Maryland State MTB Championships at Patapsco Valley State Park

The Maryland Interscholastic Cycling League (MICL) held its Season 5 Finals in the Pickall Area of the Patapsco Valley State Park November 5-6th. The Garrett County Composite Team competed against 23 other Maryland mountain biking teams, pitting over 500 student athletes at the event. The race course was on the Schools Out Loop trail, which was created with the MICL racers in mind. The course was 3.4 miles of mostly singletrack trail with barely 250’ of climb per lap. The first half of the course was full of flow, but several tricky off-camber downhill turns, challenged every rider to keep their bikes from washing out on the dirt surface. The middle of the course followed a powerline and Interstate 70 which allowed many riders a safe passing zone. After a fast 1/2 mile climb, the racers darted back into the singletrack trail that flowed like a dirt ribbon through the autumn woods. The back section of the course was overlooking the Patapsco River and challenged riders with rocky sections and log crossings, then one more hill climb to the finish line.

As a team, the Coyotes finished 8th in finals and 13th in the overall MICL series. Individually, 5 Coyotes raced their way to the podium. Iris Dubansky took 1st Place in the Girls JV3 Division. Her two lap race time was 41 mins. 50 seconds which included several lead changes with the second place finisher. Iris was able to regain the lead in the second half of her last lap and hold it with a blistering uphill sprint to the finish line. Sophomore Ashlynn Anderson competed in the JV2 Division and crossed the finish line in 3rd place, in 40:59.31, her best race of the season. Eighth graders Anna Buczynski and Allison Thrush finished 10th and 11th place. Buczynski recorded a time of 47:11.08  while teammate Thrush completed her two laps in 47:58.58.  7th Grader Tessa Dubansky earned the 5th place spot on the podium just ahead of teammate Ava Anderson, 6th place. Tessa recorded 51:40.85 and Ava finished in 53:54.24. In the 6th grade Division, Aspen Smith came in 3rd place. Smith made podium in all 3 races in the MICL series and finished the 6.8 mile finals race in 49:55.27. Her 6th grade teammate Mary Thrush, started the race with an impressive pace, but was unable to finish due to overheating.

On the boys side, Junior Nathan Aldridge had his best race of the season! Competing in the top Varsity Division, Nathan took 4th place in the Maryland State Championship! He completed the 4 lap, 14 mile race in 58:42.35. Nathan finished in 5th place in the MICL Overall Series. Coyote JV1 racer, Jackson Hordubay finished 14th in 50.09.48 in the 3 lap, 10.2 mile race. Freshman Micah Buczynski competed in the JV3 division and placed 34th with a time of 43.50.51 in the 2 lap, 6.8 mile race. 8th Graders Cooper Haley, Andrew San Julian, and Jason Van Antwerp all raced very well. Haley was 17th in 40:05.73, San Julain took 28th with a time of 41:39.83, and Van Antwerp crossed the finish line in 30th with a time of 42:11.22. 7th grader Cam Hudnall raced to an impressive 16th place! He completed the 6.8 mile race in 43:02.97. 6th grader Ryan Aldridge finished his race in 39:11 to take 37th place.

The Coyote coaches are so proud of the team and all their accomplishments throughout the season, including former athlete Tad Rodeheaver. Rodeheaver was the recipient of the MICL Community Award for continuing the mission of NICA / MICL to get More Kids on Bikes by establishing a mountain biking club at Norwich University where he attends college.

Special thanks to the coaching staff and parents of the Coyotes for their countless volunteer hours over the season.

Special Thanks to these local businesses that have sponsored the Coyotes. Garrett Trails, High Mountain Sports, Taylor-Made, Brenda’s Pizzeria, Vagabond, Tiny Corner Bike Shop, Brian Boal and Assoc. CPA, Sport Tech / Giro, Bill’s Marine, Tom Dabney Law Firm, Grenier Law Group, CTAC, Alvarez Construction, Phenix Technologies, Mountain Maryland Maintenance, Mountain Top Claim Services, Wisp, Clear Mountain Bank, and Walker & Dunlap

For the full race results go to https://my.raceresult.com/225470/results#0_4C8C1F

Iris Dubansky, a sophomore at Southern High School and member of the Garrett County Coyotes, takes 1st place in the Girls JV3 Division in the Maryland State MTB Championship race.