Albany riders rewarded
Albany Mountain Bike Club trio Nathan Symonds, Paul Fage and Kristie Lanigan were rewarded for their consistent performances across the WA State Downhill Series after all three were crowned series champions following the fifth and final round in Wellington Mills on August 3 and 4.
Representing the downhill chapter of the Albany Mountain Bike Club, Symonds claimed the competitive expert men category, Fage held on narrowly in the masters division and Lanigan finished victorious in the elite women division.
In slippery conditions, 11 Albany riders took part in the series decider hosted by the Peel Mountain Bike Club with Jayde Sleep, Fage and Lanigan finishing round five winners of their respective divisions.
Fage edged out close rival Ellis Moore from Perth with a time of 2min.44.262sec. down the hill, marginally better than Moore (2:45.983), to help him win the overall series title in the masters division.
Sleep finished with 2:22.617 in his final run to claim his maiden victory in the expert men category, with fellow Albany competitors Benjamin Halsall (fifth), Nicholas McBeath (seventh), Symonds (eighth) and Adam Halsall (11th) also competing in the division.
Lanigan improved on her first run qualifying time by over one minute to finish with a time of 2:49.187, beating Perth’s Carrie McLaughlan (2:56.467).
In the under-19 category, Albany’s Travis Fage was the best performer after finishing 10th, while Sam Beck and Elijah Colback finished 11th and 12th, respectively.
Albany rider Tim Harman crashed out and failed to finish in the sport category and Denmark’s Mark Boynton finished 21st.
Sleep and Ben Halsall made the top 20 final, with Halsall posting a slick time of 2:23.091 to place seventh ahead of Sleep, who came home in 12th place.
In the overall series standings, Symonds finished clear on top with 487 points, while Sleep and Halsall finished third and fourth, respectively.
Fage (589 points) prevailed over Moore (577), while Albany’s Henry Marshall finished equal third in the under-17 division and Beck finished 10th in the under-19s.
