Adding another hole shot to his record, Jesse Ansely got off to a killer start in the XC3 class. Shortly after getting into the woods he would find himself in a three-way battle for the lead, as the conditions worsened and the track began to fall apart, the battle would last the well into the first half of the race. Ansley stated “After 3 straight years of dust we finally had some epic conditions…for the first lap that is.” By the end of lap 5 Jesse settled into 2^nd place in class and focused on putting down good laps until the checked flag. “I was still able to grab 2^nd after a hectic day” said Ansley. Heading into the halfway point of the season Ansley is feeling ready and determined for the next race already, “Although Snowshoe is completely different from what I grew up in, I’ve been practicing hard and getting ready to conquer the mountain in a couple of weeks.”

Getting off to a bad start, Simon Johnson found himself playing catch up for the first half of the day while trying to learn the track and use that to his advantage. At the lap 4 mark Johnson started getting into a groove and was able to push himself in the tough conditions to the end. “The slick New York terrain made me feel right at home. It was much more familiar to me than some of the southern rounds.”  Having that added feeling of comfort, Simon pushed through his competition and took home the 250A win, 1^st Amateur OA, and his personal best 16^th overall for the day. “Getting the win in at my home race is such a good feeling. I was extra nervous before this one knowing my friends and family had tuned out for mthe race. I’m really excited to see how the rest of the season goes” said Simon.

With a top 4 run off the line, Brayden Nolette was ready for battle as the YXC1 class headed into the woods. On the first lap he would make a pass taking over 3^rd place, where he would sit until the 3^rd lap mark. Laying down smooth and solid laps Brayden caught up to 2^nd stating “I was feeling really loose and ready this race, I felt more comfortable going into this race. I made the pass on 2^nd when he pitted and then caught 1^st.  Then Jojo and I battled almost all of the rest of the race.” The battle between the two rising stars was tight for more than half of the race with a few position changes while always staying within 10 seconds of each other as the passed through scoring each lap. At the checkered flag Brayden crossed the finish line 2^nd YXC1 less than a 2 seconds behind the leader and 2^nd OA. “Racing closer to home I felt like the terrain and dirt were more similar to what I usually ride and it felt much better to actually have an idea of what I was going to be riding on. I just like having the rocks and roots because that’s where we come from!” Brayden said.