The Great Passion Play | Race Recap

2018 Arkansas Race Report #4 The Great Passion Play, Eureka Springs

6th graders Maddie Keller and Nate Smith hold the flag for the National Anthem before the race begins.

What a great end to the season the last race at the Great Passion Play was! Great Passion Play is a brand new trail system still under construction, and the trail we raced on was designed specifically for having a NICA race. The trail itself is fun and flowy – a skilled rider can use their bike skills to carry their momentum through many parts of the course without pedaling. But the trail also includes the biggest climbs the student-athletes have seen in a race this season, allowing riders with good fitness to make up some time on the hills. There were more than a few student athletes who may have ridden a few too many laps on Saturday afternoon – they just couldn’t stop riding they were enjoying themselves so much! The Passion Play is a very unique property. The start of the race went by the petting zoo and through a replica of the east gates of Jerusalem. About a minute after dropping onto the single track, riders could look up to their right and see a giant statue of Jesus – the Christ of the Ozarks, an iconic Eureka Springs landmark. The trail hugs the side of the hill and has beautiful vistas of the colorful foliage at the height of fall. Toward the end of the course, the trail crosses right at the entrance to the property, and then the riders go through the pasture where they keep their camels, horses, donkeys, etc. and up through the amphitheatre where they have the Passion Play. It’s a very memorable and unique course.

Below are three special stories I want to highlight:

Cate Mertins, Haas Hall Academy
Isaac Raymond, Providence Academy
Volunteer Awards
Race Results

Kyla and the Arkansas Team

NICA – People for Bikes Economic Impact Study

This season, NICA has partnered with People for Bikes to study the economic impact NICA races have on our community and we need YOUR help! Please take 5 minutes to complete the following short survey about last weekend’s race. Your participation will provide valuable information that will enable NICA to share the positive impact league events have on our state and within our communities. Survey participants will be entered in a drawing for a chance to win cool prizes, including a free race entry! You can access the survey HERE.

Thank you again for your help with and participation in this important study!

Cate Mertins

In 2016 when I started the mountain biking team at my school, I weighed 70 pounds, hadn’t done a sport since 5th grade, and had zero stamina. Honestly, the only reason that I chose to do mountain biking is because there wasn’t a lot of competition for girls and I needed something to write about for college essays. But after making friends and learning some skills at the very first team practice, I knew that mountain biking would turn out to be much, much more than that. It did. In fact, it changed my life.

Over the three years that I’ve been in NICA, I have grown strong in body, mind, and character. The sport helped me develop the confidence and strength to road bike, run cross country and track, try out and make the cheerleading team, and even earn a belt in Jiu Jitsu. These are all things that I didn’t do before because I thought I wasn’t good enough. I was scared of failure. NICA taught me how to break things down into smaller, manageable pieces, a tactic that I now use in many disciplines.

Most importantly, racing inspired a competitive spirit in me and taught me that if I really want something, I have to work for it. In the first season, I was the only one in my category. It was a good confidence boost to get first place every time, but the competitive part of racing just wasn’t there. The next year, I had some pretty intense competition with Jordan Sauls. Let me tell you, she’s fast – really fast. I ended up coming in second place almost every race, and I settled for that. I got it in my head that I couldn’t get first, and I told myself that I didn’t really care about winning. It wasn’t until my coach, Kim, asked me “What are your goals for your last season?” that I decided I wanted to be first place in varsity girls.

My last season of high school mountain bike racing was amazing. My team grew closer than ever, I raced with a large group of empowered ladies, and I stopped doubting myself and started racing with a goal in sight. All of my hard work came to fruition at the last race when I felt that feeling when you’re just flowing through the turns; when I powered up the hill, feeling the burning in my lungs; when I pedaled past a junior high girl as she wished me good luck; when I passed the finish line and heard a euphony of cheers; and when I stood at the top of the (crazy awesome) podium and earned the state champion title, finishing an integral period of my life.

Cate (second from left) with Jordan Sauls, Lily Henry, Zoe March.

Isaac Raymond

This was my first year racing NICA. It was a really interesting kind of cross country mountain biking after coming from AMBCS, where the race courses are way more technical. I really enjoy the larger fields in NICA, and how all the teams hang out and ride together. Sager Creek was a fun race, but I can’t say that all those flat turns were my favorite thing to ride. In a tragic turn of events, I cracked my frame right before the Bentonville NICA race, so I raced that and the OZ Trails Off-Road on a bike that the guys at Phat Tire let me borrow (if you’re reading this thank you so much). It’s really hard to adequately convey the relief I felt when I found out that my warranty got accepted. After my bike came back with a new frame, I converted to tubeless and switched to clipless pedals, which was a big jump after racing with flats for a year and a half. Hot Springs was my favorite race of the season, partly because I really like racing in mud, but also because hanging out with the rest of my team the night before at the hotel was super fun. Passion Play was a really fun race! I enjoyed how flowy the trail was, even with the really cold weather. The Kessler Jam race and the Passion Play race were scheduled on the same day, so that added an extra challenge to my race. I really enjoy NICA, and I can’t wait to race again next year.

Doing volunteer projects has been a critical part of the Providence Team. Since I started the Cycling Club in 2016, all of the work we’ve done has been volunteer work, whether its leading group rides, sending out race communications, or organizing practices. Our coach, Elizabeth Daughrity, is a volunteer, and she has done a fantastic job at coaching the team. Trail maintenance and attending the Bella Vista POA meeting about the future of their trails are both part of how I got 45 hours. The rest were from things I was already doing to keep the Providence Cycling Club going that also happened to count as hours, like meetings with administration and jersey design. The rake award was great; I’ve been in my backyard cutting trails for the past couple days. The more trails the better. A big reason why I volunteered so much is because we live in a really cool part of the country, and I want to make sure it stays that way.

Volunteer Hours

Thinking back on the 2018 season, the thing we are the most proud of is the time our student athletes gave back to their community. Stewardship has long been a part of mountain biking – in many places, the only trails there are to ride are the ones that volunteers build themselves. On top of that, the Arkansas League feels like community service is one of the most tangible ways to instill strong character in student-athletes. We partnered with OORC and CATA to do trail work days at our race venues a couple weeks before each race and had over 60 student-athletes, parents, siblings, and community members at each event, We partnered with OORC to build a small trail on the Pea Ridge Schools campus – an effort by many of the different teams in the League, not just the one that was going to benefit the most directly from it. We gave a bonus on the series total for doing ten or more hours of volunteer time, and 109 student athletes participated for over 1200 volunteer hours! I can only imagine the potential when everyone chooses to participate and give back – thousands of hours given to many different organizations and locations.

Three Top Student Athletes
1. Trevor Bolena
2. Isaac Raymond
3. Seth Wilkerson

Student-Athletes to turn their forms in before October:
* Hayden Blocker, Arkansas Arts Academy
* Jonathan Ewin, Bentonville West
* Ryleigh Reddell, Bentonville West
* Cobe Taylor, Bentonville West
* Jordan Sauls, Bentonville West
* Dakota Falcon, Bentonville High School

Highest Team Percentage: Lincoln High School

Lincoln High School on the podium – our highest team participation award!

Race Results – Middle School Boys – Race 4

Results

8th Grade Boys
1 2007 AUSTIN TRAYWICK Conway Composite
2 2034 MALACHI JACKSON Oklahoma Flyers – Tulsa
3 2027 JAMES JONES Conway Composite
4 2028 HAYES PRUITT Conway Composite
5 2029 KADEN CHASE Fulbright Junior High School

7th Grade Boys
1 4027 JOSHUA LEAMON Conway Composite
2 4031 WILL MERTINS Haas Hall Academy
3 4028 GRAYSON VERNON Lincoln Junior High School
4 4058 GRAELAN RODGERS Hot Springs
5 4022 ALEX GRAY The New School

6th Grade Boys
1 6018 TEAGUN WELLS Lincoln Junior High School
2 6020 TYMOTHY CLARK Rogers All Mountain Shredders
3 6000 HARRY WARE Lincoln Junior High School
4 6015 HENRY LITTLE Arkansas Arts Academy
5 6028 JAMES MAYFIELD The New School

Arms up for podium pic!

Seventh Grade Boys start their race!

Race Results – Middle School Girls – Race 4

Results

8th Grade Girls
1 1006 EMMERY BRAY Lincoln Junior High School
2 1008 ELLA WISE Thaden School
3 1009 KATIE CONWAY Haas Hall Academy
4 1000 OLIVIA CARTE Siloam Springs Comp
5 1011 DAY STOKER River Valley OORC

7th Grade Girls
1 3010 KAYLEIGH COSTELLO Hot Springs
2 3013 NORAH PHELPS Haas Hall Academy
3 3006 CICELY VORHEES Lincoln Junior High School
4 3004 KEERA TUCKER Lincoln Junior High School
5 3014 ARIANNA CLARK Conway Composite

6th Grade Girls
1 5014 MADDIE KELLER Lincoln Junior High School
2 5013 HARPER MOORE Lincoln Junior High School
3 5002 ALYSSA LONG Lincoln Junior High School
4 5015 LAURA FILES Little Rock Composite
5 5017 ANIKA TIMBOE Siloam Springs Comp

Emmery Bray finished the season with first place in the 8th Grade Girls.

7th grade girls line up to race!

Race Results – High School Girls – Race 4

Results

Varsity Girls
1 3 CATE MERTINS Haas Hall Academy
2 1 JORDAN SAULS Bentonville West High
3 2 ABBY VERNON Bentonville High School

JV Girls
1 100 ZOE MARCH Bentonville West High
2 108 ELLA MERTINS Haas Hall Academy
3 106 NINA ZEILER Bentonville High School
4 102 TATUMN LUEDDERS Bentonville High School
5 111 LILY HENRY Haas Hall Academy

Sophomore Girls
1 306 VICTORIA HATLEY Arkansas Arts Academy
2 301 LAUREN ADAMS Bentonville High School
3 307 RAYNA VANKEUREN Conway Composite
4 308 SERENITY MILLWOOD Lincoln Consolidated School
5 302 ELLA VAN HORN Fayetteville Student

Freshman Girls
1 506 EMMA JOHNSON Little Rock Composite
2 501 RYLEIGH REDDELL Bentonville West High
3 505 MACKENZIE CHAVEZ Poteau Public Schools
4 502 KATHRYN KELLEY Rogers All Mountain Shredders
5 503 EMMA HAMBY Haas Hall Academy

Jordan Sauls, Cate Mertins, Lily Henry (her first mountain bike race ever!), Zoe March after their race.

Zoe March rides her way to victory in JV girls.

Race Results – High School Boys – Race 4

Results

Varsity Boys
1 59 BRYAN PENDERGRAFT Conway Composite
2 57 JACOB SMITHPETERS Haas Hall Academy
3 60 KYE CORDES Oklahoma Flyers – Tulsa
4 55 GRANT LAMPSON Rogers All Mountain Shredders
5 51 JOSH GOODRICH Bentonville High School

JV Boys
1 226 GARRETT PENDERGRAFT Conway Composite
2 257 SAMUEL GUREL Haas Hall Academy
3 220 WILL PETERSON Bentonville High School
4 200 JAKE TRUMAN Siloam Springs Comp
5 209 JOEL BOUMA Rogers All Mountain

Sophomore Boys
1 443 TITUS SCHADEGG Oklahoma Flyers – Tulsa
2 418 LEVI GARRETT Conway Composite
3 401 JACKSON SPRINGMANN Bentonville High School
4 420 ETHAN UHLFELDER Conway Composite
5 447 ELY SEAY Bentonville High School

Freshman Boys
1 637 OSKAR MINICK Rogers All Mountain Shredders
2 625 CHARLES CARTER Bentonville West High
3 628 CHASE FERGUSON Bentonville High School
4 644 TATE MCCALL Providence Classical
5 629 JACKSON HORTON Bentonville High School

Rogers RAMS Riders Liam Hulett, Easton Bouma, Juan Cantor, and Oscar Minick before the start of the Freshman Boys race.

Little Rock rider Levi Garrett gets his flow on the trail.

Team Results – Race 4

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

Small Team Results

First Place Small Team Lincoln High School
Second Place Small Team Pea Ridge High School
Third Place Small Team Arkansas Arts Academy

Full results can be found here.
Photo Credits to Rickey Rogers, Khristian Kennedy, and Cate Mertins.

Haas Hall Academy took the race 4 win and the series win for 2018.

Boys Series Results

Results

Varsity Boys
1 58 CAYDEN PARKER Hot Springs Thoroughbreds
2 59 BRYAN PENDERGRAFT Conway Composite
3 57 JACOB SMITHPETERS Haas Hall Academy
4 52 CARTER FERGUSON Bentonville High School
5 51 JOSH GOODRICH Bentonville High School
5 56 ALEX MCKINSTRY Rogers All Mountain Shredders

JV Boys
1 226 GARRETT PENDERGRAFT Conway Composite
2 220 WILL PETERSON Bentonville High School
3 257 SAMUEL GUREL Haas Hall Academy
4 209 JOEL BOUMA Rogers All Mountain Shredders
5 204 DAKOTA FALCON Bentonville High School

Sophomore Boys
1 418 LEVI GARRETT Conway Composite
2 443 TITUS SCHADEGG Oklahoma Flyers – Tulsa
3 414 BRYCE WATSON Bentonville High School
4 420 ETHAN UHLFELDER Conway Composite
5 401 JACKSON SPRINGMAN Bentonville High School

Freshman Boys
1 637 OSKAR MINICK Rogers All Mountain Shredders
2 625 CHARLES CARTER Bentonville West High
3 636 STIHL SNYDER Poteau Public Schools
3 628 CHASE FERGUSON Bentonville High School
4 629 JACKSON HORTON Bentonville High School

8th Grade Boys
1 2007 AUSTIN TRAYWICK Conway Composite
2 2034 MALACHI JACKSON Oklahoma Flyers – Tulsa
3 2015 TUCKER PEITZ Lincoln Junior High School
4 2008 WILL SIEGEL Conway Composite
5 2027 JAMES JONES Conway Composite
5 2028 HAYES PRUITT Conway Composite

Girls Series Results

Results

Varsity Girls
1 3 CATE MERTINS Haas Hall Academy
2 1 JORDAN SAULS Bentonville West High
3 2 ABBY VERNON Bentonville High School

JV Girls
1 100 ZOE MARCH 2 10 Bentonville West High
2 108 ELLA MERTINS 2 10 Haas Hall Academy
3 106 NINA ZEILER 2 10 Bentonville High School
4 102 TATUMN 2 12 Bentonville High School
5 109 HAVILAH 2 12 Hot Springs

Sophomore Girls
1 305 AVERY ESCAJEDA 2 10 Pea Ridge High School
2 301 LAUREN ADAMS 2 10 Bentonville High School
3 306 VICTORIA HATLEY 2 10 Arkansas Arts Academy
4 307 RAYNA 2 10 Conway Composite
5 308 SERENITY 2 10 Lincoln Consolidated

Freshman Girls
1 501 RYLEIGH REDDELL 2 9 Bentonville West High
2 506 EMMA JOHNSON 2 9 Little Rock Composite
3 505 MACKENZIE 2 9 Poteau Public Schools
4 502 KATHRYN KELLEY 2 9 Rogers All Mountain
5 503 EMMA HAMBY 2 9 Haas Hall Academy

8th Grade Girls
1 1006 EMMERY BRAY 2 8 Lincoln Junior High School
2 1007 CARRIE POOL 2 8 Lincoln Junior High School
3 1008 ELLA WISE 2 8 Thaden School
3 1009 KATIE CONWAY 2 8 Haas Hall Academy
5 1000 OLIVIA CARTE 2 8 Siloam Springs Comp

Team Results – Overall Series

First Place Team Haas Hall Academy
Second Place Team Bentonville High School
Third Place Team Bentonville West
Fourth Place Team Conway Composite
Fifth Place Team Rogers All Mountain Shredders