressendorfer | 11 | 58:33.45 |
| 14 | Zoe Chase | 12 | 1:01:27.11 |
| 19 | Della Cunningham | 11 | 1:06:38.45 |
JV Boys
| Place | Name | Grade | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Jayden Hargis | 10 | 52:03.77 |
| 18 | Mateo Rodriguez | 12 | 54:57.13 |
| 20 | Logan Drury | 12 | 55:06.37 |
| 24 | Colin Clark | 12 | 56:22.52 |
| 31 | Daniel Crocker | 11 | 57:31.43 |
| 63 | Mason Lipscomb | 11 | 1:04:46.54 |
| DNF | Col Cassily | 11 | DNF |
Sophomore Girls
| Place | Name | Grade | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Zoe Finnegan | 10 | 1:07:02.49 |
Sophomore Boys
| Place | Name | Grade | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fritz Gamber | 10 | 48:23.93 |
| 4 | Andrew Melzer | 10 | 48:56.89 |
| 8 | Oliver Nylen | 10 | 51:17.03 |
| 16 | Nicholas Tanyuk | 10 | 53:55.65 |
| 23 | Miles Chase | 10 | 55:27.95 |
| 45 | Mason Sloop | 10 | 1:00:40.35 |
Freshman Boys
| Place | Name | Grade | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Grip Goldstein | 9 | 55:44.25 |
| 11 | Emmett Neely | 9 | 55:46.20 |
| 33 | Archer Middleton | 9 | 1:01:57.29 |
| 47 | Paddock Whitten | 9 | 1:06:37.09 |
| DNF | Calvin Higgins | 9 | DNF |
