PCHS mountain bikers take second at Soldier Hollow regional meet

SoHo hosts PCHS MTB meet where the Miners stood in second place on the podium. Photo: TownLift // Michele Roepke

MIDWAY, Utah — The Park City High School Mountain Bike Team placed second in Division 1 after hosting the season’s largest regional meet Saturday at Soldier Hollow.

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Among the team’s 268 riders, seniors Porter Hoffman, Max Cardenas, Henry Sargent, Eli Wilcox and Cody Grassmeyer earned podium finishes.

Donovan Toly placed second in Advanced Boys. Toly also competes in cross-country ski races at Soldier Hollow during the winter.

Park City riders swept the top three places in Advanced Devo, while Harley Deters placed third in his division. Mason Schwarzenbach won Freshman A, leading a strong Park City freshman group that claimed four of the five podium spots.

Rider Stoughton, the son of coach and teacher Pete Stoughton, competed in his first race alongside Jackson Strauss and Johnny Minahan.

About 7,500 students compete on Utah high school mountain bike teams, and approximately 1,200 riders participated in Saturday’s competition, representing one of the state’s six regions. Two of the country’s largest teams competed at the meet.

“It’s been a really exciting event,” Stoughton told TownLift after the race. “We’re in the largest region race with some of the biggest and best teams in the country, and specifically here in the state, racing against Corner Canyon and Brighton.”

“It’s really been fun that our kids are getting the chance to race against some of the best, and they came in second, so we’re really proud of them,” he added.

Senior Luke Miller returned from a European training camp for Nordic combined skiing at 9 p.m. the night before the race. He arrived to find his car decorated with a welcome-home message from teammates.

Miller and his freshman brother, Emmett, both improved upon their starting positions by the finish despite the travel and potential jet lag. Emmett gave TownLift two thumbs up when asked about being part of the team.

Their mother, Carrie Miller, was among the parent volunteers working throughout the meet. She distributed costumes to athletes and parents for the Pirates vs. Beach-themed race week.

Miller credited fellow parent volunteers, who set up a kitchen under tents to feed athletes competing in waves from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. She also praised riders for offering words of encouragement to teammates and opponents as they passed one another on the course.

Park City student Ella Carlson also competed while her mother volunteered at the event. Carlson balances her mountain bike team participation with her academic pursuits at Park City High School.

Olympic silver medalist Haley Batten, a Park City High graduate and former member of the school’s mountain bike team, is scheduled to compete in a World Cup event at the Olympic venue Sept. 19-20. Many members of the high school team plan to attend and cheer for her.

Stoughton also recognized first-year rider Lindsey Campbell for her perseverance during her first single-lap race.

“She crashed amazingly on one of the jumps,” Stoughton told TownLift, “and got back up and finished the race.”