A total of 23 Grand Junction High School mountain bikers qualified for the state championship in Glenwood Springs.
The GJHS mountain biking team has finished their season and is heading to state on Oct. 19-20. There are four divisions of racers competing: Freshman, Sophomore, JV, and Varsity. The races will take place Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon, and Friday is for practice runs. This season, the GJHS team made the jump to a higher class.
“We’re a D1 team this year, instead of D2 like we’ve been in the past, so I think it’s been cool to see Junction grow,” said GJHS junior Ben Garmany.
The Varsity riders who qualified for state consist of juniors Garmany, Jonathan Azbell, Riley Grimes, Alma McGowan, Beck Sharp, and seniors Scarlett Hardie and Porter Landis. The riders have all stepped up their game since the beginning of the season and everybody who qualified is confident in their team’s skill.
“I feel like the team as a whole has gotten much better. Everyone seems much happier to be on their bikes and the whole community has gotten better in general,” said Grimes.
The members all have different goals, but they all hope to do well at state. Due to weather concerns, the race may be harder and more hazardous.
“We’re racing on the last day of states, so it’s going to be really loose, and maybe a little sketchy, so I’m just hoping to get through it safely,” said McGowan.
The GJHS mountain biking team is part of the larger Grand Valley Youth Cycling program. The order of events will be freshman boys, freshman girls, JV boys, JV girls, Sophomore boys, sophomore girls, Varsity boys, and Varsity Girls.
