High school mountain bike teams gearing up for state championships near Cedar City

Written by Jeff Richards
October 12, 2019

CEDAR CITY — The Utah High School Cycling League’s four-race season wrapped up last weekend, and high school mountain bikers throughout the state are now gearing up for the state championship races to be staged in Cedar City Oct. 18-19.

Hundreds of athletes from Utah’s North, Central and South regions are expected to converge at the Three Peaks Recreation Area north of Cedar City next weekend. 

Although that same venue was already used for the South region’s third race on Sept. 21, the state competition will be staged on a different loop and go in the opposite (counterclockwise) direction, event officials said. 

Nate Hansen, head coach for the Snow Canyon High School Mountain Bike team, says his athletes are looking forward to defending their Division 2 state title.

“We have gone undefeated all season, so we are really excited to see how we stack up to the rest of the state,” Hansen told Cedar City News.

Snow Canyon has two of the top three point-earners for the season in both the boys and girls varsity categories. Kyler Gibb is tied for first with Skyridge High’s McKade Jaussi with 599 points each, while Parker Christensen of Snow Canyon is in third with 594. Among varsity girls, Snow Canyon juniors Layla Purdy and Kate Wilson occupy the second and third overall spots with 596 and 591 points, respectively.

The Snow Canyon Warriors won the Sept. 21 competition with a total team score of 1,512 points, while runner-up Dixie High had 1,391. Also competing in Division 2 from Southern Utah were teams from Desert Hills, Hurricane and Crimson Cliffs high schools.

Utah High School Cycling League South Region’s third season race, Three Peaks Recreation Area, Cedar City, Utah, Sept. 21, 2019 | Photo by Jeff Richards, St. George News / Cedar City News

Meanwhile, in Division 3, Cedar High School placed second with 683 points to division-leading Moab’s 704 points. An additional 469 points were earned by other riders on Iron County’s “Iron Giants” composite team who are not affiliated with Cedar High. Also competing in Division 3 from Southern Utah were Pine View and Panguitch.

Then, at the fourth season race held on a new course near Price on Oct. 5, the results were similar, with Snow Canyon winning Division 2 with 1,518 points and Desert Hils taking second with 1,346. In Division 3, Cedar captured the No. 2 spot once again, earning 677 points while leader Moab garnered 716.

For complete official results of the Sept. 21 races in Cedar City click here, and for the Oct. 5 races in Price, click here.

Following the state championship races next weekend, teams and individual athletes will be honored at an awards ceremony to be held at 7 p.m. Saturday at the America First Event Center on the Southern Utah University campus.

For additional information about the Oct. 18-19 state races, including maps and schedules, click here. 

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have two young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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