Gilmer Cartecay youth mountain bike team took third place for the day, and ended up taking home the top third spot in the 2025 Eastern Division Conference Series Championship of Georgia Cycling Association – Northside Hospital Race Series.
Dubbed the “Climb at Cleveland,” the Yonah Preserve race course featured topography familiar to Team Cartecay’s practice trails with lots of climbing, high speed descents, and flowy features stemming from bike optimized trail design. Each lap consisted of 5.2 miles with over 500 feet of elevation gain per lap.Team Cartecay riders completed the one lap distance in as little as 23 minutes.
Calvin Bash repeated his second place finish from his previous races, heading into the finish six tenths of a second behind the first place finisher. Bash finished 2nd in the 71 rider JV-2 category. Elayna Broyles, racing in the freshman girls division earned her fourth podium finish for the season taking fourth place for the day, trailing the third-place rider by only 49 seconds. Both Bash and Broyles earned the opportunity to compete at the state championship race Oct. 26 at Kingston Downs.
Middle school rider, Leo Alonso, finished fourth in the seventh-grade boys category only 45 seconds off of first place. Emrys Kelly, in only his second race of the year, finished on the podium in fourth place in the sixth-grade boys division, only 33 seconds off first place.
Senior Micah Slemons finished with a strong sprint to take 23rd place in the JV2 boys category. His effort earned him the right to compete at the Oct. 26 state championship race in Rome.
Miles Slemons placed seventh, and Nickolas Hollifield placed 13th in the highly competitive freshman boys division. Both athletes earned the opportunity to compete at the state championship race.
Lucy Nell Alonso placed ninth in the freshman girls category, earning her a spot in the state championship race as well.
Anna Farrow completed her sixth-grade year finishing 10th in the sixth-grade girls category. She will join middle school teammates Leo Alonso and Emrys Kelly at the state championship relay race.
First time racer, Ritchie Knobloch, achieved a major accomplishment in completing his first race after learning to ride his bike just eight weeks ago. His progress in finishing strong was matched only by the width of his smile.