The time has come for a new U.S. Downhill National Champion! Beech Mountain Resort in North Carolina hosted the National Championships for the second time, with a little change to the course and a lot of hard work into the event. This race is once a year and the winner gets to show off the stars & stripes all year long.

The National Championships not only had Downhill but Dual Slalom as well. Since there were only two girls registered, my friend Katie and I thought it would be great to add our names to the list and make it a field of four Pro Women racing. I only had my Downhill bike so it would have to do. I had an awesome time on the track and racing with my girlfriends. Of course the jumps were my favorite! Dante opted out on the Dual Slalom race to focus on making sure I had all the support I needed. I was the only woman racer to boost the final double jumps and I had a good chance at taking the win. Unfortunately though, I had to settle for third place overall. If the race was won by stoking out the crowd, I would have walked away with the gold for sure. Everyone was super excited to see a girl hit the jumps and to race competitively on a downhill bike.

The whole weekend was amazing! I felt strong and so very powerful throughout all my DH practice runs. I was able to find all the lines I wanted and ride them with great focus. Everything seemed to fall into place and I was content at all times. I have found the true joy of riding my bike and racing my bike. During my qualifying run I was as present as anyone could be, riding all the lines as smooth as I had practiced, finishing with a 12 second lead on the field.

Throughout the weekend, usually in the evening it would rain for a long period of time. This actually helped the dirt on most of the track to become tacky, almost like a powder day. However in the trees the rocks and roots were a bit slick, due to surrounding mud getting tracked onto them. On race day, morning practice was a little slippery, but by race time the track had dried up just enough to keep my tires gripping the whole way down. Just as in my qualifying run, my race run went smooth and perfect. I was calm and focused to have a clean run, having fun all the way to the finish. I managed to take 4 seconds off my qualifying run and beat the field by over 9 seconds. Winning National Champs has always been one of my main goals and I am honored to have raced with some of the fastest girls out there and proud of them all. I am very privileged to have stood on the podium with one of the fastest men in the world, men’s National Champion, Aaron Gwin. I also was able to meet the upcoming women’s pro World Cup racer McKenna, who is 9 years old, racing on the same course as the pros!

I owe just about everything to all the people who really do believe in me and I cannot ever thank you all enough for the help and support!