James Murphy
THE Blue Lake BMX Club was a hive of activity over the weekend, with a packed schedule of peddle-pushing action.
The club hosted the 2023 SA Country Championships on Saturday, while Round 2 of the SA State Series was held at the venue on Sunday.
Among the 186 registered riders for the Country Championships, Blue Lake had 32 entries, with some solid results on their home track.
Jaiden Picken took out the junior superclass men’s category with four impressive motos earning him the honours by a point.
He finished 1, 2, 3, 1 to take out the championship from Gawler’s David Lauricella and Cross Key’s Cannyn Hayes.
The superclass men was dominated by Happy Valley’s Preston Murray, who blitzed all four motos to claim the top prize from clubmates Kyle Fox and Tyler Julyan.
The women’s superclass was taken out by Imogen Healy, while Addison Cattonar won the junior superclass.
Blue Lake also had a strong presence in the 17-29 Men, with Trae Wilke a cut above his rivals.
He won all three of his motos and the final, while clubmate Kain Jelleff wrapped up the championship in third place behind Gawler’s Aiden Gray.
The 30-plus Men featured a Blue Lake podium, with Tom Castleman taking the top step from Peter Jelleff and Josh Cram after four competitive motos.
April Jones claimed the silver prize in the 8 Girls, with a consistent four motos putting her on the second step of the podium behind Ballarat-Sepastopol’s Ida Ferguson.
Another podium came in the 13-16 Girls, with Sherridan Picken finishing third overall.
Blue Lake’s Mollie Cook was the only 17-29 Women’s rider and raced with the 13-16 class, while taking out the win in her category by default.
Local riders Flynn Turner and Harrison Smith finished ninth and 11th respectively in the 8 Boys, while in the large 11-12 Boys category, Happy Valley’s Kade McNamara was too strong.
McNamara claimed the win in all three motos and the finals to claim the honours.
That class had Blue Lake’s Braith Allison, Archie Murdoch and Hallam Davey rank highest for the locals, with their 14th, 15th and 16th places respectively in the bumper field of 25.
The best Blue Lake rider in the 13-16 Boys was Brad Jennings, who finished 12th overall.
Blue Lake also had a strong contingent in the junior sprockets grades, but placings were not recorded for the youngsters with the focus purely on enjoyment.
