Cochrane Bicycle Motocross (BMX) Club members have brought home coveted provincial plates to attach to their mounts for next season. The numbered plates attach to the racers’ handlebars and denote their provincial standing among racers their age from all skill levels – AB1 signifying the rider is No. 1 in Alberta in his/her age group.
And they didn’t come easily, it never does. But the season-ending Sept. 12-13 Grands and provincial-championships in St. Albert came with the added challenge of inclement weather – downright nasty weather, in fact.
Torrential overnight rains in St. Albert forced race officials to eliminate half the racetrack for safety concerns, and shorten up the number of heats to ensure the remaining section of track in use didn’t deteriorate.
“It was wild,” Cochrane BMX president, racer and racer’s dad Brad Christensen reported. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
With a one-and-done qualifying heat for provincial championships, instead of the usual three, on half a track, racers had to pin their ears back and pump everything into their pedals for one heat to advance to finals.
“It definitely favoured strong starters,” Christensen related. “But the rest of the track was too rough to race on. For the safety of the riders, they had to shorten the track.”
Cochrane’s Steven Sweet topped all 16-year-old males in the province, bringing home the AB1 plate in his age group.
Cochrane’s Katie Scott came out of the Novice 12 female class to finish second in the province among all female 12 year olds, including racers in the Intermediate and Expert classes. She brought home the AB2 plate for her efforts.
Ashtynn Forsberg raced to the AB1 plate among the province’s seven-year-old female riders. Sienna Foster claimed the AB8 plate among the province’s nine-year-old female racers. Mackenzie Hilton was seventh among female 10 year olds. Coralee Hilton retained her AB4 plate among 14-year-old females.
“For those kids who came home with AB plates, that’s a big accomplishment,” Christensen said. “Especially if you’re a novice or intermediate rider. You get mixed in with the experts. It’s a pretty big accomplishment. Those kids should be proud.”
Cochrane’s Dreven Hamel finished third in the five-year-old male provincial age group, while Nathan Vlahakis took third for six-year-old males. Four Cochrane BMX racers earned plates in the seven-year-old male group; Jaxson Ross fourth, AJ Laurell sixth, Mason Pike seventh and Joshua Hagel eighth.
Caleb Graham (sixth) and Sam Scott (eighth) plated among male nine year olds.
Connor Murphy brought home AB5 in 14-year-old male competition. Doug Murphy earned AB8 in 30-39 male racing.
Cochrane BMX holds its season-ending, open-track awards day Sept. 19 at its home ground on the hill above the Cochrane and District Agricultural Society.
For comprehensive results of Aug. 12 Alberta BMX Grands and Aug. 13 provincial-championship racing, visit albertabmx.com.
