The Nederland High School Mountain Bike Team rolled into the Showdown in The Boat on Saturday, September 24, at Howelsen Hill in Steamboat Springs. While the weather was perfect, the athletes were met by a challenging course with 51 switchbacks and plenty of climbing.

Laila Waldron’s impressive third place finish in the junior varsity girls division was Nederland’s top finish for the day. This was followed by Grayson Shurr in seventh place for the sophomore boys and Halle Peiffer’s ninth place personal best finish in freshman girls.

Sophomore Waldron is sitting in third place overall in season points for the freshman girls, Shurr sits in fourth place overall for sophomore boys, and senior Hayden Camp is ranked 18th overall in varsity boys.

At the end of the day, the Nederland team held onto their second place overall spot in the D3 division.

For seniors Camp and Ezekiel Fitzer, their high school mountain biking careers are nearing an end. Both athletes have ridden all four years in high school which gives them the honorable distinction of “Legacy” within the Colorado High School Cycling League.

Camp and Fitzer have provided great leadership and motivation to the team over the years and are quick to offer encouragement and wisdom to the younger athletes.

When asked what Camp likes best about competing, he summed it up saying, “Mountain biking is so challenging and fun and it pushes your limits in every way. Despite being a very competitive sport, the athletes always display the best sportsmanship!”

Laila Waldron, JV girls, 3rd place

Grayson Shurr, Sophomore boys, 7th place

Hayden Camp, Varsity boys, 24th place

Halle Peiffer, Freshman girls, 9th place

Samuel Harkness, Freshman boys, 38th place

Ezekiel Fitzer, JV boys, 46th place

Gary Koziel, Freshman boys, 71st place

There is one more regular season race in Eagle on October 9 before State Championships October 22 and 23 in Glenwood Springs.