Finale, Podiums, and Full Hearts

Full Results Posted At : https://my.raceresult.com/400109/

The older I get, the mushier I feel. As a coach for the team and father of one of the racers, this weekend held a special space in my heart as this was the last race that my son would be able to race for NICA since he is aging out. On a positive note, he has committed to coaching side-by-side with me next year. This season finale could not have gone better for the team. We filled podiums, we got together as a group, and each person seemed to hit the goals they had checked for themselves for the weekend.

Right out of the chute, let’s talk about track setup. Every race weekend, there’s a push for volunteers to come help set up the infield and the track for the racers to use for the weekend. This last race of 2026, Hutchinson Composite, the Disciples of Dirt, showed up in force to set up the infield. Not only that, but other teams also showed up in force. So what normally takes two and a half to three hours took about 40 minutes.

This gave us ample time to cruise off-site and set up our camping arrangements for the weekend. Camping together as a team is one of the things that I personally see as a highlight in the series. When the kids turn off their phones and play Ghost in the Graveyard or run around playing Flashlight Tag while the adults hang around and chat, it reminds me of the 70s and 80s and of a much more peaceful time before social media, and kids were drawn to their screens.

Once camp was set up, we set off back to the track to set up the pit zone. Pit zone is like a base of operations for the weekend, where the racers, parents, and coaches all gather to have meetings, discuss strategy, and rest and fuel before and after our events.

We were expecting extremely hot and humid weather, so our goal was to pre-ride the track as thoroughly as possible, but only do two laps per person to keep our energy and our hydration up for race day.

It is set up so that the coaches ride first, and then GRiT goes for a ride, and then at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, all racers are encouraged to ride with their coaches to pre-ride the course prior to the race on Sunday. Hosted in Emporia, the Coyote Race Team did an amazing job of hosting and preparing the track for our use. Many on our team said that this trail was their favorite of the season. Unique to this trail was a jump line exposed to the spectators, but featuring jumps higher than most of the racers have seen previously in any riding environment.

While some might balk at the extra challenge for the racers, others would see it as a breath of fresh air and a challenge with excitement. The racers on our team surely fell for the latter and embraced the idea of running laps and trying to do the jumps successfully and efficiently.

Each of the riders was given ample opportunity to ride at least two laps, and after 5 o’clock p.m. were permitted to enter the trail and practice or session any part of the track that they had chosen. Haydon, my son, had chosen to session the rock drop that went around a corner and a few of the jumps.

with a full afternoon of riding under our belt. It was time to head back to camp and have the team supper.

Team Supper

Sponsored by one of the families at this event, Riley’s parents supplied shredded pork fresh off the smoker, which we turned into tacos and pork platters for everyone in attendance. The pork was prepared flawlessly and accompanied by shredded cheese, tortillas, sour cream, lettuce, fresh salsa, chips, and fruit drinks for the kids.

While it seems like the Disciples of Dirt is gaining a reputation for throwing a great party at most events, we cannot let the detail fall short that we have our own beer prepared by a brewing champion, Kevin Reade. We’ve named this beer Trail Fuel and it sure goes down great after a day on the trail.

We kicked off breakfast early on Sunday since the camping was off-site, and we wanted to pack up and get ready to go early. Breakfast was off the chain. We recycled some of the leftover pork and made shredded pork, egg and cheese, burritos and tacos, along with protein pancakes, sausage, and plain scrambled eggs.

I don’t know what other teams ate for breakfast on this day, but I know they most likely could not have beaten a breakfast burrito with fresh smoked shredded pork, eggs, cheese, sour cream, and fresh homemade salsa.

While some of the coaches head back to the race course and pit zone with our racers, others stay behind to finish packing up camp. The racers must get to the trail early and perform their stretches and their warm-up before their event. While we don’t have any fifth graders, which is the first race of the day, we do have a handful of middle schoolers, and we want to make sure that they are ready and warm when the second event takes off, which they are in.

The whistle blew, and off they went. As the group passed through the first couple of turns, Ben Woodcock was already fighting within the top five for his class. Back in the pack, we had Kellen, Brock, Riley, Riker, and Levi all putting in work.

So many things to note in this event as each rider has their own goal to attain. Ben Woodcock tossed up another win on the season. Riley tried to uproot a small tree. Brock broke his goal of “top 10” with a solid seventh place finish. Levi earned 12th and Kellen put in a solid 14th.

Parker? Well, it looks like Parker wins the “Not a Jump, keep your wheels on the ground” – airtime award!!!

All of this riding a trail they’ve never seen before, with obstacles they’ve never had to traverse in their previous events.

Our GRiT riders were light this weekend. We were down to two. Libby, on her newer Specialized dual suspension bike, has been riding like a new rider this last few races. Mali – our newest teammate – has been slaying it and coming up quickly.

When Libby rides, it’s hard to miss her as her bright pink helmet gives her away. The weather had tempered down quite a bit for Sunday, and the temperatures were not as hot as we had expected. That was quite a relief to the riders. As Libby’s event started, she battled for position coming up towards the feed zone, but held her own around the Jeep corners and into the woods. On the second lap, she actually looked calmer and more confident than on her first lap. And as she qualified for her third lap, she cruised past the feed zone, looking solid and confident, and was able to finish strong.

She had just missed a top 10 finish by finishing in 11th position.

Mali got a great start in her event riding for middle school girls, but she got a little bamboozled nearing the feed zone. A rider about 20 to 25 feet behind her started shouting, “On your left, on your left.” And as Mali went into one of the turns, she slowed and looked over her shoulder, seeing nobody there. As she got into the next corner, which is a hairpin left-hand turn, she again heard, “On your left, on your left.” And as she slowed and looked over her shoulder, she seemed confused, lost her pace, and then, suddenly, as she came on to the straightaway past the feed zone, lost three positions.

Racing is full of emotions. While I wouldn’t say that this was trickery on purpose, it is a demonstration of people getting excited in the moment. Mali had not done anything wrong other than slowing down and pulling to the side to let somebody pass who hadn’t earned the privilege or ability to pass. Mali was in seventh position when this occurred, and she still managed to finish in ninth place overall after the race.

Like some of our other classes, we were also underrepresented in the high school boys’ racing class. Haydon represented the team in varsity, while Collin and Will represented the team in JV3. Colin has had a win streak this entire season in JV3, and it’s been an absolute thrill to watch him dominate and grow through the experience, and build a sense of strategy about the way he approaches race day.

Will worked really hard and rode a solid race to come away with 14th position for the day. Collin managed to win another event, and not just win this time, but win definitively with a large lead over second place. He had managed to eke out a lead of over two and a half minutes past second place.

Haydon, in our varsity class, was riding a new mountain bike for him, a dual suspension, when he usually rides a Trek hardtail. In the event on the trail, it looked like Haydon was struggling – but in looking at the times after the race, this turned out to be one of his best showings ever. Haydon was almost matching Collin’s race pace and turned out in seventh position in the varsity class, about 2.5 minutes behind 6th position.

Well, Ethan took to the podium to represent us in fourth place, for the season, as a team. Wow! Think about that. The town that has no Mountain Bike Trails just got 4th overall in the state!

Haydon brought us home in first place for individual Trail Core hours. This is the act of paying it forward and working on the trails or facilities that racers ride on. For team trail core hours, Mali took to the podium to represent our 3rd place.

So Hutchinson hits the podium five times at the season finale!!

How to get involved

Well, money is always good and we take donation through the site at https://hutchcomposite.com

If you have a young one between 5th grade and senior year who wants to ride, bring them. Do not let money tell you it’s not possible. We can arrange loaner equipment to get started, and we never want budget to be the reason a kid can’t ride.

If you are a potential corporate sponsor and would like to discuss what that looks like, please reach out through the contact link on our site.