Great Southern mountain bike riders gain impressive results at WA Downhill State Series opener in Albany

Some of the Great Southern’s budding mountain bikers returned impressive results in front of a huge talent pool at the recent 2024 WA Downhill State Series opener in Albany. Albany Mountain Bike Club hosted the event at Mt Clarence on Saturday and Sunday, March 24 and 25, which drew 148 of the best downhill bike riders from across the State, making it one of the largest meets in WA’s history. Riders competed in a time-trial format across a host of age divisions and categories, with practice rounds and qualifications on Saturday before finals on Sunday. After the divisional finals, the top 20 men and women were invited to race for $1000 in prize money in the top 20 shoot-out. Margaret River rider Roly Kyme was sensational down the slopes, winning the top 20 shootout, while Albany young gun Abbey O’Donnell was the fastest female and pocketed $250 for her efforts. O’Donnell’s sensational weekend began with a brilliant under-19s girls victory. Jess Waldron produced a strong weekend to claim second in the open women’s category and Marcey O’Donnell finished second in the under-17 girls. Denmark’s Flynn Devenport won the boys under-13s event, ahead of Mt Barker’s Mackenzie Stables. Xena Hamersley won the under-13 girls division and Bobby Cooper was successful in the masters 3/4 men class. Jye Drummond, hailing from Denmark, finished third in the under-15s boys, while Jake Drummond (Denmark) claimed second in the under-17s boys and Nathan Devenport, also from Denmark, took out the masters 5/6 event. Other locals on the podium were Seaumas Contier (third in under-13 boys), Joel Weller (second in under-15 boys) and Jayde Sleep (second in masters 3/4 men). Rounds two and three of the series will be held on April 13 and 14 in Denmark.