Inter-Regional Mtb Champs Report.

October 5th – 7th 2012.

Published on:10th October 2012

Article By: Isla Short

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The Scottish team arrived at Hadleigh Farm, Essex, after an incredibly long journey from Edinburgh. The weekend began with the skills competition on Friday, so after bikes were put back together, kit was on and our crowded Scottish gazebo was in place, everybody set out to practice the skills that were already in place. At three o’clock the girls lined up to compete and finished with positive results, some pleasantly surprising, the North team with Elena Melton in third, Erika Allen in sixth, Katie Allen in ninth and Ella Conolly in twenty fifth and the South team with Lucy Grant in first, Isla Short in eleventh, Eve Hanlon Cole in nineteenth and Emma Borthwick in twenty second. All of the boys had equally successful result, the North finishing with Liam McLaughlin in third, Mark McGuire in tenth, Callum Russell in twenty fifth and Lewis Champion in forty first, the South with Francis Webb in fourteenth, Bryan Moodie and twentieth, Ben Forsyth in thirty fourth and Harry Johnston in thirty sixth. So after an encouraging first day at the Inters, the team standings saw Scotland North in the top spot, and Scotland South following in second place. Already Scottish domination!

Day two at Hadleigh Farm consisted of the dirt crit in the morning and hill climb in the afternoon. Arriving bright and early at eight thirty, everybody rode the course for the dirt crit. The girls’ heats began mid-morning and were off to a successful start with Lucy Grant winning her heat. In heat two, an impressive crash from Isla Short lead to her being out of the competition for the final dirt crit results, however it was still a pleasing set of results with Lucy winning the A final and Isla winning the C final (twenty ninth) along with Eve Hanlon Cole in eighth, Elena Melton twelfth, Erika Allen sixteenth, Emma Borthwick twentieth, Ella Conolly twenty first and Katie Allen in thirty seventh. Later on in the boys dirt crit, Lewis Champion finished in an impressive sixth position, Liam Mclaughin in twelfth, Harry Johnston in fifteenth, Mark McGuire in eighteenth, Ben Forsyth in twenty fifth, Callum Russell in twenty seventh, Bryan Moodie in thirty first and Francis Webb in forty first. In the afternoon, the hill climb, a quick wide fire road then onto some steep single track zig zags, proved triumphant with most girls making it through to the final road, Lucy finishing first, Isla sixth, Elena ninth, Eve eleventh, Erika fourteenth, Ella twenty fourth, Emma twenty sixth and Katie Allen thirty fourth. The boys had equally good results, with every rider making I through to the A final and two Scotland North riders in the top five, Liam taking fourth, Lewis fifth, Harry eighth, Ben fifteenth, Callum twenty first, Mark twenty seventh, Francis thirtieth and Bryan thirty second.

The third and final day of the Inter regionals was the XC race, the longest and most painful day of racing! The team had all familiarized themselves with the course, most people feeling confident on the technical rocky sections which was lucky as the Scottish have no excuse for being unable to smash it on this! At twelve o’clock, after the hundredth warm up of the weekend, the girls rolled on to the start line ready to race their five laps on the Olympic course. With the sun shining and the buzzing atmosphere, it was hard to feel tired. One rider from each team started on the front two grids, and with Lucy Grant and Elena Melton on the front line, they were able to smash it at the front and gain a reasonable gap soon into the race. As the race unfolded, the finishing positions became more certain as the gap between the top riders widened. With two Scottish riders certain of a podium, and Isla finishing in fourth, the girls race was a great success also with Erika Allen finishing in thirteenth, Emma Borthwick in fourteenth, Ella Conolly in twenty second and Katie Allen in twenty seventh. Unfortunately after crashing during pre-riding, Eve did not finish the XC race. In the boys race in the afternoon, the Scottish teams produced more awesome results especially the North, all with exceptional rides with Lewis Champion in twelfth, Liam McLaughlin in fifteenth, Mark McGuire in sixteenth and Callum Russell in twentieth, confirmed their Inter Regional Champions title. South secured number three in the overall team standings with Ben Forsyth in twenty third, Bryan Moodie in thirtieth and Francis Webb in thirty third, although Luck wasn’t on Harry’s side at multiple times over the weekend, resulting in a DNF in the XC race after a broken bike.

So to conclude the weekend, The ‘Scottish Mafia’ – nicknamed by commentator Tim Buckle- kicked everybody’s butts once again! Well done everybody and thank you to Iain Grant, Miranda Balfour (South), Steve and Rachel (North) for hanging about aimlessly, holding bottles, transporting us and bikes and generally being awesome!

To view images from the event please click here. Images courtesy of Rachel Allan

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INTER REGIONAL MOUNTAIN BIKE CHAMPIONSHIPS

HADLEIGH FARM, ESSEX

5-7 OCTOBER 2012

RESULTS REPORT

 

SKILLS

 

Scotland South				Scotland North
Girls		Boys		Girls		Boys
1	Lucy Grant	14	Francis Webb	3	Elena Melton	3	Liam McLaughlin
11	Isla Short	20	Bryan Moodie	6	Erica Allen	10	Mark McGuire
19	Eve H-Cole	34	Ben Forsyth	9	Katie Allen	25	Calum Russell
22	Emma B	36	Harry Johnston	25	Ella Connolly	41	Lewis Champion

 

 

DIRT CRIT

Scotland South				Scotland North
Girls		Boys		Girls		Boys
1	Lucy Grant	14	Harry Johnston	12	Elena Melton	6	Lewis Champion
8	Eve H-Cole	25	Ben Forsyth	16	Erica Allen	12	Liam McLaughlin
20	Emma B	31	Bryan Moodie	21	Ella Connolly	18	Mark McGuire
29	Isla Short	41	Francis Webb	37	Katie Allen	27	Calum Russell

 

 

UPHILL

Scotland South				Scotland North
Girls		Boys		Girls		Boys
1	Lucy Grant	8	Harry Johnston	9	Elena Melton	4	Liam McLaughlin
6	Isla Short	15	Ben Forsyth	14	Erica Allen	5	Lewis Champion
11	Eve H-Cole	30	Francis Webb	24	Ella Connolly	21	Calum Russell
26	Emma B	32	Bryan Moodie	34	Katie Allen	27	Mark McGuire

 

 

 

CROSS COUNTRY

 

Scotland South				Scotland North
Girls		Boys		Girls		Boys
1	Lucy Grant	23	Ben Forsyth	2	Elena Melton	12	Lewis Champion
4	Isla Short	30	Bryan Moodie	13	Erica Allen	15	Liam McLaughlin
14	Emma B	33	Francis Webb	22	Ella Connolly	16	Mark McGuire
44	Eve H-Cole	52	Harry Johnston	27	Katie Allen	20	Calum Russell