By RYAN STIEG

Journal Sports Writer

MARQUETTE – Saturday’s Ore to Shore bike race took place on a pleasant, sunny day, but most of the racers came across the finish line caked in mud thanks to rain the night before.

Nevertheless, smiles were all over the finish line as racers seemed to enjoy the experience and were pleased with their times.

In the main event, the 48-mile Hard Rock, Cole House of Oneida, Wis. took the title for the fourth year in a row with a time of 2:25:56.

“Part of me expected to win today and part of me no. You never know because it’s a long race,” House said. “It’s a great race and I have to come back every year, especially when I’m defending champion.”

House got into cycling at a young age and soon after started racing.

“I always liked bikes when I was younger. My dad started to get me into BMX racing and I kept it going from there,” he said. “It’s fun and I’m going to do it as long as I can.”

Tyler Gauthier of Ishpeming finished second at 2:27:01 and Nathan Guerra of Oconomowoc, Wis., took third place at 2:27:15.

On the women’s side, Kaitlyn Patterson of Traverse City tied Mindy McCutcheon of Salt Lake City, Utah, at 2:42:32 for first place with both racers bumping bikes as they crossed the finish line.

Patterson is listed first on the website www.itiming.com, so it appears she won the race.

“I’m happy with how I finished,” Patterson said. “I was seventh last year and I’ve been riding better this year.

“But there’s a lot of things that need to go right to put together a good race with competitors of this caliber. We’ve got good people to race against in Traverse City, but not like this.”

This was Patterson’s second time competing in the Ore to Shore and enjoyed Saturday’s muddy conditions over last year’s dust-ridden course.

“I came up last year for my first time after I got a mountain bike last year and I came from a running background, so it transferred over nicely,” she said. “This is my perfect type of course.

“Today was muddy and last year was dusty, but I’ll take this over the dust cloud of last year.”

Sarah Kylander-Johnson of Duluth, Minn., tied Kyia Anderson of St. Cloud, Minn., with a time of 2:47:25, with Kylander-Johnson listed first on itiming.com.

Cooper Dendel of Marquette was the top U.P. finisher at 2:52:57.

In the 28-mile Soft Rock race, teenager Caleb Swartz of Madison, Wis., won the men’s race with a time of 1:22.52, while Roy Kranz of Midland took second (1:23.22).

Casey Abston of Louisville, Ky., finished third just three seconds behind Kranz, tied with Samuel Hayden of Duluth.

Craig Thomas of Marquette took fifth, five seconds after Abston and Hayden.

The women’s bracket was won by Emma Swartz of Madison at 1:25:15. She finished well ahead of second place finisher Kristina Morse of Hayward, Wis., (1:31:49).

Hanna Derby of Ishpeming took third at 1:32:14).

A local racer, Ryan Pizziola of Negaunee, won the 10-mile Shore Rock race with a time of 42:40.

Three young racers took the next three spots, with Ryan Durand of Interlochen taking second (45:41), Douglas Wills of Rochester Hills third (00:45.55) and Camron Kelly of Gladstone fourth (46.53).

Another local, 12-year-old Ericka Asmus of Marquette, won the women’s title at 47:03.

A pair of teenagers earned the next two spots – Anni Skillicorn of Winona, Minn., took second (53.03) and Sofia VanderEnde of Marquette finished third (57:20).

Ryan Stieg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 246. His email address is rstieg@miningjournal.net.