The Steamboat Springs High School mountain bike team began its state championship title defense campaign on Saturday.

In the opening competition of the 2026 Colorado High School Cycling League season, the team took the victory, winning the Yampa Region Division 1 competition at the Frisco Bay Invitational in Frisco.

“The team rode amazing on Saturday, and we took the overall win,” said Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Cycling Program Director Evan Soard. “We have three more competitions this year and hope to build on our success each weekend.”

The team, operated through the Winter Sports Club, consists of students from both Steamboat Springs High School and Steamboat Mountain School and competes in the independent CHSCL against teams from Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and New Mexico.

Thirty-seven Steamboat athletes competed across four boys and four girls categories. The categories are split up as freshman, sophomore, junior varsity and varsity competitions.

Steamboat amassed 7,573 team points, besting Boulder’s second-place result of 7,442 points and Summit’s third-place tally of 6,987 points.

Fourteen Steamboat riders finished in the top-10 in their categories and even racked up a trio of top-three finishes.

Senior Whitney Warnke and junior Sydney Soard took second and third in the women’s varsity race, respectively.

Junior Quinn Dressen nabbed second in the men’s varsity race.

Starting and ending at the Frisco Nordic Center, the course consisted of a 5.95-mile counterclockwise loop with 512 feet of climbing per lap.

The laps included singletrack, doubletrack and dirt roads with frequent short climbs and descents. Varsity riders raced three laps for 17.9 miles, while cyclists in other categories raced two laps for 11.9 miles.

Other varsity boys results included a fourth-place finish for junior Odin Gruben and an eighth-place showing for senior Jackson Rosencrantz.

Junior Lucia Magnotta took fourth in the women’s varsity race.

The season consists of four weekend races, punctuated by the state championship held in Glenwood Springs on Oct. 24-25.

Steamboat cyclists will now look forward to the chance to race on home trails when they host the “Showdown in the ‘Boat” race on Sunday, Sept. 13 at Howelsen Hill.

“The home race will give the team an opportunity to build on a successful opening weekend and continue our state title defense,” said Soard. “We are really excited to have the community come out and support us.”

The students supply their own bikes and gear, while the Winter Sports Club provides the jerseys. The kids are also responsible for their own bikes, while the coaches help with maintenance.

Each competition features a theme. The Frisco Bay Invitational theme was temporary tattoos, while the upcoming Steamboat race is superhero-themed.

“The themes add another layer of fun to the competition and are a great way to bring the teams together,” said Soard. “It’s a lot of fun to see the kids go out there covered in temporary tattoos, and they really enjoy the themes.”

The Winter Sports Club provides four vans to haul kids and gear, and the team usually arrives at competitions after school on Friday, stays in hotels on Friday night and hits the trails on Saturdays.

“It’s also a pretty inclusive team,” said Soard. “It’s a no-cut sport, and we love to have anyone of any ability level on the team.”

Forty-two students make up the team, and eight to nine coaches help the students on their mountain biking journeys.

The CHSCL is in its 17th season and consists of more than 160 high schools. The 2026 race series is divided into four regions: Yampa, Crystal, Piedra and Platte.

Race results can be found at My.RaceResult.com.

“We’re so proud of the kids for coming out and working as hard as they do,” said Soard. “It’s an amazing program that promotes incredible mountain biking development for the athletes.”