Courtney Sheldon Brown
Clapham was part of the best-placed women ’ s team
the track could not have been better , right up until 9.45am on race day , when it started raining heavily and then it all turned to custard . Dudson had also risen to the challenge on that occasion , battling with Auckland ’ s Ryan Hayward in the sloppy conditions for the senior race lead , before eventually settling for overall runner-up on the day . With Hayward currently racing overseas , it did ease some of the pressure on Dudson at round two , but he still had to beat an impressive crop of New Zealand ’ s elite cross-country riders . In addition to Dudson and Whitaker , talented riders such as Whitianga ’ s Blake Wilkins , Eketahuna ’ s Luke Brown , Rotorua ’ s Daniel Bates , New Plymouth ’ s Sam Parker ,
Whangaparaoa ’ s Jacob Refoy and Napier ’ s Luke Taylor , to name just a few , also showed incredible pace at Ohakuri . Meanwhile , Eketahuna ’ s Sheldon Brown won the morning ’ s 90-minute Junior race , crossing the finish line ahead of Cambridge ’ s Harrison Findlay , Havelock North ’ s Luke McBeth , Rotorua ’ s James Bates Ngaruawahia ’ s Bailey Babington . Best of the mini grade riders was Hastings ’ youngster Cooper Hill , with Jai Gibson and Pirongia ’ s Leo Gilbert completing the podium , while best of the novice women was Rotorua ’ s Jackie Leggett , with Auckland ’ s Amber Uhrle and Mangakino ’ s Grace Harcourt rounding out the podium .
40 KIWI RIDER