Carbondale was well-represented at the Colorado High School Cycling League State Mountain Biking Championships, held at the Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley campus trails last weekend, Oct. 18-19.
Riding for Roaring Fork High School, senior Quinn Carpenter placed sixth overall out of 136 state qualifiers in the varsity boys race on Sunday afternoon.
Carpenter was positioned not far behind a trio of riders who were wheel-to-wheel for two of the three laps until Golden’s Luke Ozment broke away on the final lap to take the state title in 1 hour, 7 minutes, 47.55 seconds.
Carpenter finished in 1:11:48, and Colorado Rocky Mountain School junior Drew O’Keefe placed ninth overall with a time of 1:13:20.
In the girls varsity race, also on Sunday, CRMS senior Hazel Lazar placed eighth overall out of 70 participants, covering the same three-lap course in 1:25:49. Roaring Fork senior Emmaline Warner placed 43rd overall, with a time of 1:34:54.
Lakewood sophomore Siri Krum was the winner of that race, finishing in 1:21:05.
Riders across four age classifications — freshman, sophomore, junior varsity and varsity boys and girls — competed separately over the two-day event. Results from all age groups accounted for the team scores in three divisions.
CRMS finished seventh in their division, and Roaring Fork was seventh in their separate division, behind the Aspen-Basalt team in fourth. Glenwood Springs High School riders combined to finish ninth in their division.
Other notable finishes for local riders included CRMS junior Alonso Lopez De Haro, who placed 10th in the junior varsity boys race, and for the CRMS girls, sophomore Finley Nolan, 13th JV girls, and junior Aurora Cherney, 17th JV girls.
Boys soccer
Roaring Fork High’s boys soccer team played the state’s fourth-ranked Class 4A team, Montrose, to a 2-2 draw at Rams Field in Carbondale on Tuesday night, which was also Senior Night for the Rams.
Fittingly, senior Jason Clemente scored the first goal of the match with a nifty boot from the right side not quite midway through the first half to make it 1-0. Montrose tied it up inside three minutes to play before halftime, collecting a rebound off a penalty kick to even it up.
Roaring Fork’s seniors — Clemente, Johan Soto, Eli Norris, Miles Speiss, Jesse Pimental, Salbador Vasquez, Peter Brennan, Manny Loeza, Anthony Alvarado and team manager Amyah Clayborne — were recognized alongside family and friends at halftime.
Then it was junior Micheal Parada who scored the go-ahead goal in the second half, followed shortly by the Montrose equalizer.
“We dominated possession and chances created,” head coach Nick Forbes said, adding it bodes well for the Rams as the Class 3A playoffs loom.
“If we can play like that in the playoffs, and be a little more clinical in front of goal, we are capable of making a deep run.”
Unfortunately, the Rams’ chances of repeating as the 3A Western Slope League champions slipped away with a 1-0 loss to Coal Ridge at home on Thursday, Oct. 16.
A scoreless game until the final five minutes of play was broken by Titans senior Peter Ortiz, assisted by junior Johnny Caro, dropping Roaring Fork to 4-2 in the league behind Steamboat Springs and Coal Ridge, both 6-1.
At 7-4-2 overall, and with state 3A ranking of 16th coming, the Rams should secure a playoff spot, though their first-round fate and whether they’ll host hangs in the balance.
Roaring Fork closes out the league slate on Thursday, Oct. 23, at Vail Mountain, before a quick trip across town to play CRMS at 4pm on Friday, Oct. 24.
Girls volleyball
A 3-0 loss at Aspen on Tuesday (20-25, 8-25, 15-25) dropped the Roaring Fork girls volleyball team to 4-5 in the 3A WSL and 7-13 overall.
Following a league loss to Basalt last week, the Rams did rebound to defeat Olathe 3-1 at home on Thursday, Oct. 16 (22-25, 25-6, 25-15, 25-16).
Senior Nikki Tardif led the team in kills with 16, and senior Yaki Nunez-Hernandez had eight. Tardif also had three blocks.
Junior Tess Hayes had five aces from the service line and junior Hazel Jenkins scored four.
It was senior night for the volleyballers Wednesday at home versus Cedaredge, with a final match to close out the regular season at Meeker next Tuesday.