DURANGO, Colo. – November 18, 2016 – The Fort Lewis College Department of the Athletics will recognize Olympian Howard Grotts during the Skyhawks home basketball games on Friday, Dec. 2 at Whalen Gymnasium.
 
A native of Durango, Colo., Grotts was the only American selected to compete in men's mountain biking at the 2016 Olympics in Rio.  Competing in his first Olympics, Grotts finished the competition in 38th place overall after a couple mechanical setbacks.
 
A four year member of the Skyhawks cycling team, Grotts won the USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Championships men's professional cross country race in 2015 and he was the top American on the 2016 UCI Mountain Bike World Cup tour.  This year, he repeated as the National Cross Country champion and won the National Short Track Mountain Bike Championship.
 
Grotts received his undergraduate degree from Fort Lewis College in Mathematics in 2014, graduating with summa cum laude honors.  He currently resides in Durango.
 
In conjunction with the Dec. 2 recognition, Special Olympics will be holding a silent auction in the lobby of Whalen Gymnasium.  Grotts is donating numerous clothing and gear items he received from the Rio Olympics to Special Olympics.  All proceeds from the auction will go toward Special Olympics.  The silent auction will begin at 4:30 p.m. and will close at the end of halftime of the men's game.  Grotts will be available to sign autographs during checkout of the auction. For more information on the silent auction, contact Cathy Simbeck at Simbeck_c@fortlewis.edu.

Silent Auction Items