Pollard (20), of Alexandra, had been racing neck and neck with Joseph Nation, of Christchurch.
The two competitors were among 180 others in the Mountain Bike New Zealand Championships in Wellington, on February 23 and 24.
In the senior men's downhill race, Pollard came three thousandths of a second behind Nation, securing third place.
‘‘I race him quite a bit and I beat him once on his own track at Christchurch, the Lava Flow track,'' Pollard said.
In the elite downhill class, Matt Scoles, of Alexandra, came seventh and in the under-19 cross-country event Alex McGregor came fourth.
In January this year, competing in the downhill series, Pollard came second in the South Island championships that were staged over three days at Coronet Peak, Wanaka and Nelson.
Josh Wight (16), of Alexandra, came second in cross country; the two sharing the championship cup for second place overall.
‘‘Because those placings are quite good I'm eligible to go up into pro-elite if I want.
‘‘I'm going to apply to go in to the elite category next year.''
Being able to compete at the highest level of the sport would give him the opportunity to race overseas and ‘‘learn a lot more as well''.
‘‘There's probably about 15 seconds' difference between an elite time and a senior men's time.''
This weekend Pollard will be racing in the Oceania Mountain Bike Championships, in Nelson, for New Zealand and Australian competitors.
