GoPro Mountain Games minute: Minturn local wins Gore IV kayak race
Also, results from short-track mountain bike, Yeti Catch Wars and more
Madison Warshawsky/Courtesy photo
After placing second in the Gore IV raft challenge on Thursday, Rob Prechtl said one new storyline to this season has been a shift towards kayaking.
“It’s a little easier to get people together,” the Minturn whitewater athlete said after taking second in the team raft event. “I think there’s still that drive to go fast and challenge yourself.”
Prechtl’s new approach paid off on Friday. The Mountain Games Athlete Team member took top honors in the Gore IV Kayak Challenge, defeating perennial power Dane Jackson by 16 seconds. Prechtl completed the 4-mile stretch of rapids in 24 minutes, 00.37 seconds. Jackson’s brother-in-law, Nick Troutman (24:20.13) rounded out the podium as Prechtl’s rafting partner, Jeremiah Williams (24:28.97) was close behind in fourth. Meanwhile, John Anicito, who teamed up with Matt Norfleet to win the raft challenge on Thursday, placed sixth in the 27-paddler field.
Darcy Gaechter, the first and only woman to kayak the Amazon River from source to sea, topped the 9-member women’s field, besting Georgia native Olivia McGinnis by less than one second. Longtime Mountain Games veteran Emily Jackson was 21-seconds back in third.
Durango pro takes short-track mountain bike title
Fresh off winning his second-straight Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race, Durango’s Cobe Freeburn topped the men’s pro short-track mountain bike race on Friday morning in Vail. The 23-year-old torched the 14 lap course in 29:25.4 to finish 3.4 seconds up on Caleb Bottcher as Scott Funston rounded out the podium.
Support Local Journalism
On the women’s side, many-time Mountain Games champion Erin Huck, 43, edged out Bighorn Gravel champion Michaela Thompson, 22, by 0.04 seconds.
Numerous locals claimed amateur podiums in their respective divisions. Edwards riders T.J. Voboril and Jason Platt went 1-2 in the master’s men category and Freedom Bennett won the junior boys (15-16) race. Weston Sawtelle and Anna Bidstrup both claimed silver medals in the respective men’s and women’s 19-39 division.
The cross-country mountain bike race kicks off at 8 a.m. Saturday morning at the base of Golden Peak.
Edwards team wins YETI Catch Wars
The Edwards duo of Justin Carr and Danny Manzanares tallied 490 points to claim the victory in the YETI Catch Wars on Friday afternoon.
Teams dropped their boats in the Eagle River in Edwards and fished all the way to the Wolcott Campground. Scoring consisted of a combination of the number of trout caught and the length of competitors’ three measured fish. Measured fish were required to be a minimum of 12 inches in length, with 10 bonus points awarded for each additional inch.
Joseph Schwonke caught the largest (17 inches) fish of the afternoon to help he and Vail’s John Spriggs come in second with 420 points. Patrick Duke and Vail’s Chad Sperry (360) rounded out the podium.
Speed climbing makes Mountain Games debut
Speed climbing made its Mountain Games debut on Friday. The North American Cup Series qualifier was moved up to 9:30 a.m. as storms were predicted to move in later in the afternoon.
The fast-paced event, which features two athletes racing head-to-head and side-by-side on a 15-meter wall, wraps up with the finals on Saturday at 2 p.m.
