TWELVE months after she placed second at the national titles, Lithgow BMX rider Hayley Wolfenden earned herself a new career highlight – an Oceania podium.
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Competing at her home track at Bathurst BMX Club over three days of racing last weekend, the 26-year-old showed up some of her more experienced rivals.
Riding in the 17 and over women’s class, she placed third in both BMX Australia’s national series on Friday night and the Grands Assault series on Sunday afternoon.
Though that pair of podiums was impressive, it was eclipsed by her second placing in Saturday’s Oceania Championships for her class.
The result was the biggest of her BMX career thus far.
“It’s your home track, so it’s sort of strange to contemplate that it came it such a big event,” she said.
“You’re racing international riders. It definitely felt like something bigger than a club meet.
“It’s pretty much the second highest group before you turn pro, if you’re not riding pro you tend to ride that group.”
While a mistake on the second jump on Friday night saw Wolfenden go from first to third in her final moto, the performance still gave her confidence heading into the Oceania Championships.
With no final conducted for her class, it meant Wolfenden needed strong performances in each of her three motos.
“The first race I was leading to the line where I should’ve got one extra peddle in, but I didn’t,” she said.
“I thought I might be up for there win after that. But the next two motos were a bit of a different story, I just got seconds and that was what decided the overall result.
“If your group was small, what they did was a point score system instead of a final, so every race counts. So it’s even harder again, it’s not just a matter of making the final and pulling it all out then.
“I needed to win two out of three to get first place – but second, I can’t complain, that’s for sure.”
Wolfenden placed second in each of her three motos to be runner-up behind undefeated New Zealand rider Toni James.
The Kiwi enjoyed a clean sweep for the three events, but given her experience, Wolfenden was happy to have tested James.
“The girl that beat me on Saturday, well she beat me every day, I think she said that she has been racing since was three whereas I have been racing for five years. I was ‘Okay, you’ve probably got 10 years or so of racing on me’.
“I’ve just got to work on a few tiny things and hopefully next time I will be keeping up with the experienced ones.”
Wolfenden’s next big test will be September’s state titles.
