While the sky was overcast all of Saturday, the rain held off and conditions were great for both the bike and ATV AM races. The ATV course was 9 miles and the bike loop was 10 miles. A total of 92 women competed at the Black Sky GNCC, with Traci Pickens and Tayla Jones winning the premier WXC classes.

Abbi Troy got the holeshot in the ATV WXC class but was passed by Sadiee Gorrell as soon as the riders entered the woods. Gorrell would lead the entire first lap, while Traci Pickens was battling her way into second place after a mid-pack start. Hannah Hunter started off the lap in third, but dropped back to fourth when Megan Shepherd made her way around Hunter.

On lap two, Pickens made her way around Gorrell and led the remainder, steadily putting time on the rest of the field with each lap. Though Gorrell stayed unchallenged in second place, the battle for third was hot, with Hunter and Shepherd swapping positions multiple times over the next several laps. Kate Osburn was also steadily making her way back through the pack after a painful first-lap crash left her on the ground for longer than usual. She gained roughly a position a lap, first passing Becki Wheeler, who was struggling to find a flow early on in the race, then Abbi Troy, and finally Hannah Hunter, who was beginning to experience the same ATV-shutting-off problem that has plagued her program for much of this season.

Shepherd never came back into the scoring zone after completing her third lap, which moved Osburn up into third and Hunter into fourth and Abbi Troy back into fifth. After the third lap, Wheeler was able to find a good pace, catching up to and battling with Troy. Despite several last-lap passing attempts, Troy prevailed and earned the last spot in the top five with only two seconds to spare. Troy’s fifth place and Wheeler’s sixth place both appear to be career-best finishes for these riders in the WXC class. 

Hunter remained in fourth place for the rest of the race despite the mechanical problems. But by the time the white flag was out, it looked like there could be a battle brewing for second place – Osburn was almost within sighting distance of Gorrell, and when Gorrell smoked a tree with just a mile left to go in the race, Osburn was able to capitalize on her mistake and earn a second-place finish for the day.

When asked about her race, Osburn said that "The track was fun even after the crash, and I was happy to finish second at my home race! Having all of my NYOA friends there cheering on me helped me to refocus after that bad crash on the first lap. I'm so proud of Sadiee [Gorrell] too, it was awesome to see her put it on the box!" This was Gorrell’s first trip to the box this season, and was excited about her race as well, saying that “It felt great to finally put a good race together!” Pickens was more excited about the track than anything else, saying “It was nice to race in a new location – the track was a lot of fun and the terrain was challenging.

Andrea Rodgers took the win in the Girl’s class by only seventeen seconds over second place Alexis Keys. Anna Nicely placed third. Sydney Sams came back swinging after the summer break, taking the Women’s Amateur win by several minutes. 

In the WXC bike class, Becca Sheets got the holeshot, and led into the woods. Mackenzie Tricker and Rachael Archer initially made up the top three, but shortly into the race Archer bobbled which allowed Tayla Jones to move into third place and Korie Steede to move into fourth. Jones got around Tricker at some point on lap one, while Archer was able to pass Steede back when she began having issues due to a front flat. The top three broke away into their own pack, which had nearly a minute on the rest of the field after lap one. 

Sheets was able to hold her lead and even extend it a little on the second lap, after Jones crashed while trying to pass for the lead. A bottleneck in the scoring zone at the end of lap two ate away the small gap she had pulled, and both Jones and Tricker passed Sheets in the next open field section. By this point Archer was riding pretty well by herself in fourth, while Eden Netelkos moved into fifth. However, Shyann Phelps was steadily gaining time after entering the woods last off the start when Rachel Gutish went down in front of her. 

Midway through lap three a lapped riders bike began cartwheeling down the hill, Sheets would feel the effect of the bike, knocking her down and twisting her handlebars. This allowed Jones and Tricker to check out on Sheets, and it looked like it would be a two-bike race for the win. However, after spending most of lap three swapping the lead back and forth with Jones, another lapper went down in front of Tricker in a fast field section, and with no reaction time available she was thrown over the bars. Tricker would ride back to her pits after the accident, but would be unable to return to the race. 

With Tricker out, everyone shifted up a position, with Sheets now in second, Archer still a ways back but now in third. Phelps had finally made a pass on Netelkos, so they were now in fourth and fifth respectively, which is where they would finish out the day – season-best finishes for both riders. Archer also finished in third, making the smart decision not to even try and push for a higher finish given the difficulty of the track and the very real risk of crashing out. When asked about her race she said “"Having the summer break was exactly what I needed. During the race yesterday I felt good and strong, it just wasn't my track and I felt that if I tried to push too hard, I would crash and hurt myself. So, I played it safe which ended up working out for me in the end since I ended up on the podium.” 

After a pit stop, Sheets was slightly over a minute down from Jones with two and a half laps remaining after she refueled. She charged as hard as she could, and by the end of the race cut Jones’ lead down to only eleven seconds – but not quite enough to try and pass for the win. Sheets was a little frustrated, saying “I was the fastest one on the track today, I just had some misfortune that was out of my hands.” For her part, Jones said that after getting into the lead on the third lap she tried to run her own race, and agreed with Archer that Black Sky was a very challenging track: “The roots and rocks on the track were gnarly, so staying smooth was nearly impossible. I had lots of small crashes but nothing very detrimental. I’m pumped to be back GNCC racing – with my injury and the summer break it’s been awhile. Overall I had a fun day and am stoked to grab the win”