IUKA, MS

Round three of the by Pirelli/Answer/MSR/Pro Taper/Maxxis-sponsored Mid-South Youth Cross Country Championship Series started as did all of the other rounds so far this year: with six inches of rainfall early Friday morning and continuing into the evening hours. Only this time, the rain would not dampen the Halloween spirits that came out for some trick-or-treating on Saturday night. They made their rounds from RV to RV, looking for something sweet to eat before settling into a candy-induced coma disguised as sleep.

Sunny skies greeted the Mid-South Youth racers as they traded their scary faces for race faces come Sunday morning. Landon Morrison from Clarksville, Tennessee, was the first off the line and snagged the holeshot in the Mini B class, followed closely by Cobra-mounted Kruz Sampson, Leighton Tittle, Zach Kirchoff and Matthew Harris. Mounting his attack on a Suzuki, Morrison pounded the mud-filled course on lap one and stretched his lead more than a minute over Tittle, Kirchoff and Harris. After laps two and three, Morrison seemed to have an insurmountable lead on the pack, and the race would surely be his.

Performance Supercycles-backed KTM rider Matthew Harris (188, above) had other plans, though. He began an all-out charge to get to Morrison that pushed him past Sampson, Tittle and Kirchoff, and with time running out he was within striking distance of Morrison. When the white flag came out, Morrison was only a few seconds ahead of Harris, who had made up almost two minutes in the 30-minute race. Both camps of parents waited to see who would emerge from the woods in the lead.

Harris sliced through the trees and now had a few precious seconds on Morrison; most importantly, he had the lead. Only a few more turns and a small wooded section was left.

As both racers hit the final straightaway, Harris had done the seemingly impossible: He had won his first race of the season and was the new series points leader in the Mini B class after three rounds.

"Man, it was muddy!" Harris said after the race "There were lots of ruts and roots to get stuck on. That was a good race between me and Landon. I am sure glad I won, though!"

In the Pee Wee 50cc (7-8) division, Bowling Green, Kentucky's Daniel Spurgeon put in five strong laps aboard his Cobra to take the win. He was closely followed by KTM rider Cole Echols, who came from Hot Springs, Arkansas, to attend the mudfest. Garrett "little g" Elrod of Oakland, Kentucky, clawed his way into third place.

Results

P/W (4-6): 1. Dylan Proffitt (Cob); 2. Caleb Echols (KTM); 3. Kiala Rakestraw (Yam); 4. Austin Sullivan (Yam).

P/W (7-8): 1. Daniel Spurgeon (Cob); 2. Cole Echols (KTM); 3. Garrett Elrod (Cob); 4. Nathan McCoy (KTM); 5. Jeremy Lenard (KTM).

MINI A: 1. Sam Thurman (KTM); 2. Kaleb Hagan (KTM); 3. Ben Jones (Kaw); 4. Cory Jordan (KTM); 5. Dillon Bryant (Suz).

MINI B: 1. Matthew Harris (KTM); 2. Landon Morrison (Suz); 3. Zach Kirchoff (Kaw); 4. Leighton Tittle (KTM); 5. Kruz Sampson (Cob).

JR A: 1. Brandon Gourley (Kaw); 2. Austin Lee(KTM); 3. Luke Chilman (Kaw); 4. Jake Froman (Kaw); 5. Lance Hoover (KTM).

JR B: 1. Dalton Riddle (Suz); 2. Andrew Clark (KTM); 3. Hunter Hutchinson (KTM); 4. Kelly Adkins (Yam); 5. Cole Kirchoff (Yam).