Day 1 of the National DH and XC Championships
Saturday 22 July 2023 saw the first day of both the downhill and cross-country championships. The downhill championships are being held at The GAP County Dublin while the cross-country championships are being held at Bellurgan Park in County Louth. At the Downhill event day 1 was for the seeding run with 196 riders taking on the hill. The day stayed dry until the final runs were over when the heavens opened. Fastest male rider of the day was Oisin O’Callaghan (Limerick Mountain Bike Club) in a time of 01:43.91. Fastest female rider was Hannah Mullin (Gortin MTB) in a time of 2:12.88. Tomorrow will prove to be a trickier course after the rain.
Seeding results here.
At the cross-country event, day 1 was for the non-championship youth races and for course practice. As per the downhill event, the day remained dry until the youth races were finished and then the rain came. Tomorrow’s race will be even more mucky than today’s. Kicking off the youth races were the Under 6s who had 1 lap of the Under 8s course to complete. The 5 young riders worked hard to complete the course cheered on by the spectators.
The Under 8s race was next with the riders taking on 2 laps of their course. Taking the win in the boys’ race was Jaxon Jennings (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) with Conor McGahan (Square Wheels) second and Finn McTavish (Western Lakes CC) third. Ríonach Campbell (Square Wheels) won the girls’ race when she finished ahead of Ciara McCool (Square Wheels) and Marian Mulvaney (Sliabh Luachra Cycling Club).
The Under 10s course went up into the forest. They had 3 laps to complete. Taking the win was Benjamin Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) with Jack McGahan (Square Wheels) second and Jake McKee (VC Glendale) third. First girl was Aoife Campbell (Square Wheels) who finished just behind Benjamin. Ruby Millar (Square Wheels) took the silver medal with Lucy Baxter (Lisburn BMX Club) getting bronze.
The Under 12s had to go further up into the forest and they had 4 laps to complete. James Cunningham (Orwell Wheelers Cycling Club) was chased all the way by Oscar Moran (EPIC MTB/Expert Cycles) but managed to stay ahead of Oscar. Eunan Campbell (Square Wheels) completed the podium by taking third place. Local rider Eire McCrystal (Bellurgan Wheelers) took a great win in the girls’ race. There was a close battle between Ava Baker (Breffni Wheelers) and Laoise Crinion (IMBRC) with Laoise taking second place on the last lap, leaving Ava in third.
All the youth riders received a buff from Bigbobblehats.co.uk. Thank you Barry. The championship races take place tomorrow starting with the Under 14s.
Non-championship youth result here
