JOSH!

Story and Photos By Mike Carruth, via BMXNOW.COM

A beautiful, crisp, sunny winter morn greeted hundreds of BMXers for day two of the 2010 ABA Gator Nationals (winter…yeah, right. is it still Winter if you can get a sunburn?). Some had their minds on making good on thwarted plans from Saturday, others on keeping their streak alive, others on the clock, as the moments to making their flight ticked away, and still others on the NBL Competition Congress that was happening 700 miles away in Northern Pennsylvania. More on that later.

No doubt that one of the people who had their mind on improving Saturday’s performance was Mariana Pajon. Not that Saturday’s *performance* was so bad, as it never really got off the ground (she was leading the main, before spinning into the pavement in turn one)…but Sunday would provide a good “do over” opportunity for the 2009 Elite Women World Champ. Another looking for an upgrade was Connor Fields. Word was that he was so boiled-over after Saturday’s unclip calamity that all who walked within his perimeter Saturday night received a free steam treatment and not much chit-chat.

Where Elite Men was concerned, we have to admit that, if we were a betting sort, our paper route money would have been on Long, Stumpy and Becerine for the Sunday podium (maybe, or maybe not in that order). These three were closer than the Smith brothers in every photo we had of them all weekend (minus the beards). Of course, there were a few in the mix who had spoiler potential—not the least of which was Saturday’s winner, Maris Strombergs. But Maris was taken off the spoiler list, and put on the “bummer” list after a rather unfortunate run in the semis left him on the other side of the fence for the main. Barry Nobles was lookin good, with only seven points going into the quarters (low points out of the motos was Stumpy, with four). And, then, of course, was the local-boy-done-good potential presented by the, albeit long, odds of a Josh Meyers win. Come main time, Josh was stuck way out in Lane 8, Nobles was sidelined after an OTB odyssey in the last turn of the Pro Cruiser main left him in “ugh!-my-aching-back” condition. Looking good for the paper route fund… But, as earlier written on BMXNEWS, Josh had a rippin’ gate start, and got down the runway like the Concorde. By turn two, it was Josh, followed by Nic, then Stumpy. Visions of Saturday’s late-in-the-race reversal of fortune started to appear as Nic was pushing Josh HARD to edge ahead of him, if only by a micro knobby. But this time, the lead held, and Josh Meyers scored his first AA Pro win. Josh turned A Pro on Sunday of the Disney Cup in 2008, and it was a steady march to this day on the top of the podium, his mom, dad and new sponsor looking on. Score one win for our first “M,” Josh Meyers.

Our second M got her second chance at the top-step and made it all the way home in Elite Women. Mariana moved out of the motos with only four points, tied with Amanda Geving. Alise Post was shaken a bit by a biff in the third round, but is tough as a two-buck T-Bone, so was still way-in-the-mix, come main time. No spinning into the pavement this time for Mariana, only spinning for the win. Second went to Amanda, and third was in the grasp of Alise, but she got reeled in by Ashley Verhagen in the last straight.

Junior Men set the stage for the Con Man to get some relief from his heart burn, as he had not lost a lap all day. Tory Nyhaug equaled Connor’s three points in the motos, so he would definitely be a factor. No Corben Sharrah in Jr. Men today, so that would mean one less drama straw out of the bundle. But Austin Loebe was applying more pressure than a used car salesman all weekend. As the moto sheet clip board got another gate thinner, Connor jumped to the lead and it was owned like Trump from that point on. In yet another last straight toss-up, Tommy Zula zipped in to zap the second spot from Austin, who ended up on the left step today. Great racing from all those guys though, and any step these dudes are on is a step above, indeed!

Junior Women. Well, what can we say about it? Dom decided not to go to the beach today, so you, therefore, know how this story ends. She took the win, with Ashley Lynch and Teegan O’Keeffe in second and third, respectively. Even though the contention for the top step was fairly pre-ordained, Dom and her podium pals made an opportunity out of it—for fun, cuttin up and enjoying the base of what BMX is all about.

Oldsmar 2010 was massively worthwhile, and you should buy a 2011 calendar now expressly for marking this race on it. Check out the Sunday Photo Gallery for more, and we’ll look forward to seeing everyone in two weeks at Black Mountain BMX in Phoenix for the 2010 ABA Winternationals.

SUNDAY UCI RESULTS

ELITE MEN
Josh Meyers
Nic Long
Randy Stumpfhauser
Sam WIlloughby
Donny Robinson
Danny Caluag
Cristian Becerine

ELITE WOMEN
Mariana Pajon
Amanda Geving
Ashley Verhagen
Alise Post
Kim Hayashi
Stephanie Barragan
Madison Pitts
Courtney Tomei

JUNIOR MEN
Connor Fields
Tommy Zula
Austin Loebe
David Oquendo
Tory Myhaug
Juan Marin
Shaun O’Connor
Chase Hines

JUNIOR WOMEN
Dominique Daniels
Ashley Lynch
Teagan O’Keeffe
Tiva Feldman
Alaina Henderson
Bianca Quinalha
Kaitlyn Larson