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A Cracker of an Event Rounds-Off Scottish Youth Series

Event: South Scotland Youth Cyclocross Series, Heathall Forest, Dumfries, 12th December 2009

Report: Dave Moss | Series Results

Heathall Forest near Dumfries played host to the third and final round of the 2009 South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross Series.

With the first two rounds suffering from torrential rain and high winds it was a welcome but extremely cold change to find this event being held under cloudless skies.

This final round of the series was the ‘Christmas Cracker' organised by SteppingStanes youth cycling club and the event provided the perfect opportunity for the club to showcase and test out its newly-purchased event timing system.

Before the racing got underway young racers and club volunteers took some time to smile for the cameras as local press came to record this exciting development and to thank the support and generosity of the funding partners (7Stanes, SWestrans, Dumfries & Galloway Council, and the Holywood Trust).

Once the photocall was out of the way the serious business of bike racing took centre-stage and it seemed that the cold weather didn't put people off, with over 40 young riders from all over Scotland lining up to compete in their relevant age categories.

The Under 8 and Under 10 races were off first, with a shortened version of the main race course, but which still was a challenging mix of tarmac, forest road, frozen grass, mud and wooded singletrack. The youngest riders got stuck in to what proved to be a very exciting race. In the under 8 boys event, series leader Calum Johnson from Peebles CC took the top spot in the category, with 2nd place going to Lucas Pedley, and the final podium position going to Jamie Magowan. One of the youngest competitors, Anna-May Pedley, was the victorious under 8 girl's race.

The Under 10 riders, whilst racing on the same shortened course, had an extra lap to contend with and proved themselves perfectly capable with the top three spots in the boys competition going to Tom Aitken (Peebles CC) 1st, Cameron Mason in 2nd, and Joshua Graham in 3rd. The girl's podium was made up of SteppingStanes rider Polly Henderson in 1st, with Anna McGorum in 2nd, and Nicole Gray in 3rd.

The under 12 race came next, with the challenge of five laps of the full course to contend with it wasn't going to be an easy or short race. From the off it was Drumlanrig Root Rats rider Cameron Scott that took the lead. Cameron steadily extended his lead over the five laps to take a convincing win. An impressive ride from the female trio from Stirling's Wallace Warriors of Erika Allen, Rhona Callander, and Katie Allen, meant that they took the top three spots in the girl's category, and were 2nd, 3rd and 5th respectively in the overall results. Yan Czaza and Adam Burgoyne were 2nd and 3rd in the boy's category results.

The final event of the day saw the combined field of Under 14 and Under 16 riders competing over 25 minutes plus 1 lap of the challenging but popular course.

With conditions still bitterly cold, riders were keen to get started, but a last minute mechanical issue for one rider saw a delayed start, however riders were able to get an extra warm up lap to keep the cold at bay. Once the race got underway Stewartry Wheelers Ross Green took an early lead, and showing his strength, steadily began to ease away from the chasing duo of Craig Owen and Morgan McConnell, eventually taking the win with a considerable lead and having lapped a large number of the field.

Whilst trying to stay on the blistering pace of Green, Owen and McConnell had their own battle for second position, with Owen managing to pull away in the last lap to take 2nd spot, with McConnell coming over the line in 3rd but as first in the Under 14 category. All three of these impressive riders chalked up 10 laps of the testing course.

The remainder of the combined field rode hard with Hannah Ferguson taking top spot in the under 16 female category completing 9 laps. Under 14 female victory went to Jenna Fenwick (Stewartry Wheelers) with Catherine Angus (Carnegie Cyclones) taking 2nd, and the remaining spots on the under 14 boy's podium were filled by Calum Magowan (Peebles CC) and Adam Hughes (Team Brakepad) respectively who had a thrilling battle with each rider taking turns to drive the pace, with the Peebles rider just managing to pull away from the chasing Hughes over the last lap.

With the racing over and done with, it was time for prize presentations which included a special novelty prize for all podium placed riders courtesy of Santa Claus.

Thanks go to all SteppingStanes volunteers who made the event possible, and for all those riders and parents from all over Scotland that made the journey to Dumfries to take part in the event.

A special note of thanks also goes to the Forestry Commission and local land owner Tom Telfer for allowing the event to take place on their land.

South of Scotland Youth Cyclocross Series
Round 3 - ‘Christmas Cracker'
Full results:

Under 8 Boys:

1. Callum Johnson
2. Lucas Pedley
3. Jamie Magowan
4. Lewis Grahame

Under 8 Girls:

1. Anna-May Pedley

Under 10 Boys:

1. Tom Aitken
2. Cameron Mason
3. Joshua Graham
4. Joe Reilly
5. Ewan Mackay
6. William Macartney

Under 10 Girls:

1. Polly Henderson
2. Anna McGoram
3. Nicole Gray

Under 12 Boys:

1. Cameron Scott
2. Yan Czaza
3. Adam Burgoyne
4. Callum Kingstree
5. James Dalziel

Under 12 Girls:

1. Erika Allen
2. Rhona Callander
3. Katie Allen
4. Katherine Malone
5. Lizzie McCreadie

Under 14 Boys:

1. Morgan McConnell - 10 laps
2. Calum Magowan - 9 laps
3. Adam Hughes - 9 laps
4. Hamish McCreadie - 8 laps
5. Rory Perkins - 8 laps
6. Craig Gault - 8 laps
7. Rhys Donnelly - 7 laps
8. Ben Forsyth - DNF
9. Sean Noon - DNF

Under 14 Girls:

1. Jenna Fenwick - 9 laps
2. Catherine Angus - 8 laps

Under 16 Boys:

1. Ross Green - 10 laps
2. Craig Owen - 10 laps
3. Jordan Crawford - 9 laps
4. Daniel Wright - 9 laps
5. Robbie Gault - 9 laps

Under 16 Girls:

1. Hannah Ferguson - 9 laps