Old Post Trail | Race Recap - Ozark Cycling Adventures

2017 Arkansas NICA Race Report #2

Arkansas NICA’s second race of the 2017 was Sunday September 24 in Russellville, Arkansas at Old Post Trail. Old Post Trail is located on US Army Corp of Engineers property adjacent to a locke in the Arkansas River. The pit zone was set in a field above the river, and the trails wind through a pine forest with grassy and rocky areas intermingled through the course. The course finishes with a quick, straight downhill next to an old quarry pond. It’s a little bit of an unusual setting for a mountain bike course. The dry, hot weather the week leading up to the race left the course very dry and dusty. The weather for race day was quite hot considering it was the second day of fall, which definitely played into how the athletes approached the race and the weekend.

Carter Williams, a Sophomore from Pea Ridge, and Eli Wiggins, an 8th grader from Pea Ridge, both agreed that camping and spending time with their team was their favorite part of the weekend and that the heat was the hardest part of the race. Arkansas NICA is creating a special community – where student-athletes can be both challenged to grow as well as to enjoy community with other people.

varsity

Girls Wave

The morning kicked off with the girls wave at 9:30. In the JV race, it was neck-and-neck between Jordan Sauls and Cate Mertins for the first lap but Jordan pulled ahead and took the first place finish. In the Freshman girls, Bentonville High School’s Nina Zeiler took her second win of the season to retain the Leader’s Jersey.

The 6th and 7th grade girls were only one lap, but the competition was fierce. Audrey Brinkley edged out Cat Henry by only 11 seconds, and Ryan Grynwald had only twenty-two seconds over Katie Conway of Haas Hall. In the 8th grade girls race, Mackenzie Chaves took her second race in a row.

Results

6th Grade Girls
1 AUDREY BRINKLEY Lincoln Junior High School
2 CATHERINE HENRY The New School
3 KAYLEY BENTLEY Lincoln Junior High School
4 KEERA TUCKER Lincoln Junior High School
5 HAILEY CODDINGTON Conway Composite

7th Grade Girls
1 RYAN GRYNWALD RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite
2 KATIE CONWAY Haas Hall Academy
3 ABBY MARTIN Haas Hall Academy
4 OLIVIA CARTE AR West Benton County
5 CHELSEA COUTURE Haas Hall Academy

8th Grade Girls
1 MACKENZIE CHAVEZ Poteau Public Schools
2 RYLEIGH REDDELL Lincoln Junior High School
3 EMMA JOHNSON RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite
4 DALLICE WHITE Pea Ridge High School
5 EMMA HAMBY Haas Hall Academy

9th Grade Girls
1 NINA ZEILER Bentonville High School (Points Leader)
2 AVERY ESCAJEDA Pea Ridge High School
3 LAUREN ADAMS Bentonville High School
4 ELLA VAN HORN Fayetteville Cycling Composite
5 MONICA SANCHEZ FLORES Fayetteville Cycling Composite

JV Girls
1 JORDAN SAULS Bentonville West High School
2 CATE MERTINS Haas Hall Academy (Points Leader)
3 ABBY VERNON Bentonville High School
4 ANGELA WURZER Bentonville High School
5 NATALIE PEET Bentonville High School

Middle School Boys Wave

The 8th grade boys wave was again a highly competitive race, made even more competitive with a couple new additions to the category – Stihl Snyder and Finn Parker, both seasoned racers. But Neyland Robinson from Lincoln Junior High pulled out the win. Trevor Bolena an 8th grader from Lincoln Junior High, had his best finish ever at a NICA race at Old Post and said, “ the hardest part of the course was saving some energy for the hardest parts and not using all the energy on the first lap. Best part of the course was having two laps so we had opportunities to pass.”

Conway composite dominated the 7th grade boys race – James Jones taking the first place, Austin Traywick taking second, and Hayes Pruitt fourth. And Josh Leamon, also from Conway Composite also took the first spot in the 6th grade boys race. A great showing from a team brand new to the League this year!

Results

6th Grade Boys
1 JOSHUA LEAMON Conway Composite
2 CAMERON BRANTLEY Rogers All Mountain Shredders
3 LUKE BROOKS Poteau Public Schools
4 MABRY VERSER Rogers All Mountain Shredders
5 CLAY HOBBS Poteau Public Schools

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

8th Grade Boys
1 NEYLAND ROBINSON Lincoln Junior High School
2 STERLING OSKAR MINICK Rogers All Mountain Shredders
3 CHARLES CARTER Lincoln Junior High School
4 STIHL SNYDER Poteau Public Schools
5 ANDREW FILES RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite

Lincoln

High School Boys Wave

The high school boys raced in the hottest part of the day, so the races were a little shorter than normal because of the heat. Thankfully, the temperature riding through the shade of the trees covering the course was cooler than the pit zone field.

Brothers, triathletes, and new NICA riders Garrett and Bryan Pendergraft from Conway composite won the 10th grade and JV boys races. And Cayden Parker from Conway won the 9th grade boys race

Results

9th Grade Boys
1 CAYDEN PARKER Conway Composite
2 DAKOTA FALCON (Points Leader) Bentonville High School
3 ELI MILTON Bentonville High School
4 JACKSON SPRINGMANN Bentonville High School
5 WES THOMPSON RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite

10th Grade Boys
1 GARRETT PENDERGRAFT Conway Composite
2 GARRETT CHRISMAN (Points Leader) Rogers All Mountain Shredders
3 WILL PETERSON Bentonville High School
4 ZACHARY COUTURE Haas Hall Academy
5 JOEL BOUMA Rogers All Mountain Shredders

JV Boys
1 BRYAN PENDERGRAFT Conway Composite
2 GRANT LAMPSON Rogers All Mountain Shredders
3 WYATT HOYT RazorbaCX Little Rock Composite
4 ALEX MCKINSTRY (Points Leader) Rogers All Mountain Shredders
5 LUCAS BYRNE Bentonville West High School

Varsity Boys
1 HUNTER HOBBS Poteau Public Schools
2 JACOB SMITHPETERS (Points Leader) Haas Hall Academy
3 CONNOR PHILLIPS Bentonville High School
4 RYAN REDDELL Bentonville West High School
5 GLENDON VANSANDT Bentco Composite

BHSboys