The Dunedin BMX Club showed its continued development by finishing as the third overall team at the national championships in Christchurch at the weekend.
Dunedin riders performed well across the grades.
One of the most impressive performances came from Kyle Rutherford on the opening day. Rutherford, in his first crack at the grade, finished fifth in the intensely competitive junior elite category.
Hamish Burrow also competed in the grade but rode under an injury cloud and did not manage to find top form.
Two Dunedin youngsters, Lottie Armstrong (6 girls) and Deegan McCormick (6 boys), grabbed fourth placings in their respective classes.
World No 3 Rory Meek (7 boys) rode well but had a crash in the final. However, he managed to get back up for sixth.
Abby Burnard and Payton Wafer both managed to get into the 9 girls final in which they got caught up in two crashes. Burnard finished fifth while Wafer was running fourth until a crash in the final straight dropped her to seventh.
Grace Finnerty finished sixth in the 16 girls race, while Logan Keach missed out on the final of the strong 12 boys class by one place. Junior riders Jacob Wadsworth, Olivia Keach, Aniaka Gill and Justin Butler rode well but also missed out on final spots by one place.
Logan Keach trialled for the New Zealand Mighty 11s team to race against Australia in June. He rode well to get to the semifinal in an event that has 31 11-year-olds competing for just four spots.
Dunedin masters rider Amelia Johnston defended her 40-plus women's cruiser class title, and added another national title in the 20-inch class, while Tamryn Hurren-Webster also rode well to win the 25-39 women's 20-inch title.
George Hatzis (second, 50-plus men's cruiser class), Terry Finnerty (sixth, 45-49 men's cruiser class) and Emma Burnard (seventh, 30-39 women's cruiser class) also performed well.
The best of the Alexandra riders was Tamai Riwhi, who was third in the 6 girls final. Lachie James just missed the 11 boys final by a place.
Taranaki rider Matt Cameron took his first step towards his dream of the Rio Olympics when he won the elite men's title.
Cameron, the 2012 champion, won all three qualifying motos and the final. Michael Bias (North Harbour) was second and Kurt Pickard (Tauranga) third.
The trio, among others, are now heading to Manchester to compete in the opening round of the BMX supercross world cup.
Sixteen-year-old Te Awamutu rider Rebecca Petch won all three races in the combined women's division. Petch claimed the national elite junior title, with runner-up Victoria Hill (Taranaki) awarded the elite honours.
