Taupō BMX riders shine at National Championships in Hamilton

Taupō's Cohen Ludlum racing in the Mighty 11 trials. Photo / Taupō BMX Club Facebook

Taupō riders impressed at the BMX New Zealand National Championships held in Hamilton.

With the Omicron variant of Covid-19 continuing to ravage the country, the champs looked significantly different from previous years, running over two days in four mini-events.

Taupō BMX Club's Cohen Ludlum became the toast of the club by racing his way into the New Zealand Mighty 11s team to compete against its Australian counterparts at the Sleeman club in Brisbane.

Saturday morning saw reasonably new rider Bowie Williams and brothers Carter and Cohen Ludlum take to the track. Bowie rode strong through the moto and semifinal stages to make the 8 boys' final and finish NZ4, a phenomenal result.

Unfortunately, both Carter and Cohen were victims of tough semifinals, just missing out on their age group finals.

Saturday afternoon was another brotherly affair with Lauchie and Riley Burley racing but neither brother could progress past the moto stages, missing their finals by the narrowest of margins.

Sunday morning was the clubs' future riders' turn to shine with sprocket riders Donovan Wallace, Matilda Burley and Jacob Smith all acquitting themselves well.

Also taking to the track in the Sunday morning session was 45-49 Cruiser Males riders Matt Collins, Bryan Ludlum and Kevin Tamepo, with Collins and Ludlum making their national final and finishing seventh and eighth respectively.

The final riders to compete on Sunday morning were Brooklyn Williams and Brock Harvey who competed in a classy 15 boys' field. New to the sport Brooklyn showed he's got huge potential in the sport, narrowly missing the final and achieving a ranking of 10 at his first Nationals.

Rounding out the event on Sunday afternoon, it was the girls' turn to take centre stage with Micah Wallace, Kahlia Crocker and Taylor Mortensen all competing at their first Nationals.

Micah and Kahlia raced consistently well all day making their age group final at their first national event, with Micah taking home a national ranking of four and Kahlia a ranking of six in New Zealand. A truly unbelievable result for their first time racing at this level.

Taylor rode in a competitive 11 to 12-year girls' class which was amalgamated after there were not enough 11-year girls. Taylor rode consistently well but was unable to progress past the moto stage and finished 18th in New Zealand.

All riders are now focused on the next major event the BMXNZ North Island Titles to be held in Taupō at Labour weekend, where all riders will be hoping to take advantage of their home track.