· Core region
They're Not Just Winning the Junior Races
Junior cyclocross in NY, NJ, CT and PA — the season through September 20.
On August 26, on a Wednesday evening in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, Stephen Savino IV won the men’s race at a low-key CCAP training series. Seventeen days later he won the Open Pro/1/2/3 field at Belltown Throwdown — the fastest race of the day, no age brackets, no allowances. A week after that he lined up at Rochester in the UCI Junior Men’s 17-18 race and finished sixth.
Savino is 18. He is not an outlier.
By the time the UCI circus reached Rochester on September 19, the regional season was already a month old — four weekends across Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, plus a Wednesday-night series in Rocky Hill that started in August. And across all of it, the same thing kept happening: juniors entered open fields and won them.
All ages are cyclocross racing ages for 2026–27. A range means the exact year isn’t on record but the rider is bounded within it.
Eleven open-field wins
Before you count a single junior field:
| Date | Race | Open field won | Winner | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26 | CCAP Rocky Hill #1, CT | Men | Stephen Savino IV | 18 |
| Sep 6 | Pineapple Crush Cross, PA | Cat 1/2/3 Women | Marcela Falquier | 16 |
| Sep 6 | Pineapple Crush Cross, PA | Cat 4/5 Women | Kendal Craven | 15 |
| Sep 12 | Belltown Throwdown 1, CT | Open Pro/1/2/3 | Stephen Savino IV | 18 |
| Sep 12 | Belltown Throwdown 1, CT | Women’s Pro/1/2/3 | Naomi Ericson | 16 |
| Sep 12 | Belltown Throwdown 1, CT | Open Cat 4/5/Junior 15-18 | Wyatt Pratt | 17 |
| Sep 13 | Swandrome ‘Cross, NY | Open Men | Brad Grimm | 16 |
| Sep 13 | GOAT CXing, NY | Men Cat 3/4 & Masters | Malcolm McKeough | 16 |
| Sep 13 | GOAT CXing, NY | Men Cat 4/5 | Francis Tolman | 18 |
| Sep 13 | GOAT CXing, NY | Women Cat 4/5 | Willow Wozniak | 14 |
| Sep 19–20 | Rochester CX, NY | Cat 3 M, Cat 3 W, Cat 2 W, Cat 4/5 M & W | multiple | 14–16 |
Two of those are the top race of the day. A fourteen-year-old won a women’s Cat 4/5 field at GOAT. This is the shape of the season, not a Rochester quirk.
Rochester Cyclocross
Rochester, NY · September 19–20 · UCI C1/C2, USCX Round 1
The season’s first UCI weekend and the deepest junior fields of the year so far.
Junior Men 17-18 UCI
| Saturday (34 fin) | Age | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rylan Zacharek — CXD Trek Bikes | 18 | 37:03 |
| 2 | Noah Scholnick — Finkraft Junior Cycling Team | 18 | same time |
| 3 | Finnley Sonnemann — CXD Trek Bikes | 17 | +0:10 |
| Sunday (32 fin) | Age | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Noah Scholnick — Finkraft Junior Cycling Team | 18 | 40:26 |
| 2 | Rylan Zacharek — CXD Trek Bikes | 18 | +0:29 |
| 3 | Jack Helvie — Midwest NXT | 18 | +0:40 |
Saturday came down to a bike throw between two riders credited with identical times. Sunday, Scholnick made sure it never got that close. Both are in their final junior season and they open the year dead level.
Junior Women 17-18 UCI
| Saturday (15 fin) | Age | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clare Hauber — Shredders Race Team | 18 | 43:10 |
| 2 | Zoe McGuire — Grey Ghost S.T.A.R.S | 17 | +0:10 |
| 3 | Elena Svenstrup — AP-CCB Junior Development | 17 | +0:46 |
| Sunday (15 fin) | Age | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clare Hauber — Shredders Race Team | 18 | 38:30 |
| 2 | Cora Cusack — CXD Trek Bikes | 17 | +0:11 |
| 3 | Graden Daume — Team Stampede/Five Valley Velo | 18 | +0:12 |
Hauber won both days by ten seconds, then eleven. Sunday’s top five were covered by twenty-two seconds.
The thirteen-year-old
Jack O’Donnell (Competitive Edge Racing) is 13, and he won Junior Men 15-16 both days — six seconds up on Levi Bensimon, 16, on Saturday; twenty-two seconds up on the same rider Sunday. Two independent sources confirm his age. He is racing two full bands up and winning.
| Saturday (12 fin) | Age | Sunday (8 fin) | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack O’Donnell — Competitive Edge Racing | 13 | Jack O’Donnell | 13 | |
| 2 | Levi Bensimon — Shredders Race Team | 16 | Levi Bensimon | 16 | |
| 3 | Anderson Norris — Feral Kids Racing | 15 | Arlo Meltzer — Minuteman/Empire Automation | 15 |
The rest of the junior podiums
| Field | Day | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Men U19 | Sat | Eli Boryczewski, 16 (New England Devo) | William Caners, 15 (Shredders) | — |
| Sun | Axel Cimino, 17 (Baltimore Youth Cycling) | Eli Boryczewski, 16 | William Caners, 15 | |
| Junior Women U19 | Sat | Nicole Haviland, 16 (Shredders) | Hannah Lehmann, 16 (Collingwood Collective) | Maeve Bernhard, 18 (Minuteman) |
| Sun | Juliette Dennedy, 16 (Lionhearts Junior Cycling) | Luka Franks, 16 (Stimulus Trek) | Marlowe Cureton, 16 (Durham Shredders) | |
| Junior Men 13-14 | Sat | Aaron Scholnick, 14 (Zangi Bikes Racing) | Tait Grieve, 13–14 (Ottawa BC) +0:08 | Zachary Houle, 13–14 (Vélo Pays d’En Haut) |
| Sun | Tait Grieve, 13–14 | Aaron Scholnick, 14 +0:01 | Colton Sault, 14 (Green Mountain CX Groms) | |
| Junior Women 13-14 | Sat | Olive Benitez, 13 (Baltimore Youth Cycling) | Beatrix Hagge, 13 (Gmcx Groms) | Sydney Lehman, 13 (Team Booger) |
| Sun | Olive Benitez, 13 | Naomi Harcum, 13 (Baltimore Youth Cycling) | Beatrix Hagge, 13 | |
| Junior Men 11-12 | Sat | Maurice Lefebvre, 11–12 (Ottawa BC) | Shane Tyrrell, 12 (Baltimore Youth) | David Boryczewski, 11 (New England Devo) |
| Sun | Maurice Lefebvre, 11–12 | Shane Tyrrell, 12 | Max Owens, 12 (Baltimore Youth) | |
| Junior Women 11-12 | Sat | Clare Caners, 12 (Shredders) | Shiloh Bower, 11 (Stinkbug Naturals) | Eloise Principe, 12 (Minuteman) |
| Sun | Clare Caners, 12 | Shiloh Bower, 11 | Cora Crawford, 11–12 | |
| Junior Men 9-10 | Sat | Roger Moore, 10 (Rock Creek Velo) | Heath Griffo, 9–10 | Milo Lamb |
| Sun | Roger Moore, 10 | Heath Griffo, 9–10 | Connor McClure, 9–10 | |
| Junior Women 9-10 | Sat | Peyton Sylor, 9–10 | Nora Phillips, 10 (Vulcan) | Marion Lefebvre, 10 (Ottawa BC) |
| Sun | Peyton Sylor, 9–10 | Nora Phillips, 10 | Marion Lefebvre, 10 |
Juniors in Rochester’s open fields
Twenty-eight riders started Saturday’s Senior Men Cat 3. The first seventeen across the line were juniors. The first adult, Jacob Ferrante, 28, came home 18th.
| Open field | Day | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Senior Men Cat 3 | Sat | Josiah Bower, 16 (Finkraft) 40:16 | Mazen Lazar, 16 (Finkraft) +0:34 | Eli Timmerman, 16 (Grey Ghost) +0:34 |
| Sun | Mazen Lazar, 16 43:08 | Josiah Bower, 16 same time | Eli Timmerman, 16 +0:58 | |
| Senior Women Cat 2 | Sat | Abby Cole, 16 (Competitive Edge) | Lily Cole, 16 (Competitive Edge) | Hannah Dinolfo, 15 (Competitive Edge) |
| Sun | Abby Cole, 16 | Hannah Lehmann, 16 (Collingwood) | Hannah Dinolfo, 15 | |
| Senior Women Cat 3 | Sat | Naomi Ericson, 16 (More Than Racing p/b JAM) | Marcela Falquier, 16 (NJCX Project) +1:12 | Lillian Hanna, 15 (Grey Ghost) |
| Sun | Naomi Ericson, 16 | Marcela Falquier, 16 +0:56 | Ava White, 16 (Blue Ridge Cross) | |
| Senior Men Cat 4/5 | Sat | Adam Palmer (adult) | Paxton Hoover, 15 (717 Cycling) | Nick Barbero (adult) |
| Sun | Anderson Norris, 15 39:03 | Adam Palmer (adult) | Huxley Harple, 15 (AP-CCB Junior Devo) | |
| Senior Women Cat 4/5 | Sat | Alta Breismeister, 14 (NCC Trail Blasters) | Mileva Fischer (adult) | Mac Matthews (adult) |
| Sun | Ella Pryor, 17 (Midwest Devo) | Mileva Fischer (adult) | Alta Breismeister, 14 |
The Cat 2 women’s field was 100% junior on both days. In Cat 3 women, the only adult across two days was Rebecca Marshall, 30, ninth on Saturday. Further down Sunday’s Cat 4/5 men, David Boryczewski, 11, finished 24th — the youngest rider to complete any open field all weekend.
Elite: no juniors identified in either elite field, either day — 95 of 96 finishes verified at 19 or older.
Carpenter Cross
Horsham, PA · September 19 · PACX Round 2 · 209 racers
NJCX Project brought the numbers — 14 of 30 junior starters — but converted two of four fields. Vulcan won the other two off five riders.
| Field | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Men 9-14 (9 fin) | Quinn Tyrell (NJCX Project) 20:52 | Niko Warner, 12 (Vulcan) 21:03 | Brendan Raeuber (NJCX Project) |
| Junior Women 9-14 (8 fin) | Xenia Binkley, 12 (Vulcan) 23:20 | Eliana Mumaw, 13 (TEAMBSR) | Katya Graves, 13 (NJCX Project) |
| Men U19 (10 fin) | Oliver Gates (NJCX Project) 38:16 | Milo Morfit-Tighe, 16 (NJCX) 38:19 | Marc-Edouard Boudreault (Vulcan Cycling) |
| Women U19 (3 fin) | Jade Boudreault, 12 (Vulcan Cycling) 43:03 | Kensey Kasbar, 15 (Guy’s Racing Club) | Sarah Aldous (NJCX Project) |
Jade Boudreault is 12 and won the U19 women’s race — a full band and more above her own. Three seconds covered the top two in Men U19.
Open fields: Tamara Warner, 16 (Vulcan) — third in Women Cat 1/2/3. Gavin Buchanan, 15 (NJCX Project) — third in Men Cat 4/Novice.
Belltown Throwdown 1 & 2
Portland, CT · September 12–13 · PMCX Rounds 1 & 2 · 251 and 117 racers
The weekend that set the tone.
Open fields
| Day | Field | Junior result |
|---|---|---|
| Sat | Open Pro/1/2/3 | 1. Stephen Savino IV, 18 (CompEdge Racing) |
| Sat | Women’s Pro/1/2/3 | 1. Naomi Ericson, 16 (More Than Racing p/b JAM) |
| Sat | Open Cat 4/5/Junior 15-18 (42 fin) | 1. Wyatt Pratt, 17 (Competitive Edge) · 2. Anders Krause, 15 (NCC Trail Blasters) |
| Sun | Women’s Pro/1/2/3 | 2. Elena Svenstrup, 17 (AP-CCB Junior Development) |
| Sun | Open Cat 3/4 | 2. Eamon Miller, 18 (AP-CCB Junior Devo) · 3. Orson Felter, 15 (Stage 1 AirLine Cycles) |
Junior fields
| Field | Day | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Open 9-12 | Sat | Pietro Belli, 12 (Farmington Valley Youth Cycling) | Flynn Myerson, 12 (New England Devo) | Hugh Felter, 11 (Stage 1 AirLine) |
| Sun | Eli Skulte, 11 (Stage 1/Airline Cycles) | Henry Giannini | Pietro Belli, 12 | |
| Junior Open 6-8 | Sat | Graham Andersen-Johnston, 8 (CCAP Farmington Valley) | Jackson Kravitz (Stage 1/AirLine) | Lucas Reese (True Cyclery) |
| Sun | Lucian Perreault (Litchfield Paceline) | Graham Andersen-Johnston, 8 | Seeley Stahl | |
| Junior Girls 9-12 | Sat | Cecilia Stahl | Rosalind Lennox, 11 (Hamden Cheshire Rail Trailers) | Millie Eichelberger, 9 (Stage 1/Airline) |
| Junior Girls 6-8 | Sat | Athena Ferrier (club CNCB) | Ruby Felter (Stage 1/Airline) | Evelyn Wood (EBCC) |
Swandrome ‘Cross
Freeville, NY · September 13 · 84 racers
Brad Grimm, 16, won the Open Men’s race outright — 58:20 over thirty riders — with Eli Timmerman, 16, third and Charlie Principe, 15, fourth. All three would be on or near the Cat 3 podium at Rochester six days later. Three Grimm brothers were in that field. Maeve Bernhard, 18, was second in Open Women.
| Field | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Men | Liam Webber, 14 | Logan Timmerman | Moby Edwards, 17 |
| Junior Women | Moxie Edwards, 14 | Mae Sosville | Maude Sosville |
GOAT CXing
Scotia, NY · September 13 · 84 racers
A Capital Bicycle Racing Club junior devo showcase — and a clean sweep of every open-field win on the card.
| Open field | Junior result |
|---|---|
| Men Cat 3/4 & Masters | 1. Malcolm McKeough, 16 (The Thunderbolt) · 2. Thomas Oswald, 15 (Grey Ghost) |
| Men Cat 4/5 | 1. Francis Tolman, 18 (CBRC Junior Devo) · 2. Niko Wood-Irvin, 16 (Capital BRC) — one second apart |
| Women Cat 4/5 | 1. Willow Wozniak, 14 (CBRC Junior Devo) |
| Single Speed | 2. Niko Wood-Irvin, 16 |
| Junior field | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Boys 13-15 | Eddie Chromczak, 14 (CBRC) | Alex Southwick, 14 (CBRC) | Ethan Casserly, 15 (CBRC) |
| Junior Boys 9-12 | Aaron Dinolfo, 12 (CBRC) | Cove Smith, 12 (CBRC) | Peter Scherer, 12 (CBRC) |
| Junior Girls 13-15 | Emma Casserly, 13 (CBRC) | Willow Wozniak, 14 (CBRC) | Adele Davenport, 14 (Grey Ghost/CBRC) |
| Junior Girls 9-12 | Rosie Millwood, 12 (CBRC) | Alice Leone, 11 (CBRC) | Dahlia Chowdhry, 11 (CBRC) |
Pineapple Crush Cross
Emmaus, PA · September 6 · PACX Round 1 · 260 racers
Pennsylvania’s opener. Marcela Falquier, 16 (NJCX Project), won the Cat 1/2/3 women’s race — the top women’s field of the day. Kendal Craven, 15, won Cat 4/5 Women. Bodi Yocum, 17, was third in Cat 3/4 men.
| Junior field | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Men 9-14 | Flynn Appeltans, 14 | Niko Warner, 12 (Vulcan) | Brendan Raeuber |
| Junior Women 9-14 | Eliana Mumaw, 13 | Jade Boudreault, 12 (Vulcan) | Xenia Binkley, 12 (Vulcan) |
| Junior Men 15-18 (Cat 1–5) | Oliver Gates | Evan Lichtenwalner | Gavin Buchanan, 15 |
| Junior Women U19 15-18 | Selah Wynen, 18 | Hannah Laudermilch | Gwyneth Hahn |
Hidden Valley CX
New Haven, CT · September 20 · PMCX Round 3 · 170 racers
A structural note worth carrying all season: Hidden Valley offers no junior field above age 12. Categories run 6-8 and 9-12, then 15-18 juniors are folded into combined open fields. A sixteen-year-old in Connecticut has nowhere else to go.
| Junior field | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior Boys 9-12 | Eli Skulte, 11 (Stage 1/Airline Cycles) 24:36 | Pietro Belli, 12 (Farmington Valley Youth) | Hugh Felter, 11 (Stage 1 AirLine) |
| Junior Boys 6-8 | George Giannini | Graham Andersen-Johnston, 8 (CCAP Farmington Valley) | Lucian Perreault (Litchfield Paceline) |
| Junior Girls 6-8 | Ruby Felter (Stage 1/Airline) | Evelyn Wood (EBCC) | — |
| Junior Girls 9-12 | Cecilia Stahl | — | — |
Orson Felter, 15; Spencer Mendes, 15; Charles Nablo, 14; and Vera Milone, 15, all rode open fields without reaching a podium. Results were still provisional at the time of writing.
CCAP Rocky Hill
Rocky Hill, CT · Wednesdays, August 26 – September 16
Where the Connecticut season actually began. Four weeknight races, small fields, and a junior race that is a genuine pipeline — Eli Skulte and Pietro Belli traded wins here before both landed on Belltown and Hidden Valley podiums.
| Round | Date | Junior race winner |
|---|---|---|
| #1 | Aug 26 | Graham Andersen-Johnston, 8 (CCAP Farmington Valley) |
| #2 | Sep 2 | Pietro Belli, 12 (Farmington Valley Youth Cycling) |
| #3 | Sep 9 | Eli Skulte, 11 (Stage 1/Airline Cycles) |
| #4 | Sep 16 | Anna Perreault (Litchfield Paceline/Waldo Warriors) |
And in the open men’s race at Round 1 on August 26 — the first core-region result of the season — Stephen Savino IV, 18, won.
Riders to watch
| Rider | Age | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Stephen Savino IV | 18 | Two open-field wins including a Pro/1/2/3, plus sixth in the UCI junior race at Rochester |
| Naomi Ericson | 16 | Won a Women’s Pro/1/2/3 at Belltown, then swept Cat 3 at Rochester |
| Marcela Falquier | 16 | Won the top women’s field at Pineapple Crush; second to Ericson twice at Rochester |
| Josiah Bower / Mazen Lazar | 16 | Finkraft teammates who’ve gone 1-2 in both directions and can’t be separated |
| Jack O’Donnell | 13 | Winning a 15-16 field, twice |
| Jade Boudreault | 12 | Won a U19 women’s race |
| Willow Wozniak | 14 | Won a women’s open Cat 4/5 at GOAT |
| Eli Skulte / Pietro Belli | 11, 12 | The Connecticut 9-12 rivalry — three podiums each across Rocky Hill, Belltown and Hidden Valley |
This weekend
Virginia’s Blue Ridge Go Cross, Roanoke, September 26–27 — USCX round 2, and the Zacharek–Scholnick rematch. Closer to home: Pennypack on the Delaware (PACX, Philadelphia) and PMCX #4, Damned at the Dam at Mansfield Hollow, both Saturday.
Results verified against official timing (my.raceresult.com) and crossresults.com. Ages are cyclocross racing ages for the 2026–27 season — age as of December 31, 2027.