High School Mountain Bike Team Caps Season with Second Place at State Championships

The Steamboat Springs High School Mountain Bike Team closed an outstanding 2026 season Saturday with a second-place Division I result at the Colorado High School Cycling League State Championships, narrowly missing a second consecutive state title.

Defending champion Steamboat finished just 148 points behind state champion Durango. Golden finished third, followed by Fairview and Boulder, to round out the top five teams.

The result capped a season in which Steamboat went undefeated through the four-race Yampa Region schedule, captured the regional championship, and entered the state finals riding a nine-race team winning streak dating to the opening race of the 2025 season.

“This team has had an incredible season, and to cap it off with such success at the state championship makes it that much sweeter,” said SSWSC Cycling Program Director Evan Soard. “All the riders should be proud of the season they put together both individually and as a team. These athletes ride for each other as teammates and friends. That’s what makes this team so special”

The state championships were held at Colorado Mountain College’s Spring Valley campus outside Glenwood Springs after being postponed one week because of wet weather and cold temperatures. The championship course featured a 5.6-mile lap with about 653 feet of climbing, challenging racers with sustained climbing and technical descents. Varsity competitors raced three laps, while the younger categories completed two.

Senior Whitney Warnke led Steamboat at the state finals, placing third in varsity girls in 1:05:26.51. Warnke had already capped the regular season as the Yampa Region varsity girls champion and again delivered Steamboat’s highest individual finish at state.

Several teammates also turned in top-10 performances. Odin Gruben placed sixth in varsity boys, while Lucia Magnotta finished 10th in varsity girls. Andrew Melzer took sixth in sophomore boys, and Samara Lambert finished eighth in JV girls.

Just outside the top 10, Quinn Dressen finished 12th in varsity boys, Sydney Soard placed 13th in varsity girls and Yampa Region sophomore boys champion Fritz Gamber finished 13th at state. Ellis Dressendorfer (15th) and Zoe Chase (28th) both added valuable team points in JV girls.

Those performances were part of another deep team effort. Steamboat’s 15 scoring riders stretched across six categories, from freshmen through legacy seniors. Sasha Wodnik and Emmett Neely contributed points from the freshman ranks, while seniors Lindsay Berke and Jackson Rosencrantz joined junior Robbie Wodnik among the team’s varsity state scorers.

Although the second-place finish brought Steamboat’s winning streak to an end, it also completed one of the strongest two-year runs in program history: a 2025 state championship, back-to-back Yampa Region championships, an undefeated 2026 regional season and nine consecutive team race victories before the state final.

With many of this year’s top contributors returning next fall — including Gruben, Dressen, Magnotta, Soard, Dressendorfer, Lambert, Melzer and Gamber — Steamboat will carry considerable experience forward into the 2027 season.

FULL RESULTS

STATE CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS – STEAMBOAT RACERS

Varsity Girls

Varsity Boys

JV Girls

JV Boys

Sophomore Girls

Sophomore Boys

Freshman Girls

Freshman Boys

Congratulations to the team on an incredible season.

Story submitted by Cycling Program Director Evan Soard and Coach Matthew Rochon.