Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal Molly and Mallory Otto (left to right)
After a strong showing at last weekend's American Bicycle Association Southwest Nationals in Las Vegas, several Carson City BMX racers will return home this weekend for two prestigious events on their own track.
Riders from all over Nevada and Northern California will be competing in the State Qualifier to be held at the BMX track adjacent to Edmonds Park. Riders will be attempting to qualify for the State Championships, which for some reason have been scheduled to be held in outdoors in Las Vegas on Aug. 27, when the temperature promises to be well over 100 degrees.
On Sunday, riders will try to qualify for another prestigious event, the Red Line Cup to be held in September in Atwater, Calif. Both qualifiers at the Carson track are set to begin at 11:30 a.m., with signups from 9-11 a.m. There will also be a state qualifier tonight at Big Horn in Sun Valley.
Fortunately for the Carson racers last weekend's nationals were held indoors at the Sun Coast Casino Equestrian Center and featured racers from all over the country.
Seven-year-old twin sisters Molly and Mallory Otto and Keith and Jessica Anderson all had strong showings last weekend. In the novice division in which boys and girls race, the Ottos were able to advance to all their main events over three days of racing and posted numerous top five finishes.
Twelve-year-old Keith Anderson had a first place finish in one of his mains. "I just got a good gate start and just had to work hard for it," Anderson said. "I kept pedaling."
Nine-year-old Jessica Anderson took second in one of her mains for her top finish.
"We did real real as far as making the mains every day and finishing," said the Otto's father, Kent, about how the Carson racers performed.
Also at the nationals was 24-year-old Eric Apadoca, who had second and fifth place finishes in the 19-27 intermediate division. Another rider, Dakota Baca, 9, of South Tahoe, who races at Carson, had three first place finishes last weekend. Baca is set to move up from intermediate to expert.
Other Carson riders who have raced at nationals include Wyatt Caccamise, 8, who is a state champion, and Ian and Jarrod Pieller. Ian is 9 and Jarron is 7.
Reno hosts two of the biggest national events, the Blackjack Nationals over Labor Day Weekend and the Silver Dollar Nationals in January. Another major national event is held in Rosevill, Calif., in the spring.