The Nederland High School Mountain Bike team raced tough in Steamboat Springs this past weekend at the annual Showdown in the Boat. The team agreed that their recent practices focusing on cornering drills really helped them navigate the twists and turns of this flowy course on the famed Howelsen Hill.

Halle Peiffer had a great race placing sixth in sophomore girls. Laila Waldron held onto her fifth place position in varsity girls and Grayson Shurr moved up five positions in varsity boys.

Amika Begin fought a mechanical problem, but still managed to grab tenth place in freshman girls with teammate Maddie Perry coming in right behind her in eleventh.

Cornering was the theme for training in the week leading up to the race with coaches taking the team through a multitude of drills to get them ready for the many (many) switchbacks on the course.

Assistant coach Robb Shurr said, “Putting the time in on fundamentals like cornering really helps build the confidence in a race like this. As athletes get more comfortable with their skills, they also find the ‘flow,’ and then it’s all just way more fun.”

Overall, the team placed third in Division 3 for their second race this season.

Amika Begin, freshman girls, 10th place, 1:15:48

Finn Fitzer, freshman boys, 25th place, 1:10:18

Gary Koziel, sophomore boys, 78th place, 1:36:56

Grayson Shurr, varsity boys, (3 laps) 24th place, 1:27:40

Grizzly Steuck, JV boys, 78th place, 1:20:10

Halle Peiffer, sophomore girls, 6th place, 1:11:19

Laila Waldron, varsity girls, (3 laps) 5th place, 1:39:25

Madeline Perry, freshman girls, 11th place, 1:16:30

Samuel Harkness, sophomore boys, 40th place, 1:08:37

The Nederland High School Mountain Bike team races next in Leadville on September 24. Go Panthers!