This year, conditions were incredibly muddy. On Saturday the rain came down hard all day, and while there was no rain on Sunday, the damage had already been done. Parts of the track were decent, but for most of the course it was a challenge to avoid the deep mudholes and a struggle to plow through the deep ruts. There was a ton of standing water in the field sections too. Of the 91 females who competed at Ironman (the largest turnout this season), Kate Osburn and Mackenzie Tricker were the winners in the premier WXC classes.

In the ATV WXC race, Traci Pickens took the holeshot again, but was unable to pull much on the other riders in the top five. Megan Shepherd came through the scoring zone in second, Andrea Berger (a new face in the WXC class) was third, Kate Osburn came through in fourth and Hannah Hunter was fifth. None of these riders had more than three seconds separating them. 

The second lap was where things got interesting. All five riders came to a huge bottleneck in the trail at about the same time. Pickens and Shepherd tried to make a new line around it, and were able to made it out of the mess a little faster than the others. Berger saw a hole open up in the crowd and tried to charge though it with Osburn and Hunter right behind her – but just before they got to the opening, a lapper slid into it, blocking them off. They got off their machines and started trying to help the other riders who were in their way, aided by Hunter’s mechanic. 

Meanwhile, Jaida Phillips had worked her way up into fifth. Unfortunately, on the third lap, both she and Berger experienced problems that took them out of the race. This left just Sadiee Gorrell and Crystal Diebold battling for fifth place. Though Gorell had a substantial lead going into lap three, Diebold ran a consistent lap and was able to reel her in. By this time the 4x4 pros had caught the pair, so the third lap was their final one.

Charging hard, Osburn and Hunter were able to make up the time they had lost in the bottleneck. By the third lap, all four riders were now within passing distance of each other. Hannah Hunter had already made it around Shepherd, and though Shepherd was able to hold off Osburn for the better part of a lap, Osburn was able to edge her out on the far side of a creek crossing and drop her. She finished fourth – a lap ahead of fifth place, but well out of sight from the leaders.

The third lap was where the majority of the battles took place. Osburn found an alternate line and passed Hunter, then got around Pickens in one of the corners on the grasstrack. Hunter was able to pass them both back, but not long after she came into a corner too hot and slid over the top of a berm, stalling her quad. Osburn took the lead again, and held it all through the final lap and right to the checkered flag. Hunter was able to get back around Pickens, giving them second and third, respectively.

When asked about her win, Osburn said, "It feels good to end the season on a high note! I'm looking forward to some good battles in 2020." Hunter’s response was similar: "I stayed calm and just raced my own race since I couldn't move up or down in the points. To finish off the season with another podium is amazing, and I can't wait for next year!" Though Pickens was third in the race, she was still the 2019 GNCC champion, having wrapped up the title several rounds ago.

Alexis Keys was the winner in the Girls class this race. She finished one minute ahead of second place Hannah Moore. Anna Nicely rounded out the podium with a third-place finish. Andrea Rodgers was the Girls class champion for the 2019 season. Jessica Elihof won the Women’s class, her first GNCC win this season. Sydney Sams was the Women’s class champion for the 2019 season. 

In the Micro ATV race, Khyler Davis was the top finishing girl, finishing first overall! She was followed by Zoey Hawkinberry (14th), Gabryella Whitehead (28th), Grace Bender (29), Mia Decesare (30th), Grace Kemp (32nd), Raelynn Dickerson (37th), Jenna Bery (41st), and Aubrey Benner (43rd) 

Mackenzie Tricker took the holeshot in the WXC bike race. The first lap was pretty chaotic: there were multiple leaders during the lap, Tricker sunk her bike in a mudhole, and Korie Steede crashed out of the race. When the dust (or in this case, the mud) settled, Rachael Archer held the lead, with Becca Sheets nineteen seconds behind and Tayla another thirteen from her. Though help was nearby and Tricker was able to free her bike relatively quickly, she was still nearly a minute down from third place at the end of lap one.

The next closest rider was Annalisa Davis, who was roughly eighteen minutes down. She rode by herself the majority of the day, as she had almost the same amount of time over sixth place rider Shyann Phelps. When Phleps had a battery issue that took her out of the race on the second lap, it sealed the deal on a fifth place for Davis. This is her highest-ever finish in her first year of racing in the WXC class. 

Lap two was no calmer than lap one for the WXC class. They started to get into the lappers, and with 634 total AM bike entries, there were plenty of them out there! Archer was able to stay in the lead until her pit stop going into the third lap. After two laps of plugging away, Tricker had caught back up and took the lead when Archer pitted, and Sheets was not far behind her. Jones had fallen back to fourth place after encountering some kind of problem on lap two – her second lap was ten minutes slower than both her first and second lap were. This dropped her back to fourth for the day. 

It was an all-out sprint to the finish. Despite the (presumably) worsening track conditions, every rider in the top three ran their fastest laptime on their final lap. Tricker rode a clean last lap, and finished just out of sight of second-place Archer. Archer and Sheets briefly battled, though Archer eventually got away, leaving Sheets in third for the day. When asked about her race, Tricker said, “Today was awesome! After getting stuck I just plugged away and tried to keep it on two wheels. The last lap was an all-out sprint with Becca [Sheets] and Rachael [Archer], but I'm so stoked to come out on top, it's a great way to finish the year!” Archer was also happy about her day, saying "I'm stoked to finish fourth for the series in my first pro season! Big thanks to everyone for allowing me this opprotinity, especially the crew at AmPro Yamaha, my boyfriend Dylan and all the friends I've made over here. I'm excited to see what next year brings!" Sheets told us “"I spent a little too much time on the ground today, but I think we all had that problem... I'm just happy to finish on the box in one piece!" Although she finished off the podium at Ironman and missed a couple of rounds this season, Tayla Jones was the WXC class champion for the 2019 season.

Indiana rider Emma Robey took home the Girls class at Ironman. She was joined on the podium by Gracie Gooch and Ellie Winland. Although she did not race at Ironman, Nikki Russell was Girls class champion for the 2019 season. Prestin Raines took her second win in the Womens class this season. Jocelyn Barnes was the Womens class champion for the 2019 season. In Womens C, Kara Parsons was the winner, and the only one in the class to get in a full two laps. Taylor Murray was the Womens C champion for the 2019 season.

In the micro bike race, Paisley Harris was the fastest girl, finishing 41st overall. She was followed by Isabel Boorom (49th), Cassie Fairfield (55th), Mya Dexter (56th), and Rylee Mattison (74th)