Riders Race Down Arrowhead

By Stephen Cheslik
Eagle Times Managing Editor
CLAREMONT, NH–There may be no snow on the ground but that didn’t stop athletes from racing over the weekend at Claremont’s Arrowhead Recreation Area. Maxxis ESC Eastern States Cup opened the trails to riders for training on Friday and Saturday mornings, before six stages of racing took place Saturday night and Sunday morning.

The course was designed with unique stages to test riders’ abilities. Making the race a bit harder, riders had to make it to the top of the course under their own power and the race didn’t start on the first day until the sun set.

In the Pro category, Adrian Hayden came in first over six stages with a total time of 10:55.900. Hayden dominated the field, turning in the fastest time in four of the six stages. He came in third in the fifth stage and second in the sixth.

Luke Mello came in just seconds behind with a total time of 10:59.391. He topped the two stages Hayden fell short on and came in second in the remaining four.

Canadian rider Sandy Gray Roberge was third at 11:45.298. His best finish was in the fifth stage where he placed second.

Rounding out the Pro field were Sam Sillay, Zek Neubauer, Eric Johnson, Alan Bishop and Roger Creekmore.

In the Male 14U category Aryton French finished first in 12:08:116 and Benjamin Sousa finished in 17:24.569.

Lucas Sourbeer led the Male GT 16U category with a time of 11:34.710 as he swept all six stages. Coming in second was Matthew Keegan Jr. at 12:09.961 with Asa Toms in third at 12:27.859.

The remainder of the field in finish order included Tristan Healey, Oliver Vantuyl, Deven Arthur, Ethan Finn, Gavin Nephew, Aiden Sand, Sisu Lange and Calvin Davis.

Jac Dahrouge finished in 11:45.070 to top the Male 20U field of seven riders. He was followed by Owen Wilson at 11:50.508 and Ganvin Boardman at 12:29.187. Also riding, in order of finish, were Simon Phipps, Sean Murphy, Ben Frithsen and Justin Foran.

Kyle Hamel came in first in the Male 21-29 category as he got five top stage finishes to clock a time of 12:03.804. He was followed by Charlie Mclean at 12:29.047 and Nathan Behman at 12:44.132. Also riding, in order of finish, were Nat Graham, Pierrick Sarthou, Chris Pokorney, Nocholas Ferrante, Justin Cowdrey, Jamie Moore, Dan Hopmans and Patrick Reilly.

In the Male 30-39 category, Tucker Nugent came in first with a time of 12:51.712, Dustin Cressman was second at 13:376.345 and Elijah Burke was third at 13.39.663. Also finishing, in order, were Thomas Harthan, Shawn Shaw, Nick Sokol, Joe Dansak, Alexander Whalen, Michael Grishaw and Bryan Guenthner.

Rob Walker was the top finisher in the Male 40-49 category with a time of 13:56.056. He was followed by Brendan Cavanaugh, Craig Riley and Ben Nephew.

Aaron Benham was the only rider was in the Male: 50+ category. He finished the six stages in 23:33.711.

Avery Ellis was the top women’s rider finishing at 13:54.304 in the three-women pro division. She won five of the stages with Maxine Bergeron winning the second. Bergeron was second overall in 13:25.172 and Kelly Dube was third at 15:18.946.

In the Female Amateur category, Ariana Walker was first at 20:23.195, second was Becky Christensen at 21:11.906 and Abigail Ernest-Beck was third at 21:46.549. Erin Vantuyl was fourth.

In the Female GT 18U category, Tillie Lange was first in 16:55.609 and Kai Waldman was second in 17:41.710.

Cedric Arthur had a time of 19:19.758 in the Kate’s 12 and under youth race with Callum Waldman in second at 21:14.898.

The race also featured 7 riders in the mixed Motorex E-bike division where Parker Downing swept all six stages to finish in 13:02.256. Coming in second was Craig Debrosky at 13:57.60 and Chance Longley was third at 14:35.258. Rounding out the E-bike field were Matthew Sullivan, Steve Battaglini, Damian Russell and Nik Orlando.