Boulder\u2019s Madigan Munro dominated the girls varsity field to take home a state title, winning by over three minutes. Munro got off to a quick lead and never looked back, as she crossed the finish line in 1:24:59, while Sofia Forney, an independent rider, was second in 1:28:05. Ada Urist of Fairview, last year\u2019s state champion, finished in third while Durango High School junior Ruth Holcomb was fourth in 1:28:42.38.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels pretty exciting,\u201d Munro said. \u201cI was just focused on really having fun. It was my last race, and I wanted to leave it all out there, so I just right from the gun just went and just kept riding. I heard people yelling that \u2018You\u2019ve got a minute and a half,\u2019 and I was like \u2018Wow, that\u2019s kind of surprising.\u2019 I was just riding, wasn\u2019t too focused on how other people were doing. It was a tough field, and I\u2019m glad I got the win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Munro entered the race as the favorite, after she came into the race as the points leader, and finished sixth at world championships.<\/p>\n
Holcomb was proud of her fourth-place finish, after she battled back from the back row, and was in second heading into the final lap.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m actually stoked about my performance because I started in the back in my own row,\u201d Holcomb said. \u201cGoing into the first hill, I thought \u2018Wow, I\u2019d be lucky if I even break the top 10 today.\u2019 Everyone was going really fast. We started going downhill and started making up places, and was super excited to be up there. The Boulder girls were really talented, and I just went out there to see what I could do. That last hill, they had energy left in them that I used to catch up to them.<\/p>\n \u201cI was super impressed by Madigan, and going up the first hill, she already had a massive gap on everyone,\u201d continued Holcomb. \u201cShe\u2019s just absolutely killing it in mountain biking and cyclocross, and is a super solid rider.\u201d<\/p>\n Animas\u2019 best finish in the varsity race came from Abbey Shepard, who finished in ninth in 1:34:21, while Sage Davis took 32nd in 1:43:14.<\/p>\n In the sophomore races earlier, Boulder\u2019s Johnny Stanzione won in 53:31.50, while Marin Ward of Summit won in 1:07:36. Durango did not have a competitor in the boys race, but Zara Rose Brown rode to a seventh-place finish in the girls race in 1:11:47.<\/p>\n Boulder won the Division 1 title with 7,351 points, Fairview was second with 6,807 and Summit was third with 6,067. Animas finished in 13th in the division with 3,291 points. In Division 3, Aspen took home the crown with 2,113 points, Basalt was second with 1,991 and Fossil Ridge was third with 1,847. After a strong start on Saturday, Cortez-based High Desert Composite finished in eighth with 1,477 points.<\/p>\n After an impressive weekend of racing, Durango DEVO co-founder Chad Cheeney was impressed with the outreach from the community, and was also proud of DHS winning its third title in a row.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an absolutely amazing weekend,\u201d Cheeney said. \u201cThe community support was awesome, and so was seeing the kids giving it their all in all of the races. To see Durango win again was really awesome. It was really great to see the Holcomb sisters throw down great performances, and to have (Amos) win his first state championship was also really cool to see. \u2026 It\u2019s cool to see how big and rad it got. It has grown every year, and I can\u2019t wait to see what this event brings in the next couple of years.\u201d<\/p>\n