The Piedmont Mountain Bike Team had a historic day at Stafford Lake on Sunday, May 3, closing out an unusual season that included two rainouts and just three completed races before the championship races in two weeks. Racing in the East Bay/Central League, Division 2, Piedmont High School earned 2nd place as a team for the day—the team’s first podium finish in memory—and finished 3rd overall for the season.
The Stafford Lake course was demanding, with the high school race covering about 4 miles and 500 feet of climbing per lap, including steep climbs and technical descents. The Devo, junior development, course for middle school racers was shorter but still challenging, at about 2.4 miles and 400 feet of climbing.
The biggest moment of the day came from senior and Co-Captain Jasper Schuetz, who won the Varsity Boys race by 40.5 seconds after four laps, finishing in 1:10:36.64. It was an emotional and long-awaited victory for Jasper. He has been working toward this goal for years: he was a series leader as a freshman, finished 2nd in JV1 as a sophomore, and finally reached his dream of winning a varsity race. With the win, Jasper also secured the leader’s jersey for the 2026 Varsity season, making him the fastest mountain biker in the East Bay/Central League. He will be going on to race Unbound Gravel, a 200-mile race in Emporia, Kansas at the end of the month and plans to join the CalPoly SLO Cycling Team next year.
The Piedmont girls also made history. Josephine Schuetz continued her first place winning streak in the JV2 Girls race, while Mina Herrgott placed 5th for her first podium, and Olivia Bailey finished 6th on the day. In the season standings, Josephine finished 1st, Olivia 4th, and Mina 5th, a momentous milestone for Piedmont girls racing.
Piedmont also saw breakthrough podium finishes from Zachary Carter, who placed 2nd in JV1 Boys D2, and Kai Hsu, who placed 5th in JV2 Boys D2. Zachary’s second-place finish in the final race lifted him to fourth overall in the season standings, sealing a strong season. Other strong high school finishes included Co-Captain Caleb Canada, Gabriel Barbosa, Henry Call, Jack Mendelsohn, William Carter, Emilio Roberts, and Chase Mellers.
Piedmont Devo also had a strong showing, with racers including Carter Lew, Teo Wickner, Ryan Morrison, Kian Spina, Teak Herrgott, and Blake Mellers taking on the junior development course. Carter Lew placed 11th in 8th Grade Boys, while Blake Mellers placed 15th in 6th Grade Boys.
This season was about more than podiums. Across both the High School and Devo teams, the Piedmont MTB team includes racers, adventure riders, new riders, and longtime team members. For a team that began in 2016, the Stafford Lake Race marked a major step forward, and a powerful sign of how far the Piedmont MTB Team has come as a close-knit, supportive group of friends united by shared commitment and love of mountain biking.
Interested in joining? See the website at https://www.piedmontmtb.com/ for High School and https://www.piedmontdevo.com/ for Middle School.