Mountain Bike Team Takes on “Electric" State Champs Trails, Dehner Snags Overall Podium Medal

Perched above Chattanooga is Raccoon Mountain (as well as Lookout and Signal Mountains seen off in the distance), but many are surprised to find this natural highland has been transformed into a TVA “pump-storage” facility, at which water is pumped up to the lake at the top of the mountain and then released back into Tennessee River as needed to generate power. While the mountain bike team is always relieved that these “mountain biking” trails on our final race ironically do not have much elevation change in the oddly unequal 3.5 and 4.5 mile laps, extra challenges abound, all require generating consistent power to the pedals. And while this final race of the season is scored on its own, the results here also factor into individual and team points accumulated all season long, with bonus points awarded for this race specifically, as well as extra points awarded to riders who could finish all 5 of the 2026 races.

 

Our two senior captains Charlie Blau and Caden Carrabba, who have collectively pedaled thousands of miles with us over their years racing with us, both had race experiences that represent the highs and lows of this sport. Carrabba was only able to compete in 2 races this season due to his theatrical talents and commitments, and so arrived at the start line both excited and nervous about how this race would go. Blau had made consistent progress all season long and felt strong and ready to take on a technical course that suited his strength as a rider to tackle tough terrain. Carrabba’s pulled out 2 laps at a steady pace, finishing in 57 minutes and thrilled that he felt strong and suffered no big incidents, despite not much consistent training or race experience this year. Blau started fast and then realized his rear brake was failing such that by the end of the first lap, he only had a working front brake - not ideal for a technical course full of hard corners and technical sections that requires as much brake modulation finesse as it does speed and power finesse. Knowing that a full 2nd lap with no rear brake would be daunting, if not a disaster, Blau pulled over to the neutral support area (incurring a 5-minute penalty) to have his rear brake adjusted to work again. That adjustment only held for a few minutes, unfortunately. So Blau's 2nd lap became both "super sketchy" and - without full stopping power - defined his second lap with at least three crashes before Charlie smartly decided that a 3rd lap for his JV1 category was just not in the cards for his final race day. Despite the mechanical issues, Blau raced 2 laps in 55 minutes. Bravo to these 2 senior boys for all the effort they have put into their USN mountain biking tenures.

 

Also racing JV2 Boys were our consistently strong duo of junior Aidan Harris and sophomore Charlie McNulty. Harris rode our fastest first lap in just over 20 minutes with McNulty only 20 seconds behind, then accelerating through his second lap to overtake Harris for a short section before McNulty lost control on one of the technical rock gardens. In the remaining miles, Harris passed McNulty and finished in just under a very quick 49 minutes, good for 19th with McNulty just 40 seconds behind in 22nd. 

 

In the HS girls races, sophomore Elsa Absi, who stood on the podium here last year in the JV3 category, once again faced a daunting group of fast JV1 racers, finishing in 12th in 53 minutes over 2 laps in her new double-upgraded category. In JV3, our trio of Brianna Castro, Clio Cherry-Pulay and Asha Guha finished in 15th, 21st and 24th in their 2-lap race. In JV2, Adeline Miller finished 10th in 70 minutes over 2 laps while Claire Dehner knew she needed a consistent final race to achieve an overall podium, which she did in fine form, racing to 6th place in just over 57 minutes and securing a 5th place overall podium appearance for the season.

 

The HS team landed in 7th place for the race, which also resulted in a 7th place standing for the season. HS racers Basil Broemel, Allen Chen, Barry Chen, Vincent Van Zandt and Suzie Zhao were not able to attend this race but contributed points throughout the season. In addition to Dehner’s 5th place overall podium (our only teammate to stand on the podium this season), other top-20 finishers included: Adeline Miller (9th overall), Aidan Harris (20th overall), Charlie McNulty (24th overall), Brianna Castro (18th) and Clio Cherry-Pulay (19th). Emmett Cheney and Mateus Byndloss also had solid race performances with Cheney finishing 35th out of 88 8th grade boys and Byndloss in 29th out of 82 7th grade boys.

 

Our 4 MS cyclists once again had consistent races with Sarah Absi finishing 12th and Emmett Cheney finishing 38th despite a fast 55 minute time for his 2 laps in a very quick field of 8th grade boys. New teammate Mateus Byndloss tackled this course with power and finesse, riding 2 laps in 58 minutes for 27th place, with Julian Schuetz Sevin arriving in 56th place. With just 4 racers, the MS squad finished in 13th place for the race and 11th overall for the season.

 

Full race and season overall results are posted at https://my.raceresult.com/431807/#0_90CF94 and the team would like to thank Angie Moore and the USN transportation crew, USN Athletics, and especially parents and families for all the logistical and fan support all season long.