New Ulm riders dominate in older classifications

By DAVE CLARK

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM - River Valley BMX took some time to wish its hometown a happy birthday and 101 guests from all over the state came to the party.

The New Ulm bicycle track held its annual State Championship Qualifying race Sunday afternoon, attracting over a hundred riders to vie for trophies that featured New Ulm's 150th anniversary logo.

The racers were also there for point accumulation they hoped would help towards landing them a title in their classification at the state finals to be held in September at Lino Lakes.

Riders came from 28 communities outside New Ulm for the annual event, some as far away as Fergus Falls and Elk River. Many stayed in town overnight after participating in the Mankato qualifying race held on Saturday.

Morning rain threatened the event, but with the forecast holding out for clear, hot weather, track volunteers began working on the track early in the day and had it in top condition for the contests.

BMX riders often belong to teams, and these teams get to ride against other teams in the state during races. On Sunday, six teams also participated in the festivities, With RADD racing taking top honors and the local River Valley BMX race team taking fourth.

There are three classifications for riders, novice, intermediate and expert. Racers have to win a certain number of competitions in order to move up in classifications and it is quite an event for a rider to "move up in class" as is said in racing vernacular. Three riders, two of them local, took the opportunity Sunday to advance in class. Twelve-year-old Joshua Hoffmann of St. James moved from intermediate to expert, while 12-year-old Ricky Smith of Mankato moved from novice to intermediate.

In individual races, New Ulm riders dominated in the older classifications.

Reigning state champions Jon Brand and Karl Clark came in first and second in the 17-18 year old expert race. Shawn Hagen took the 16-year-old intermediate contest. Derek Dauer nailed the 15-year-old expert race with room to spare. Andy Lueck took the 15-year-old intermediate race. Dylan Anderson placed third in the 14-year-old novice competition.

New Ulm's Drew Dauer took a close second to Jordan Bothwell of Blaine in the 13-year-old expert race. Brady Hagen finished behind Hoffmann in the hotly contested 12-year-old intermediate competition. There were 16 riders in that particular class on Sunday.

Corey Hoffmann of St. James took the 9-year old intermediate trophy.

Three New Ulm riders took home hardware. Gram Anderson won the 7-year-old novice race, Natasha Hanson took third in the 7-year-old novice contest and Micah Armstrong took second in the 12-year-old novice category.

Mankato's Kyle Deatly and Dalton Nelson took second and third in the 8-year-old intermediate race.