Lithgow's Mackenzie Stewart pedals her way to the Mountain Bike Australia Schools Championships

The young gun competed in a flow trail and cross country where she ranked first in Division 1 Girls' cross country with a qualifying time of 25 minutes and 13.9 seconds.

This has put Stewart in a position to take on the trails at the 2019 Mountain Bike Australia Schools National Championships, in August on the Gold Coast, where she will compete in time trials and team style events over two days.

Stewart said she had been riding mountain bikes for almost two years and she was thankful to get the opportunity.

"It's a really challenging sport, just the adrenaline you get from a scary track but it's been a bit of a goal of mine to take out the Australian Championships and it feels good to finally do it and now I'm on to the next stage," she said.

Read more:

Being just four months out from jetting to Queensland, Stewart said she planned to keep training.

"I will do a lot of training, including my usual road riding for fitness and around about 80 kilometres a week on road base as well as racing every Tuesday night at Rydal with the Central West Mountain Bike Club," she said.

Stewart also said being a female in a fairly dominated sport didn't phase her.

"It's a lot of fun and I encourage more females to get involved and give it a go, it's awesome," she said.

She also wanted to thank coach and mentor Gary Dukes and her mother Jodie for pushing her to be the best she can be.

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Lithgow Mercury. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.