On Oct. 27, the Michigan cyclocross championships were held. The race was hosted by the Ann Arbor Velo Club at Veterans Memorial Park in Ann Arbor. With steep slopes, barriers and a sand pit, the course is a challenging place to earn the state champion title.

Cyclocross is a cycling discipline that involves dismounting and running with your bike. The course is a one-to-two-mile circuit and races are set at a minimum amount of time, usually 40 minutes. The sport is typically in season through the fall and winter.

This fall, CHS student Sylvie Ellis was among the girl’s 15-18 competitors.

“Overall, it felt great,” Ellis said. “I’m not that great at cyclocross, but I try to do my best every time and it usually works out.”

Ellis primarily competes in mountain biking but has had fun doing a couple of cyclocross races. She found the competition this year to be fierce, however, the conditions were much nicer than she had previously experienced for cyclocross.

“It was really nice compared to last year,” Ellis said. “It was pretty muddy and a train wreck last year.”

Despite the challenging off-camber turns, a feature of Vets Park races, Ellis successfully navigated the course. She took fourth place in her race, with her family there to support her. Her brother, Huck, took sixth in the boy’s 15-18 race. Additionally, Charlie Laman from the CHS class of 2024 raced in the sport men’s category and placed seventh.

All three riders completed their races to be ranked within the top 10 riders in their category in Michigan.