Miner’s Rock Trail | Race Recap

2017 Arkansas Race Report #5 Miner’s Rock Trail, Eureka Springs

Arkansas NICA’s final race of 2017 was at Lake Leatherwood Park in Eureka Springs. With the leaves at peak color for the fall, the drive to the venue was breathtaking. Riding the trail in the middle of the changing trees and falling leaves i was even more exhilarating. The same leaves that make the trail so beautiful also cover the trail, making it more slippery than normal. The other thing that made the final race of the season more difficult was the climb up to Miner’s Rock. This 300 foot double-track climb is grueling for almost every rider.

The feeling in the infield was electric. It was set in a valley called Mulladay Hollow at the southern tip of Lake Leatherwood. Half of it we used for camping, and the other half for team tents. The crowd and togetherness is what makes this venue such a special place.

Jacob Smithpeters, winner of the Varsity Boys point series, summed it up by saying, “Lake Leatherwood is a challenging course with a lot to offer. From the long climbs to the tight corners on the descent, it is the all-round trail, which tests each rider’s capabilities in every way possible. The race day, as expected, filled me with excitement as I watched friends and fellow teammates compete and put it all out on the course. No matter the end result or outcome, everybody was happy to have the opportunity to get out and ride in order to support the team and NICA as a whole.”

Volunteers
The Arkansas NICA league would not exist without the coaches, almost all of whom are volunteers. The coaches put in countless hours of planning, coaching and riding in over the course of the four and a half month season. They sacrifice their time for the student-athletes in the league. They are an amazing group of people – make sure you appreciate them for what they have done.

The Arkansas NICA races this season would not have been possible without a whole team of special people that do the work to make it an amazing experience for the student-athletes, coaches and parents in the Arkansas NICA League. The following people volunteered an incredible amount of their time this season.

Operations Directors – Christian Falcon and Glenn France
Operations Assistants – Brad Sandison, Joe Falcon, Don Franklin, Collin Sigers, Mike Brown
Merchandise and Photography – Zuzanna Sitek
Volunteers – Kelsey Miller and Ben Rowell
Course Marshals – Angie Milam and Mindi Tucker
Registration – Heather Adams and Ramona Stein
Staging – Jim McClendon
Scorekeeping – Dawn Redell and Julie Wylie
Course Setting – Kevin Tucker

Girls Wave
Bentonville West led both the freshman girls and junior varsity girls races, with Zoë March and Jordan Sauls! This was Jordan’s third win in a row – she did both laps at Miner’s Rock in less than 30 minutes. Season points put Cate Mertins on the top of the podium for the series – riders get 25 bonus points for finishing all the races in the series. Felicity Leamon gracefully rode to victory in the sophomore girls race; that girl makes the mountain bike race look easy!

Sixth grader Audrey Brinkley and eighth grader Mackenzie Chavez both won their fourth race in a row at Leatherwood! Undefeated this season! Carrie Pool won the seventh grade girls race. Middle school students do not earn points to be tallied for the season.

“This second season meant a lot to me because we were able to get more girls on bikes, both on our Haas Hall Team and on the other teams in the Arkansas League,” said Cate Mertins. “When I started my high school’s NICA team last year, my goal was for it to be half girls and half boys, but reaching that goal has been more challenging than I expected. During the first season, I was usually the only girl at our practices, and with the exception of one race, I was the only girl racing for Haas Hall. And girls were equally scarce on the other teams in the league last year. All of the girls in the league last year worked hard to reach out to other girls and encouraged them to give mountain biking a try. The League Directors and coaches also put a lot of work into recruiting girls over the last year, and I couldn’t be more proud of our success. This season, we had four more girls on our Hass Hall team and dozens of new girls in the Arkansas League. It was awesome to have so many girls racing this season, and I was really proud to be part of it.”

Results

6th Grade Girls
1 6006 AUDREY BRINKLEY Lincoln Junior High School
2 6004 JAIDEN SEYMOUR Arkansas Arts Academy
3 6001 CATHERINE HENRY The New School
4 6007 KEERA TUCKER Lincoln Junior High School
5 6008 HAILEY CODDINGTON Conway Composite

7th Grade Girls
1 4003 CARRIE POOL Lincoln Junior High School
2 4006 RYAN GRYNWALD RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite
3 4000 KATIE CONWAY Haas Hall Academy
4 4001 ABBY MARTIN Haas Hall Academy
5 4004 TESSA MASON Lincoln Junior High School

8th Grade Girls
1 2004 MACKENZIE CHAVEZ Poteau Public Schools
2 2005 EMMA JOHNSON RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite
3 2001 DALLICE WHITE Pea Ridge High School
4 2006 KATHRYN KELLEY Rogers All Mountain Shredders
5 2000 EMMA HAMBY Haas Hall Academy

9th Grade Girls
1 509 ZOE MARCH Bentonville West High School
2 506 NINA ZEILER (PTS LEADER) Bentonville High School
3 504 LAUREN ADAMS Bentonville High School
4 510 ELLA VAN HORN Fayetteville Cycling Composite
5 503 EMMA GINN Bentonville West High School

10th Grade Girls
1 300 FELICITY LEAMON (PTS LEADER) Conway Composite

JV Girls
1 103 JORDAN SAULS Bentonville West High School
2 107 CATE MERTINS (PTS LEADER) Haas Hall Academy
3 100 ABBY VERNON Bentonville High School
4 105 MEGHAN WILLOX Springdale / Har-Ber High School
5 101 ANGELA WURZER Bentonville High School

Season Results

9th Grade Girls
1 506 Nina Zeiler 2 9 Bentonville High School
2 509 Zoe March 2 9 Bentonville West High School
3 500 Avery Escajeda 2 9 Pea Ridge High School
4 510 Ella van Horn 2 9 Fayetteville Cycling Composite
5 504 Lauren Adams 2 9 Bentonville High School

10th Grade Girls
1 300 Felicity Leamon 2 10 Conway Composite

JV Girls
1 107 Cate Mertins 2 11 Haas Hall Academy
2 103 Jordan Sauls 2 10 Bentonville West High School
3 100 Abby Vernon 2 11 Bentonville High School
4 105 Meghan Willox 2 12 Springdale / Har-Ber High School
5 101 Angela Wurzer 2 12 Bentonville High School

Middle School Boys Wave
The eighth grade boys wave was as competitive as ever, with Oskar Minick, Neyland Robinson, and Charlie Carter all crossing the finish line within a minute of each other! The long steep hill climb was advantageous to Oskar, who is an excellent bike handler and has great conditioning from participating in cross country running..

James Jones from Conway Composite had another good race at Lake Leatherwood, winning the 7th grade boys race. And Josh Leamon edged out Clay Hobbs for the 6th grade boys victory.

“What I liked about the race at Lake Leatherwood was the community there,” said Hayden Blocker, an 8th grade boy at Arkansas Arts Academy. “I liked being able to hang out with all the people… the hardest part of the race was the downhill section of the trail. It took all the skill I had to stay on my bike while still maintaining a good speed.”

Results

6th Grade Boys
1 5025 JOSH LEAMAN Conway Composite
2 5027 CLAY HOBBS Poteau Public Schools
3 5000 WILL MERTINS Haas Hall Academy
4 5017 MABRY VERSER Rogers All Mountain Shredders
5 5015 CAMERON BRANTLEY Rogers All Mountain Shredders

7th Grade Boys
1 3018 JAMES JONES Conway Composite
2 3014 TUCKER PEITZ Lincoln Junior High School
3 3022 AUSTIN TRAYWICK Conway Composite
4 3021 HAYES PRUITT Conway Composite
5 3017 ANDREW CARNEY Rogers All Mountain Shredders

8th Grade Boys
1 1038 STERLING OSKAR MINICK Rogers All Mountain Shredders
2 1024 NEYLAND ROBINSON Lincoln Junior High School
3 1027 CHARLES CARTER Lincoln Junior High School
4 1042 ADRIAN ESPARZA Conway Composite
5 1045 STIHL SNYDER Poteau Public Schools

High School Boys Wave
Hunter Hobbs rode to victory in the varsity boys, with his first lap the fastest lap of anyone in the race, under 20 minutes! That was super fast! Jacob Smithpeters of Haas Hall Academy won the 2017 season points total for varsity boys, again with the 25 point bonus point for finishing all four races. Jacob said, “This season had its highs and lows. I was able to, for the first time, fully commit myself to biking. At first, I was extremely intimidated. I knew I petitioned up to the varsity category, and I knew it would bring challenges as a sophomore competing against a lot of seniors. Looking back, I am so grateful that I was accepted to race up, and I am thankful to all of the coaches and riders that pushed me, making me the rider I am today.”

Bryan Pendergraft won both the race at Leatherwood and the season points total for the Junior Varsity boys in his debut season with Arkansas NICA.

Garrett Pendergraft won the sophomore boys race at Leatherwood – another multi sport athlete that can navigate the climbing required at Leatherwood. Will Peterson and Garrett Chrisman, who have been going back and forth all season, shared the season points victory for the 2017 season.

The freshman boys race was well-fought. Dakota Falcon won the race and the season points total. Caleb Leis, another 9th grade boy, said of his season, “being on a mountain biking team means that I can be part of a group that will learn with each other to push forward and to do so together. It’s a great way to have fun and to get some really good exercise.”

Results

9th Grade Boys
1 611 DAKOTA FALCON (PTS LEADER) Bentonville High School
2 621 LANDON DOTY Springdale / Har-Ber High School
3 629 WES THOMPSON RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite
4 624 LUCIEN VERRONE Haas Hall Academy
5 627 LUCAS LLOYD RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite

10th Grade Boys
1 413 GARRETT PENDERGRAFT Conway Composite
2 430 WILL PETERSON (PTS LEADER) Bentonville High School
3 405 CAMDEN GOFF Haas Hall Academy
4 412 GARRETT CHRISMAN (PTS LEADER) Rogers All Mountain Shredders
5 432 ZACHARY COUTURE Haas Hall Academy

JV Boys
1 205 BRYAN PENDERGRAFT (PTS LEADER) Conway Composite
2 241 WYATT HOYT RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite
3 216 GRANT LAMPSON Rogers All Mountain Shredders
4 219 JADDEN MOOTY RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite
5 232 LUCAS BYRNE Bentonville West High School

Varsity Boys
1 52 HUNTER HOBBS Poteau Public Schools
2 53 JACOB SMITHPETERS (PTS LEADER) Haas Hall Academy
3 50 CONNOR PHILLIPS Bentonville High School
4 57 CARTER FERGUSON Bentonville High School
5 55 RYAN REDDELL Bentonville West High School

Season Results

9th Grade Boys
1 611 Dakota Falcon Bentonville High School
2 621 Landon Doty Springdale / Har-Ber High School
3 614 Eli Milton Bentonville High School
4 619 Jackson Springmann Bentonville High School
5 624 Lucien Verrone Haas Hall Academy

10th Grade Boys
1 412 Garrett Chrisman Rogers All Mountain Shredders
1 430 Will Peterson Bentonville High School
3 413 Garrett Pendergraft Conway Composite
4 432 Zachary Couture Haas Hall Academy
5 405 Camden Goff Haas Hall Academy

JV Boys
1 205 Bryan Pendergraft Conway Composite
2 216 Grant Lampson Rogers All Mountain Shredders
3 202 Alex McKinstry Rogers All Mountain Shredders
4 225 Josh Goodrich Bentonville High School
5 232 Lucas Byrne Bentonville West High School

Varsity Boys
1 53 Jacob Smithpeters Haas Hall Academy
2 52 Hunter Hobbs Poteau Public Schools
3 50 Connor Phillips Bentonville High School
4 55 Ryan Reddell Bentonville West High School
5 51 Glendon VanSandt Bentco Composite

Team Results

First Place Team Bentonville High School
Second Place Team Bentonville West High School
Third Place Team Haas Hall Academy

Season Results
First Place Team Bentonville High School
Second Place Team Bentonville West High School and Haas Hall Academy
Fourth Place Team Rogers All Mountain Shredder
Fifth Place Springdale Har-ber High School

Full results can be found here.

Photo Credits to Ellen Brune, Zuzanna Sitek