PLAIN DEALING, LA

A crowd of nearly 500 people gathered under beautiful, cool, sunny skies at Cypress Creek MX for round one of the 2010 MTA Louisiana Cross Country Series. Although the weather conditions were great on race weekend, sections of the course were still soggy enough to force riders into survival mode.

MTA LACC Series defending champion Stephen Reed (above) kicked the new season off right with an XC1-class holeshot on his Suzuki, making great line choices throughout his six laps and eventually taking the overall and XC1-class win. After clearing the BMW Motorrad Culvert/Boat/Tire Jump and other difficult sections of the course, Reed ran into some bad luck with a lapper, which resulted in a hard crash and a hurt shoulder. This setback didn't stop him from putting his Suzuki City RM 250 at the top of the results page and taking home the majority of the $500 cash purse. Mike's Outdoors rider John McLemore put in a great effort on his Yamaha to claim second in the XC1 class and second overall. Pro Flow's John Manning was able to recover after a painful-looking trip over the bars of his Husaberg at the BMW extreme obstacle. He quickly picked his bike up and got going in time to capture the final podium spot as third XC1 rider and third overall.

In the XC2 Expert Lites class, Chuck's Used Appliance-sponsored Ryan Breaux quickly got used to his new Performance Cycles KTM 200 XC and took the class win and fifth overall, behind Kawasaki jockey Kevin Hutchinson in fourth. Meanwhile, Yamaha rider Clint Woods finished second in the XC2 class and XC2 rookie Russ Wiggers put in a great performance on his Eagle Creek Endeavors-sponsored KTM to place third.

Many exciting battles entertained the crowd of spectators, including the top group of the Kids Vet class early Sunday morning. Suzuki rider Brennen Reed (701, above) and Yamaha rider Chance Blackburn (746) kept their throttles pinned while battling back and forth, with Reed coming out on top for the class win. Blackburn finished second. KTM-mounted Kyle Lafleur and Yamaha jockey James Walerius fought for the final podium position. When all was said and done, Lafleur had secured his spot on the podium in third place by just a few seconds ahead of Walerius.

All in all, round one of the new season was challenging, fun, entertaining, and a great way to get the season kicked off!

The MTA Louisiana Cross Country Series is a 10-round championship series promoted by AcadianaRacing.com. Venues test each rider's overall skills by offering motocross sections, hills, roots, occasional rocks, woods trails, grass-tracks, extreme obstacles, etc. In addition to pure speed, riders must have the endurance to push hard for more than an hour and a half. The series is made possible by title sponsor MTA, Deb's Creative Photography, Enduro Engineering, Filter Solution, Pierce & Shows Attorneys, Moose Racing, Woods Tank, RidePG.com, BMW/Husqvarna, Bayou Suspension, KTM, Chuck's Used Appliance Center, Honda of Lafayette, MXPrints.com, Performance Cycles, Open Throttle Moto-Parts & Accessories, Adrenaline Motor Sports, Team 3/4, Cornerstone Glass, and Evangeline Specialties.

Results

XC1: 1. Stephen Reed (Suz); 2. John McLemore (Yam); 3. John Manning (BRG); 4. Kevin Hutchinson (Kaw); 5. Cheyenne Hirmon (Kaw).

XC2: 1. Ryan Breaux (KTM); 2. Clint Woods (Yam); 3. Russ Wiggers (KTM); 4. Wesley Burks (KTM); 5. Kyle Carter (KTM).

NOV: 1. Daniel Grice (Yam); 2. Brad Warren (BRG); 3. Bruce MacFarlane (Kaw); 4. Christopher Roberts (KTM); 5. Lance Ford (Suz).

NOV LITES: 1. Jake Haddox (Yam); 2. Justin King (Yam); 3. Stephen Breaux (KTM); 4. Tyler Mandino (Yam); 5. Gary Kennon (Yam).

SR A: 1. Jeff Plunkett (KTM); 2. Al Cravens (KTM); 3. Mark Ray (Hon); 4. Jimmy Ward (BRG); 5. Darin Lafleur (KTM).

JR: 1. Hutton Woods (Kaw); 2. Chase Joubert (KTM); 3. Andrew Zaunbrecher (KTM); 4. Cody Andrews (Hon).

BEG: 1. Kenny Murphy (KTM); 2. Jeremy Oxley (Kaw); 3. Kevin Joubert (KTM); 4. Andrew Cornell (Kaw); 5. Brice Cranford (KTM).

BEG LITES: 1. Zach Lowe (Hon); 2. Richard Howard (Yam); 3. Ricky Arceneaux (Kaw); 4. Casey Pennington (KTM); 5. Zach Rambin (Yam).

SR B: 1. Clayton Parker (Yam); 2. Rusty Welch (Hon); 3. Chris Shows (KTM); 4. Hubbard Partridge (Hon); 5. Jimmy Hardin (Hon).

SR 50+: 1. Johnny Rhodes (Yam); 2. Darryl Hrubes (Hon); 3. Donny Graham (KTM).

KIDS VET: 1. Brennen Reed (Suz); 2. Chance Blackburn (Yam); 3. Kyle Lafleur (KTM); 4. James Walerius (Yam); 5. Dusty Welsh (Yam).

KIDS INT: 1. Cameron Reed (Suz); 2. Evan Wiggers (KTM); 3. Wilbert Winans III (KTM); 4. Noah Shaw (Kaw); 5. Sean Perry (Kaw).

WMN: 1. Sheila Monk (KTM); 2. Carolyn Reed (KTM); 3. Madeline Pipkin (Hon); 4. Alex Wiggers (KTM); 5. Jenna Ford (Hon).

P/W: 1. Seth Hopkins (KTM); 2. Tyler Thomas (Cob); 3. Walker Shows (KTM); 4. Easton Worley (COB); 5. Jessica Delee (KTM).

P/W BEG: 1. Ryan Reine (KTM); 2. William Walerius (KTM); 3. Nicholas Walerius (KTM); 4. Zorion McClarty (KTM); 5. Cole Fontenot (Yam).