Ten Sandpoint Trailblazers medal at Copper Kings Clash

SILVER BOW COUNTY, Mont. — The Sandpoint "Composite" Trailblazers cross country mountain biking team put together 10 top-five finishes, seven of which were in the top three, and finished sixth out of 14 scoring teams at the Copper Kings Clash held Sept. 20 at Big Butte Open Space Recreation Area.

Kane Van Stone raced to a gold medal in the JV3 Boys race, beating out 35 other competitors with a two-lap time of 29 minutes, 33.33 seconds.

“Racing has taught me to push through the climb to get the reward of a sweet downhill — just push to the top," Van Stone said after the win.

Grabbing silver medals were Olivia Coffman in the JV2 Girls race (32:59.68, two laps), Nolan Tuohy in the Seventh Grade Boys race (15:50.68, one lap) and Emiliana Dussault in the Seventh Grade Girls race (17:12.16, one lap).

“NICA’s atmosphere is really encouraging; everyone there is always supportive, no matter what place you come in,” Dussault said after the second-place finish. 

Trent Roberts added a third-place finish in the Varsity Boys race with a five-lap time of 1 hour, 18 minutes, and 51.06 seconds. Also capturing bronze on the day were Miles Burns in the Eighth Grade Boys division (15:33.46, one lap) and Iona Tuohy in the JV2 Girls division (33:36.05, two laps).

The Sandpoint Trailblazers will compete in their fifth and final race of the Montana Interscholastic Cycling League today — the Lolo Final Landing — set to be held at the Rossignol Ranch in Lolo, Mont.

TEAM SCORES — 1, Bozeman High 2218. 2, Spokane Composite 2155. t-3, Helena Cyclones; Hellgate Mammoths 2122. 5, Gallatin High 2057. 6, Sandpoint Composite 2034. 7, Flathead Valley Composite 1954. 8, Copper Sprockets 1925. 9, Billings Composite 1869. 10, Cody Speedgoats 1713. 11, Missoula Mammoths 1366. 12, Sentinel Mammoths 1354. 13, Three Forks Composite 1139. 14, Northern Cheyenne Bison Composite 625.

COURSE DESCRIPTION: The race starts right at the Big Butte Open Space trailhead just west of the Montana Tech Campus. Riders will immediately have an opportunity to sort out position with a nice start climb before getting into the meat of the course, which is primarily singletrack with a handful of two-track sections thrown in for passing. The trail surface is made up of crushed granite. Each lap is about 3.5 miles with 380 feet of climbing.   

BOYS

(Winner, top local)

5TH GRADE (one lap) — 1, Torsten Thieszen, Copper Sprockets, 19:22.10. 6TH GRADE (one lap) — 1, Oliver Weinert, Spokane Composite, 15:06.39. 7TH GRADE (one lap) — 1, Turner Bailey, Bozeman High, 15:36.73; 2, Nolan Tuohy, Sandpoint Composite, 15:50.68.

7TH/8TH COMP (two laps) — 1, Enzo Spataro, Missoula Mammoths, (14:12-14:51) 29:03.75. 8TH GRADE (one lap) — 1, Espen Chitty, Missoula Mamoths, 15:19.21; 3, Miles Burnes, Sandpoint Composite, 15:33.46. JV3 (two laps) — 1, Kane Van Stone, Sandpoint Composite, (14:45-14:47) 29:33.33; 4, Paul Lynch, Sandpoint Composite, (15:50-16:07) 31:58.24.

JV2 (three laps) — 1, Renzy Leprowse, Copper Sprockets, (13:58-14:38-14:25) 43:01.43; 5, Levi Coffman, Sandpoint Composite, (14:15-14:59-14:35) 43:50.37. JV1 (four laps) — 1, Niko Schmitt, Hellgate Mammoths, (13:36-13:37-13:58-14:09) 55:21.81. VARSITY (five laps) — 1, Sam Madsen, Bozeman High, (13:27-13:26-13:14-13:38-13:52) 1:07:39.62; 3, Trent Roberts, Sandpoint Composite, (13:30-13:32-13:48-13:58-14:01) 1:08:51.06.

GIRLS

(Winner, top local)

5TH GRADE (one lap) — 1, Charlotte Stevens, Copper Sprockets, 23:24.31. 6TH GRADE (one lap) — 1, Adelyn Danley, Flathead Valley Composite, 18:10.07. 7TH GRADE (one lap) — 1, Avery Janes, Missoula Mammoths, 17:07.15; 2, Emiliana Dussault, Sandpoint Composite, 17:12.16.

7TH/8TH COMP (two laps) — 1, McKenlee Young, Helena Cyclones, (16:55-16:04) 33:00.55. 8TH GRADE (one lap) — 1, Hannah Steele, Missoula Mammoths, 16:50.67; 5, Theresa Hurt, Sandpoint Composite, 17:51. JV3 (two laps) — 1, Ellie Linton, Helena Cyclones, (18:11-18:16) 36:28.62.

JV2 (two laps) — 1, Lucille Svingen, Helena Cyclones, (16:22-16:26) 32:49.34; 2, Olivia Coffman, Sandpoint Composite (16:25-16:33), 32:59.68. JV1 (three laps) — 1, Frances Makoutz, Bozeman High, (15:09-15:56-15:53) 46:59.29; 7, Mattie Lynch, Sandpoint Composite (16:36-17:33-16:59) 51:09.53. VARSITY (four laps) — 1, Quinn Dekiep, Helena Cyclones, (15:01-15:08-15:29-15:36) 1:01:16.12.