It was a great day for Cochrane BMXers last Saturday (August 26).

The Calgary track was the place to be as riders from across Canada came to compete in the National races. Thirty four riders from Cochrane competed for a highly coveted National Plate.

Brad Christensen, President of Cochrane BMX, says it was great to see so many riders competing in their first national race. Out of 35 racers, 11 came home with their 'N' plate. 

"There was a lot of close calls by a lot of kids, but that's part of racing. Congratulations to all the kids that didn't make it; it's not easy to get a plate in that top eight and we had a few of them, so that's great to see."

Canadian Championships take on a different format then other races, shares Christensen, which makes for an incredibly interesting race day. "Instead of dividing the kids up by age and class (class meaning novice, intermediate, expert) they put everyone together so if you are a ten year old you race all the ten year old's across Canada who have entered the race; even if you're a novice or intermediate rider you are up against all the best. They are looking to find the top eight riders in that age group across Canada."

Christensen, says you see emotions run high during the semi finals. "Once you make it into the final, once you win your semis and your guaranteed a National Plate that is where you see all the emotion; every rider is giving it their all. That is where you see the kids come back to the stands to see their parents and the smiles on their faces is quite a sight."

Cochrane riders will have one more opportunity for hardware at the Alberta Provincial Championships and Grands in Medicine Hat the weekend of September 9 and 10. "That is where kids will get more opportunities for plates and trophies. All the fun stuff happens in Medicine Hat."

From there a number of riders will try their luck competing at races in Chilliwack and Abottsford, BC in October.

For the rest of the club, Christensen, is hopeful weather holds out a little longer. "If the summer continues as is, we would like to get in most of September at our track but eventually we do need to get some of the water out of our lines and put our track to bed."

The following riders received the highly sought after N Plate:

  • Haylee Laurell N3 (7 year olds)
  • Nathan Vlahakis N3 (8)
  • Willow Kerr-Smith N7 (8)
  • Jaxson Ross N5 (9)
  • AJ Laurell N7 (9)
  • Ashtynn Foresburg N2 (9) 
  • Brock Foster N8 (11)
  • Sam Scott N6 (11)
  • Luke Christensen N8 (12)
  • Katie Scott N8 (14)
  • Brian Otterson N2