Given its status as the official training site for Canada’s national team, the BMX track at Abbotsford’s Exhibition Park sees more than its share of high-calibre action.
That was particularly true this past weekend, as the local track played host to two BC Cup races (including the finals) and two Canada Cup races.
The events drew 155 riders, mostly from around B.C. but from destinations as far afield as New Zealand.
In the end, Abbotsford BMX athletes excelled in the BC Cup, and the elite national-team riders in the Canada Cup gave the youngsters something to aspire to.
Tory Nyhaug, a 2012 Olympian from Coquitlam who took silver at the World Championships in July, won the elite male division in Saturday’s Canada Cup races. Trent Jones, a New Zealand national teamer, finished second, while a trio of Team Canada riders – James Palmer, Mischa Partridge and Cory Walsh – finished third through fifth, in that order.
Canadian national team members Amelia Walsh (elite female) and Tanner Vandenhoven (elite male) also won their respective division championships.
The final BC Cup standings saw eight Abbotsford BMX riders finish atop their divisions: Aiden Grecht (11 expert male), Alex Grecht (13 expert male), Aiden Webber (14 expert male), Chayce Cooper (11 expert female), Adicus Bird (12 expert female), Alison Grecht (14 expert female), MacKenzie McHale Boulter (16 expert female) and Jeff Trefry (cruiser men 35-39).
Other top-three finishers included Justin Trefry (second, 6 novice male), Oliver Gust (second, 7 novice male), Lucas Zilcosky (second, 8 novice male), Benjamin Leslie (second, 15 expert male), Brianna Trefry (second, 8 novice female), Zoe McHale Boulter (second, 10 expert female), Mackay Leslie (second, championship junior men) and Owen Green (third, 11 intermediate male).
“We’ve had a lot of success this year, and a lot of growth,” Abby BMX president Michelle Landers said. “We’ve almost doubled our club membership this year. We seem to get three or four new riders every week.
“Because we’re Canada’s national training facility, we have national team riders practicing at the track all the time. It’s amazing for the kids to watch them.”
