Christopher Blevins’ year headlines local athletes’ accomplishments
Durango’s Christopher Blevins celebrates on the top step of the podium after one of his two wins in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic, in May. (Photo by Michael Cerveny)
It’s not 2026 yet, but it’s still a good time to look back at the top sports moments of 2025 before the new year.
There have been many memorable moments in 2025, with upset wins, game-winning shots, goals and hits. Durango athletes performed at their best in front of friends and family in La Plata County and thousands of miles away around the world.
Plenty of athletes had top moments in 2025, but Christopher Blevins stood above the rest of Durango’s athletes and moments. He became the first American male to secure the men’s mountain bike World Cup overall since 1991 and holds the 2025 UCI World Cup title for both cross-country short track (XCC) and cross-country Olympic (XCO) men’s elite divisions. He won nine World Cup races in 2025, making it a season to remember.
Blevins had plenty of headlines. However, there are still other teams, athletes and moments in Durango that deserve to be celebrated.
Let’s take a look back at each month of 2025 to see what the top stories and moments of the year were:
January: Durango High School girls basketball wins 12 consecutive games
Mariah Maestas of Durango High School puts up a shot while playing Montezuma-Cortez High School on Jan.7 at DHS. (Jerry McBride/Herald file)
Jerry McBride
The Durango High School girls basketball team had a fantastic 2024-2025, and a big reason why was its success in December and January.
It wasn’t the best start for the Demons, with two losses by a combined eight points in their first three games of the season. Then, Durango went on a run.
The Demons won 12 consecutive games, with the last six of those games coming in January. The run established Durango as a top team on the Western Slope and a top-10 team in 5A. It was a dominant run, with not a single win coming by less than four points, and 10 of those wins were by double digits.
It was an important run for the four seniors (Lilly Fitzpatrick, Ellie White, Mariah Maestas, Tyler Trujillo), who hadn’t been the main players on a winning team in their careers. The run eventually led to a 5A Great 8 state tournament appearance as a fantastic way to cap their careers.
February: Dugan, deKay finish second at state wrestling championships
Ignacio’s Lincoln deKay tries putting Norwood’s Coulter Shumway down for the count during 165-pound semifinal action at the IHS-hosted 2025 Class 2A Boys Wrestling Region II Championships. (Herald file)
No athletes or teams from Bayfield High School, Durango High School and Ignacio High School won state championships in 2025, but Durango’s Ryan Dugan and Ignacio’s Lincoln deKay were the closest.
Both wrestlers finished second at the Colorado High School Activities Association’s wrestling state championships in February.
It was a disappointing end to Dugan’s high school wrestling career as he had the state title in his sights over his final two seasons.
Dugan, a senior wrestling at 126 pounds in 4A, was the top seed in that bracket in February. He faced a familiar opponent in Julian Espinoza from Pueblo East. Dugan pinned Espinosa in the final of the 4A Region 1 Regional. Espinoza got the best of Dugan in the state final and won 1-0. Dugan finished his senior season 38-5 and came just short of being Durango’s first state champion in wrestling since 2000.
deKay wrestled at 165 pounds in 2A as a junior in February. In the final, deKay lost to Tripp DuVall from Holly 11-2, and Ignacio’s top wrestler finished his season 44-6.
Despite the loss, it was a fantastic career for Dugan. deKay’s high school career isn’t over as he chases the state title this season as a senior.
March: Durango girls basketball makes it to 5A Great 8
Durango High School celebrates its win over Montrose High School on March 5 at DHS during the Sweet 16 of the 5A state playoffs. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Jerry McBride
After winning 12 consecutive games in December and January, the Demons set themselves up for a great playoff run with the No. 8 seed in the 5A state championships. But a familiar foe stood in their way in Montrose.
The Red Hawks had beaten the Demons twice in the regular season by a combined eight points. Durango led going into the fourth quarter in both games. The Demons faced the Red Hawks in the 5A Sweet 16, and the third time was the charm, with Durango using its strong defense in a 32-23 win.
That win put Durango in the 5A Great 8 in the Denver Coliseum. Despite losing by 30 to top-seeded Air Academy, it was a successful season to get that far with a balanced team, not just a dominant player.
April: Blevins wins three of first four World Cup men’s elite mountain bike races
Durango’s Christopher Blevins crosses the finish line victorious at the second round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Araxá, Minas Gerais, Brazil in April. (Photo by Piper Albrecht)
Durango’s Christopher Blevins had a magical 2025, and it all started with the beginning of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup season in Brazil in April.
Blevins showed in 2024 that he was good in Brazil with victories to start that season. In 2025, he showed the previous year wasn’t a fluke and that he was ready to content for the World Cup overall.
In Round 1 in Araxá, Brazil, Blevins won the men’s elite cross-country short track (XCC) and finished second in the men’s elite cross-country Olympic (XCO). In Round 2 in Araxá, Blevins won both races. This strong start gave Blevins a lead in the overall he wouldn’t relinquish.
May: Cobe Freeburn wins second consecutive Iron Horse Bicycle Classic
Cobe Freeburn, left, and Kai Lokey descend Coal Bank Pass during the 2025 Iron Horse Bicycle Classic road race on May 24 on their way to the finish line in Silverton. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Jerry McBride
The Iron Horse Bicycle Classic has been a proving ground for the top young riders around Durango for decades, and the 2025 race was no different.
Durango’s Cobe Freeburn won his second consecutive Iron Horse Bicycle Classic men’s pro race, biding his time before pulling away as the leaders descended into Silverton. It was a fantastic 2025 for Freeburn. The question is, will he race again to make it three consecutive wins in 2026?
June: Blevins has historic start to World Cup men’s elite short track mountain bike races
Durango’s Christopher Blevins competes in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup at Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic, in May. Blevins won both the men’s elite races and leads the men’s elite standings. (Photo by Michael Cerveny)
After an excellent start in Brazil, Blevins looked unbeatable in the XCC races as the season went into the summer.
Blevins won the first five XCC races, with the last coming in Val di Sole, Italy, in late June. These wins helped Blevins maintain control of the overall title, even when he failed to finish on the podium of the XCO races.
At this point in the season, it seemed like Blevins wouldn’t be beaten in short track. He always seemed to know how to position himself in the early laps, when to kick and how much to have in the tank.
July: Quinn Simmons finishes second in Tour de France stage
Quinn Simmons competed in the 2025 Tour de France starting on July 5. It was Simmons’ third Tour de France. (Courtesy Lidl-Trek)
July was a month focused on cycling, with the Tour de France, the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup happening and local high school and college sports on hiatus for the summer.
Durango’s Quinn Simmons grabbed plenty of the local headlines with his performances at the Tour de France. Simmons was an accomplished junior rider, winning the 2018 U.S. road race and time trial national championships and the 2019 junior road race world championship. But after crashes and injuries in his first few Tour de Frances, Simmons showed his talent in 2025.
Simmons got in the breakaway during Stage 6 of the Tour de France and crossed the line in second out of 179 riders after 201.5 kilometers of riding, which started in Bayeux, France, and finished in Vire Normandie, France, on July 10. It was Simmons’ top Tour de France stage finish of his career, and it showed that the American fan favorite can be one of the best climbers in the peloton.
The 2025 Tour de France was a success for Simmons as he finished with two top 10s, a career-best 59th in the General Classification and was voted the best teammate in the Tour. Simmons also finished 10th in the points classification and 14th in the youth classification.
Simmons also ended cycling’s most famous race on a high note by proposing to his girlfriend at the time (now wife) at the finish.
August: Nolan Pace goes low at Fruita Monument tournament to start season
Nolan Pace with the Durango High School golf team tees off on Aug. 18 at Hillcrest Golf Club. (Jerry McBride/Herald file)
Jerry McBride
The local sports schedule really gets busy once August rolls around, with local high school and college sports starting up. The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup is still going on with plenty of local athletes competing, and Durango’s top gravel riders are still competing in the Life Time Grand Prix.
Even with all this going on, Durango High School boys golfer Nolan Pace stood out with his incredible play to begin the season.
The Demons began their season on Aug. 11 in Fruita at Adobe Creek National Golf Course. Pace won the Fruita Monument Wildcats Invitational by shooting a 5-under-par 67 and led the Demons to a second-place finish in the team standings.
Pace opened his 18 holes at Adobe Creek with a birdie on Hole 1 followed by a bogey on Hole 2. He started cooking with hot oil toward the end of his first nine, with birdies on six, seven and an eagle on the par 5 eighth. Pace finished his round with two birdies, six pars and a bogey on the back nine to finish 5-under-par.
Shooting 5-under-par is impressive at any level of golf, but especially at the high school level at the opening tournament of the season. It showed a very high ceiling Pace could reach and all the work he put into the offseason to prepare for his senior year.
September: Durango named as host city for 2030 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships
It was relief as much as elation when Durango’s Ned Overend crossed the finish line in first at the 1990 mountain bike world championships in Durango. For a year, the pressure had been mounting for the hometown hero to win. (Herald file)
It was rumored for months that Durango would host the 2030 UCI Mountain Bike World Championships, but it was still massive news for the community when it was confirmed on Sept. 25.
The 2030 world championships will mark the 40th anniversary of Durango hosting the first UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in 1990.
Eight hundred mountain bikers from 55 countries will come to Durango to compete at Purgatory Resort in cross-country Olympic team relays, cross-country Olympic junior races, cross-country Olympic U23 races, cross-country Olympic elite races, downhill junior and elite races, and E mountain bike races.
Hosting in 2030 also comes with Durango hosting World Cup events in 2028 and 2029. Durango should have a lot of mountain bikers competing at a world-class level during that time.
Christopher Blevins will be in his early 30s and should still be competing at a high level in cross-country mountain bike. Asa Vermette will be in his early 20s and should be one of the top men’s elite downhill riders. Riley Amos and Savilia Blunk should be in the prime of their careers in the elite cross-country categories. Riders like Bailey Cioppa, Ivan Sippy and others should also have the chance to represent Durango on the world stage.
The 2030 world championships will also bring in millions of dollars to the local economy, with fans coming from around the world. It’s a ginormous deal for the town and its riders to have this event coming back; it’s one of the biggest stories of 2025
October: Blevins wins World Cup men’s elite mountain bike overall title
Durango’s Christopher Blevins crosses the finish line victorious at the ninth round of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup in Lake Placid, New York, on Oct. 3. (Photo by Piper Albrecht)
Piper Albrecht
Durango hosting the 2030 world championships was a massive story in 2025, but Blevins winning the World Cup men’s elite mountain bike overall title might be even bigger.
Blevins wrapped up the overall in Lake Placid, New York, on Oct. 5. It was the perfect way to win the title for Blevins, by winning on home soil and by winning both the men’s elite cross-country short track race and men’s elite cross-country Olympic races.
It’s Blevins’ first overall World Cup title win and the first for an American male since John Tomac in 1991. Blevins won six of the nine men’s elite XCC races in 2025 and three of the nine men’s elite XCO races. He’s won both races in the same weekend three times this season.
Blevins could win another World Cup overall, but it’ll be hard to top how special his first one was.
November: Ignacio, Bayfield volleyball teams win regionals
Bayfield High School celebrates a point while playing against St. Mary’s Academy on Nov. 8 during the first round of regional playoffs at BHS. (Jerry McBride/Durango Herald)
Jerry McBride
The Durango High School volleyball team struggled in 2025, but the Bayfield High School and Ignacio High School volleyball teams picked up the slack by winning their regionals in November to move on to the state championships.
It was special for both schools since they hosted the regionals and had the home crowd behind them.
Ignacio defeated Hoehne, 3-0 (25-20, 25-15, 25-11) and then defeated Rye, 3-1 (25-12, 23-25, 25-19. 25-14) on Nov. 7. The Bobcats improved to 21-4 overall which tied the 2023 team for the most wins the program has had in the last 15 years.
Bayfield swept St. Mary’s Academy and Peak to Peak to win the 3A Region 6 regional on Nov. 8 and move on to state for the second consecutive year.
Ignacio and Bayfield had different storylines with their runs to the state championships. Ignacio was a team led by juniors and sophomores. Therefore, it won’t be their last run at the state championships. Bayfield was a senior-led squad that finished their careers inside Bayfield High School with a win.
December: FLC women’s basketball wins two games in Texas for best start in six years
Alemaualii Fonoti of Fort Lewis College is fouled while going up for a shot while playing Adams State University on Dec. 13 at FLC. (Jerry McBride/Herald file)
Jerry McBride
There were no playoff wins in December for any local schools, but the Fort Lewis College women’s basketball team got off to its best start in six years.
The Skyhawks beat Maryville University in Texas on Dec. 17 and UT Tyler in Texas on Dec. 18 to improve to 9-3 overall. FLC has improved drastically from head coach Lauren Zuniga’s first season, when the Skyhawks went 6-22 overall in 2024-2025.
Zuniga has done a much better job getting high-quality freshman and transfers who play the game Zuniga wants. FLC also has a lot of continuity from last season, which is rare in today’s college basketball.
The question is: Can FLC keep it up as the team dives into Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play?
bkelly@durangoherald.com
