The weather on Saturday was foggy, overcast and rainy for most of the ATV racing, while the bike racers on Sunday were able to enjoy sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures. Conditions were great for both Saturday and Sunday – it wasn’t a mud pit or dust bowl the way many of the races have been this year. According to the track map, both the AM bike and ATV loops appeared to be roughly 9.5 miles, but given that it was 9.5 miles of tight, technical trail with almost no wide-open field sections, laptimes were pretty long. Of the 62 female riders who competed at Mountaineer, Hannah Hunter and Tayla Jones were the winners in the premier WXC classes. 

In the ATV WXC race, Traci Pickens got the holeshot and was first into the woods. Early on in the first lap, Pickens took a bad line, allowing Megan Shepherd to move into the lead with Katelyn Osburn close behind. Not long after, Shepherd made a mistake, which allowed Osburn and the rest of the class to get around her.

The first time through the scoring zone, the top four riders were all close together, with no more than thirty seconds between first and fourth place. By the second lap they had started to space out, with Osburn and Hannah Hunter out in front, with Pickens and Sadiee Gorrell about a minute back. Heading into the final lap, the distance between the two packs remained the same, though the gap between Osburn and Hunter shrunk to less than a second, while the gap between Pickens and Gorrell had grown to over a minute.

It was a very eventful last lap in the ATV WXC class. Hunter passed Osburn for the lead during her pit stop. The two of them went back and forth a couple times – Osburn got back around when Hunter was stuck on some rocks, but then Osburn took a bad line which allowed both Hunter and Pickens to get around. Not long after, Pickens made a failed passing attempt on Hunter, which dropped her back behind Osburn, as well as Gorrell, who had been sprinting to make up the gap between her and the top three. Hunter put the hammer down and won the race by almost a minute, with Osburn in second and Gorrell in third. 

In Hunter’s her first year as a pro, her results have not always been consistent, but when she avoids mistakes and mechanical failures she has the speed to win, as she clearly demonstrated here at the Mountaineer! When asked about her win, she said “I am so happy to win a WXC race in my first year in the pro class! I would like to dedicate this win to Brian McCormick” Osburn jokes that “Two must be my lucky number, since I finished there again (laughs). It was a fun race, and I’m looking forward to Ironman and hoping to finish the season with a win! Congrats to Hannah, I’m happy for her since this is her first WXC win!” 

There were three different riders who led the Girls ATV class: Hannah Moore, Anna Nicely and Alexis Keys. Keys led on the lap that counted though, taking her first GNCC win of the season! Nicely finished about a minute down in second, while Moore DNF’d with only one lap to go, which gave Samantha Shaw the opening she needed to make her first GNCC podium this season. Morgan Johnson, racing YXC1, was the highest finishing girl in the overall, placing 16th.

Sydney Sams took the win in the Women’s class and placed 35th overall in the AM race, her highest overall finish this season. 

In the micro ATV race, Khyler Davis took the overall win for the third time this season! There were six other girls competing: Zoey Hawkinberry (6th), Gabryella Whitehead (18), Mia Decesare (22), Raelynn Dickerson (23), Aubrey Benner (27) and Abby Kiblinger (29). 

In the WXC bike race, Mackenzie Tricker got the holeshot and held the lead going into the woods. Sheets was in second behind her, with Korie Steede right behind her in third. A few miles in, Steede bobbled in the rocks, giving Rachel Gutish enough of an opening to make a pass. Gutish got around Sheets a few miles later with an inside line and with a couple miles before the scoring zone, passed Tricker in a similar fashion. Jones had stayed close to Gutish, also passing her way up through the ranks, putting her in second place. Despite an embarrassing crash right before the scoring zone, Gutish held the lead going into lap two, though Jones, Sheets and Tricker were all only a few seconds behind her. 

A short way into lap two, Jones passed for the lead but almost immediately made a mistake and went down, dropping her back to fourth. By this time Tricker had gotten around Gutish also, and then took over the lead. On the second lap the top four riders came through the scoring zone still practically on top of each other: Tricker in the lead, Jones down by nine seconds, Gutish down by two seconds, and Sheets another two seconds behind her. Gutish and Sheets went back and forth a couple times before Gutish crashed taking a bad line trying to get around a lapper. She subsequently fell off the pace and finished fourth, nearly two minutes behind the top three.

Meanwhile, Steede was holding on to a solid fifth place, though she was down about a minute from the lead pack. It looked as though she would finish there, but on lap three she swerved to avoid an erratic lapper, clipped a tree and hit the ground hard. She was able to finish, but lost two positions. Rachael Archer instead took fifth place. Shelby Turner, a Canadian off-road and AMA EnduroCross champion placed sixth on a borrowed bike after going down right off the start. 

Tricker still held the lead going into the last lap. Jones and Sheets had been battling hard for second place and were both close by and ready to make a pass at the first opportunity. That opportunity came when she briefly got stuck on a hill near the three-mile marker, and Jones took the lead. Tricker had jumped in right behind Jones after getting passed and was able to hang with her until hitting a lapper near the six-mile marker. She ended up finished second to Jones by about forty seconds, while Sheets was a similar distance down in third, having taken a digger while chasing Jones earlier in the lap. 

When asked about her race, Jones said "I had a good day at the mountaineer. It was really cool to be at a new venue! The track was challenging and easy to make mistakes on, so I just rode a comfortable pace throughout the day. I'm stoked to grab another win and take the title fight to Ironman!". Tricker pointed out that she led the majority of the race, and explained “I’m really happy with how I rode, considering how technical the track was and how sore my shoulder still is after my crash at Black Sky!”. Sheets told us that having the top four together for the majority of the day made for a fun race. As far as the title chasse is concerned, she said “I know what I need to do going into the last round, and Ironman will be one to watch!”

Nikki Russell earned her eighth win of the season in Girls class, lapping the rest of the field. Gracie Gooch finished second, well ahead of third place Elllie Winland, who in turn finished a lap ahead of the remaining riders. With her win, Russell wrapped up the Girls class title a race early. In the Womens class, Alli Phillips was the winner, while in the Womens C class Anne Bean earned her first win of the season. Jocelyn Barnes was 2nd in the 125 b/c class and 33rd overall 

In the micro bike race, the top girl was Paisley Harris, who places twenty-seventh overall. The other girls who competed were Matilda Revoyr (31), and Isabell Boorom (39).