Cyclists from all over the country converged on Marquette County to tackle the challenging and scenic terrain. The event featured various race categories, ranging from the most demanding 48-mile Hard Rock race to the beginner-friendly 10-mile Shore Rock, ensuring riders of all levels had the opportunity to participate.

And kids had three events they could try out, too — the four-mile Junior Rock, one-mile Little Rock and 50-yard-long Littlest Rock.

The highlight of the day, though, had to be the 48-mile Hard Rock, which began in downtown Negaunee with 734 entrants listed on the results website, accessible through the Ore to Shore home page, oretoshore.com, or at the website of the timer, Superior Timing, at superiortiming.com. A small handful of entries were in tandem racing categories.

Hard Rock participants navigated through the area’s diverse environment, taking in views of local landmarks before making their way to Marquette. As they neared the finish line at Lakeview Arena, riders were also treated to breathtaking views of Lake Superior.

Along the final stretch coming into the Lakeview Arena parking lot in Marquette, Caleb Swartz of Missoula, Mont., coasts in as he is about to win the 48-mile-long Hard Rock race in the 25th annual Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic on Saturday. (Journal photo by Caden Sierra)

The 28-mile Soft Rock race, starting an hour earlier, offered a slightly less challenging route but still provided plenty of rewards. The most popular of the races, the 1,086 riders listed online joined the Hard Rock course after about four miles of their course, allowing them to enjoy much of the same terrain and finish alongside their Hard Rock counterparts.

For those seeking a shorter challenge, the 10-mile Shore Rock, beginning and ending at Lakeview Arena in Marquette, served as an ideal entry point for new riders and younger participants as 325 riders were listed on the competitors’ list.

Later on, results were tabulated for the Junior Rock with its 217 entrants for children 13 years old and younger, with results not tabulated, online at least, for the two shorter kids’ races.

Those four races with entrants listed add up to 2,362 entries.

In the Hard Rock, Caleb Swartz of Missoula, Montana, emerged victorious in the men’s race in 2 hours, 34 minutes and 5.1 seconds, edging out Daxton Mock of Lake Mills, Wisconsin by less than a second — nine-tenths of a second, to be exact — as the latter clocked 2:34:06.0.

“I’ve won it once before, and it’s just a yearly tradition,” said Swartz about his sixth Ore to Shore. “Even though I don’t live close (to Marquette County) anymore, it’s great to come home and try to win one of the big rocks!”

The next two finishers were within a second of Mock — Brian Matter of Prescott, Arizona, secured third place another three-tenths of a second back in 2:34:06.3, while Kyan Olshove of Traverse City was fourth another four-tenths of a second behind in 2:34:06.7.

Aidan Lemorande of Suamico, Wisconsin, rounded out the top five in 2:34:11.3. Also within 10 seconds of the winner’s time was sixth-place Jorden Wakeley of Grayling in 2:34:13.9, with the next finisher nearly three minutes back.

The first area finisher in this men’s race was Joel Poliskey of Marquette, 22nd in 2:44:24.3, while also cracking the top 40 locally were Marquette teens Corbin Grim and Ben Carmody. Grim was 28th in 2:45:08.5 and Carmody 35th in 2:46:09.6.

In the women’s race, which included just 87 entrants compared to 640 for the men, Erin Osborne from Prescott, Arizona, came out ahead in another extremely close finish for first place in 2:50:31.7, just four-tenths of a second ahead of runner-up Emma Schwab of downstate Williamsburg in 2:50:32.1.

Osborne, who was staying with friends in Ishpeming for the weekend, shared her enthusiasm.

“I have not been to this race before,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot about it. My boyfriend has raced it a ton, friends have raced it a ton, and so I just decided to make the trip this year and see what it’s all about.”

Katja Opfer from downstate Rochester took third another nearly six minutes later in 2:56:26.7, while Chelsey Youngberg of Duluth, Minnesota, was fourth in 2:59:13.2, and Heather Compton from downstate Grayling completed the top five in 3:05:58.9.

First across the finish line for the Hard Rock women locally was Piersan Williams of Marquette, 13th in 3:24:08.4, while Kaylee Birmann of Ishpeming was 18th in 3:31:47.0 and Erin Secord of Marquette came in 25th in 3:36:49.4.

In the Soft Rock for the men, Max Meyer of downstate Traverse City won yet another close competition by just two-tenths of a second in 1:33:47.8. Fellow Traverse City rider Porter Kochis followed in 1:33:48.0.

The rest of the top five was just about as close with the entire first five separated by less than three seconds. Rylan Zacharek of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, was third in 1:33:48.6, Bekan Hill of Ann Arbor fourth in 1:33:48.9 and Andrew Kangas of Marquette fifth in 1:33:50.7. The next finishers were not quite 15 seconds behind.

Carter Clark of Marquette was seventh in 1:34:17.8, while Ivan Neumann of Marquette was 15th in 1:35:22.6 and Jack Grant of Marquette 18th in 1:36:48.1.

In the women’s Soft Rock, Anna Olesen of Appleton, Wisconsin, had the “biggest blowout” of the two longer races, winning in just under a full minute in 1:38:45.4. Sarah Black of Traverse City was next across in 1:39:44.8, with Sami Doberstein of Wausau, Wisconsin, third in 1:43:18.9, Ryan Kahl of Madison, Wisconsin, fourth in 1:44:08.7 and Ellie Schouten of Plymouth, Wisconsin, fifth in 1:44:14.3.

Locally, Emily Broeders was the highest finisher in 15th in 1:48:50.5, with Nicole Kerkela of Negaunee 18th in 1:50:35.5.

In the Shore Rock, Asher McGinnis of Appleton, Wisconsin, won the men’s race in 48:55.3, just over four seconds ahead of runner-up Jacob Farfsing of downstate Bear Lake in 48:59.4 as Connor Blackwood of downstate Linden was third in 49:25.1.

Anthony Carello of Negaunee was fourth in 50:25.2, and as a 40-49 age racer, he was the only men’s finisher in the top 10 not in his 20s or younger. Jacob Dejesu of Marquette was ninth in 51:39.6.

In the women’s Shore Rock, Leah Robinson of Ishpeming won in 45:56.0 as an

11-12-year-old racer, beating out runner-up Elaine Neumann of Marquette by almost three seconds as she clocked 45:58.8.

Jocelyn Schouten of Plymouth, Wisconsin, was third in 46:31.0, more than seven minutes ahead of the rest of the women’s field. Sabrina Tanaka of Republic was seventh in 58:44.9, Madison Baldwin of Ishpeming ninth in 1:02:35.7 and Anna Alanko of Marquette 10th in 1:02:42.8.

In the Junior Rock, Evelyn Edbauer of Green Bay, Wisconsin, won the girls division in 15:58.6, with Kate Combs of Grand Rapids nearly a minute back in 16:57.9. Edythe Lemieux of Marquette was fourth in 17:41.2, while Madelyn Dickson of Marquette came in ninth in 18:43.5.

For the boys in the Junior Rock, Roman Koenigsknecht of downstate St. Johns won in 15:31.4, just about 50 seconds ahead of the 16:21.0 time posted by runner-up Beckham Haberkorn of downstate Pinckney.

Andrew Flaherty of Marquette was fourth among Junior Rock boys in 17:14.9, while three more Marquette racers also cracked the top 10 — Jameson Wood was fifth in 17:15.4, Anders Summersett seventh in 17:34.2 and Milo Kocha 10th in 17:50.9 as the lone 6-7-year-old racer in the boys’ top 10.

Caden Sierra can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 551. His email address is csierra@nmu.edu.