Like last year’s Mason-Dixon GNCC, the silt was both the most notable feature and challenging part of the track. The uphills were especially difficult for many riders, and in some places the silt hid the rocks and tree roots, making for a somewhat unpredictable track. Once you added in the dust generated whenever a bike or ATV passed by, it made for a difficult day for both rider and machine. The course itself was fairly twisty and tight for a GNCC, and despite the uncontrollable weather and ground conditions, most riders commented on how enjoyable the course still was, even with the silt and dust. Of the 98 females who competed this weekend, Hannah Hunter and Rachael Archer were the winners of the premier WXC classes.

In the WXC ATV race, Hannah Hunter was finally able to nab her first holeshot, and was followed into the woods by Kate Osburn. The two riders stayed close together, only separated by six seconds heading into lap two. Sydney Sams, Alicia McCormick and Traci Pickens came through the scoring zone in a second pack, also separated by only a few seconds.

On the second lap, Hunter was able to gap the competition, giving herself a forty second cushion. Meanwhile, Pickens had managed to work her way past both McCormick and Sams, sitting right on Osburn’s rear fender in third. Heading into the third lap, the dust and silt began to take its toll on the machines – McCormick didn’t complete a third lap, while Morgan Solesbee never made it through her second. They finished eighth and ninth, respectively.

Also on the third lap, Osburn was able to catch back up to Hunter, but when she went to make a pass on Hunter on an off-camber hillside, she accidently flipped her ATV instead. Osburn ended up pinned between the two machines, and before they were able to get up and rolling again, Pickens was able to take advantage of the delay and move into the lead.

Pickens would hang onto the lead for the rest of the lap and part of the last, but was unable to hold off Hunter, who took her tenth win of the season – wrapping up the title last round clearly has not slowed her down any. When asked about her race, Hunter said “I finally got my first holeshot and felt really good the first two laps. I just made too many mistakes the last two laps, but I’m happy to come out with the win” while also saying in regard to the title that it “feels amazing to finally accomplish the dreams I’ve had since I was a little girl. It has been a long ten years racing and working to make this dream become a reality, and I can’t think everyone enough!”

Meanwhile, Pickens and Osburn battled it out all the way to the checkered flag, with Pickens edging out Osburn by less than three seconds. When asked about her race, Osburn told us  “I was third off the start and went into the woods in second. On the second lap I tried to make a pass on Hannah on an off-camber and flipped, pinning myself between my quad and hers, and letting Traci by both of us. When we got going again, I was sitting in third, and made my way up. I finished just seconds behind Traci but couldn’t manage to make a pass before the finish.”

The rest of the WXC field was quite spread out most of the race, with very few battles taking place. Sydney Sams finished fourth, Abbi Troy took fifth, Jaida Phillips was sixth, and Kassidy Williams was seventh, the last WXC rider to complete all four laps.

Hannah Moore took home the win in Girls SR (12-15), further solidifying her lead in the points standings. Anna Nicely took second place after battling all day with Ava Wolf, who finished just ten seconds down in third. In the Girl’s JR (8-11) class, Alyssa Rodgers earned her sixth win of the season, and was joined on the podium by Avery Colins and Khyler Davis. Outside of the regular girls’ classes, Morgan Johnson and Chloe Harper raced YXC1, placing fourth and seventh. Rhylan Lukoskie finished fourth and Gabryella Whitehead finished eighth in 90 Limited (8-12).

Taylor McClish finally earned her first Women’s class win this season at Mason-Dixon! Her results have been steadily improving all year. Karlie Martin was second this round, with Amie Dunlap rounding out the podium in third.

In the Micro ATV race, Khyler Davis was the top finishing girl, placing 3rd overall. She was followed by Falyn Holcomb (15th), Camy Crump (16th), Kimber Lowry (19th), Raelynn Dickerson (20th), Aryanna Neville (24th), Adeline Nicely (26th), Ashlynn Ostrich (35th), Madison Dains (41st) and Kelci Stringfellow (47th).

Rachel Gutish took her third holeshot in a row, as well as the $100 Trail Jesters Holeshot award in the bike WXC class. She was followed into the woods by Rachael Archer and Korie Steede. Not long after Archer made a small mistake, allowing Steede and Becca Sheets by. The riders had spread out a decent bit by the time they came through the scoring zone at the end of lap one – Gutish had eighteen seconds on Steede, who had another twenty-six on Sheets, who in turn was another fourteen ahead of Archer. Brooke Cosner came through in fifth not long after Archer.

Over the course of the second lap, the distances between the top four closed considerably.

The third lap is where things really started to get interesting. Korie Steede went out of the race with a mechanical issue, a major disappointment after such a strong start to the race. The top three WXC riders started to get into the worst of the lapped traffic, and although they swapped positions multiple times, for the most part no passes were made where both riders were upright and moving forward. Gutish lost the lead after going down in one of the tighter, twistier sections of the track, allowing both Archer and Sheets by. Archer was the next victim of lappers, getting taken out on one of the silty uphills, giving Sheets the lead and moving Gutish back into second. Sheets had her own lapper issue, moving Gutish into the lead again – though Sheets’ incident was the most problematic of them all, as she damaged her radiator in the ensuing collision. Sheets was able to limp the bike back to the pits, but lost over fourteen minutes replacing her radiator, taking her out of contention for the win and moving Cosner up third place position.

In the woods just before the scoring zone, Gutish was taken out by a lapper, moving Archer back into the lead once again as the riders entered the final lap. Despite various lapper incidents for each of the riders in the top three, no more passes were made on the last lap, and  Archer actually pulled away from Gutish, taking the win by forty seconds, while Cosner earned her first WXC podium since the 2018 Tomahawk GNCC. When asked about her win, Archer said “I definitely had to work for it today! But we got it done and made it four wins in a row! The dust was unreal and made the track pretty sketchy, so I’m happy to finish that race healthy!”

Gutish was happy to be on the podium, and even happier to be seeing forward progress:

“I feel like I’m getting closer and closer to getting that elusive GNCC win. I’ve managed to lead plenty of laps this season, it’s still just a matter of figuring out how to put an entire race together. But as always, any day I make it on the podium is a good day!” Cosner was thrilled with her ride, having finally broken a long podium draught. When asked about her race, she told us “The dust was insane, it was almost like riding in snow – but I’m from the north and learned how to ride a dirt bike in the snow (laughs). It felt really good to remember what it feels like to be up on the box again. It’s been two years since my last podium and one of those years I had to take completely off due to a wrist injury, so you can only imagine the feeling of accomplishment I have right now. It’s awesome!”

Despite the radiator issue, Sheets was still able to take fourth place at Mason-Dixon, which gave her just enough points to officially wrap up the 2020 WXC bike championship! When asked about how it felt to earn her second GNCC championship, Sheets said “It feels amazing to have accomplished this. I set this goal every year and when it all falls together with all of the right pieces it’s just indescribable!” Taylor Johnson rounded out the top five after battling closely with Alli Phillips – less than a second separated them at the end of the race. Meanwhile Annalisa Davis took seventh, Elizabeth Perez, racing with a broken ankle and torn ACL managed to survive the day for an eighth-place finish. Abby Defeo finished ninth, and Steede took tenth due to the mechanical issue on lap three.

In the Girls class, Kaitlyn Lindsey topped the podium again, her fifth consecutive win. She currently leads the points standings, sitting exactly one point ahead of Gracie Gooch, who finished second this round. Ellie Winland, also third in points, rounded out the podium. Outside of the regular Girls classes, Emma Dolan was 17th in YXC1.

In the Women’s class, Prestin Raines has been the rider to beat lately, and took home yet another win. After the upcoming Sprint Enduro she intends to move up to WXC. Anne Bean finished second, her first podium this season, and Miranda Tweeton rounded out the podium in third. Shelbie Roman took her seventh win and has officially wrapped up the women’s C title. She was joined on the podium by Abbey Isidorio, racing her first GNCC this season, and Amber Hannah.

In the micro bike race, Kimber Lowry was the highest finishing girl, placing 23rd overall. She was followed by Baylee Arsenault (29th), Aubrey Tsakanikas (37th), Matilda Revoyr (39th), Maura Tsakanikas (50th), Aubree Stevens (52nd), Kymber Davis (53rd), Madisyn Marsh (58th), Emmalynn Delong (61st) and Savannah Sanders (65th).

The next round of GNCC racing is currently scheduled to take place on October 31st and September first, in Crawfordsville, Indiana with the Ironman GNCC. ATV and Micro racing will take place Saturday, while bike racing will take place on Sunday.