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Glenwood Springs High School, Colorado Rocky Mountain School ascend the podium in mountain biking state championships

Glenwood Springs High School Dirt Demon Samantha Meskin out of Coal Ridge High School races at the Colorado High School Cycling League state championships in Durango.
Colorado High School Cycling League/Courtesy photo

Two silvers and a bronze marked the Roaring Fork Valley’s top performers in the Colorado High School Cycling League’s state mountain biking championships over the weekend.

For the Glenwood Springs High School Dirt Demons, junior Chloe Lutgring took varsity girls silver, and Samantha Meskin — out of Coal Ridge High School — took bronze in the sophomore girls on the 6.5-mile course at Durango Mesa. Colorado Rocky Mountain School’s Canyon Cherney claimed second in the freshman boys, 10 seconds behind first place Jake McDill of Rocky Mountain High School in Fort Collins.

CRMS finished sixth in Division 1, just one place above Glenwood Springs. In Division 3, Aspen/Basalt took fifth despite their anchor rider not completing his race. And Roaring Fork, in its inaugural state championships as a program, took 13th out of 41.



“After the disappointment of last year’s nonexistent season due to the pandemic, they were hungry to train and compete in person, mano a mano this fall,” Glenwood Springs High School head coach Jeanne Golay said.

Cherney’s performance led CRMS to the highest scoring performance out of the Roaring Fork Valley schools. His second place finish was complemented by Nina Villafranco’s fourth-place in the freshman girls and Maia Cullwick’s seventh in the junior varsity girls race.



Glenwood came in with three regional points leaders racing against the other three regions in the state for the first time this season. Lutgring and Meskin were joined by Dante Humphrey, the freshman boys regional champion.

Humphrey held second place halfway through the race but fell to 11th. Cole Geiger, who finished second in the region in junior varsity boys, claimed sixth at state.

Lutgring hunted first place for the majority of the race, but eventually fell behind eventual winner Bailey Cioppa, a senior out of Durango. She wound up in a fight with Isa Naschold out of Wyoming for second place, falling behind in the final lap before taking advantage of an uphill in the final moments to open up an eventual 5 second edge.

“I knew that even though I was struggling, she was too,” Lutgring said. “I was just like, I’m going to struggle a little bit more than her and push through.”

Aspen/Basalt’s top racer, Markus Dewire — who won each of the Crystal Region’s qualifying races — did not cross the finish line. Freshman Liam Heath led scorers for Aspen/Basalt, taking seventh. Emma Borchers took 11th in the varsity girls contest.

For Roaring Fork, sophomore Samuel Friday led the way with a sixth-place finish in the sophomore boys. Junior Corbin Carpenter — who finished the regular season just 20 points behind Dewire in varsity boys — claimed seventh at state.


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