“I made my way out to New Jersey on Thursday morning and headed straight to Mountain Creek Bike Park. I built up my bike, went for a track walk, and was so excited to get on the course the next day. On Friday Morning, I had practice bright and early, got a solid seven laps in, and immediately fell in love with the course. It had rained pretty hard the day before, so the track was a little muddy and slippery, but it was running really well. Saturday, I got a few more practice laps before seeding. I had a good seeding lap but unfortunately had a mechanical. I still placed sixth, but I knew I had more to give for racing the next day. Sunday morning came, and with the help of Jon from SR Suntour and the Defiant Race Team, I got my bike dialed in for racing. I got another three good laps on the race course, then had a little break between heading up for my race run. I did my pre-race warm-ups and routine, then dropped in for the race. I had a really good and consistent lap, the course was really challenging and changed a lot throughout the weekend, so my final run was a little loose, but I held it together. I made it down to the bottom with the fastest time so far, so I got to sit in the hot seat for a little bit and ended up with the fourth place overall! I’m super happy with my result in such a stacked women’s field. Biggest thank you to the KHS Pro MTB team and all the awesome co-sponsors for the support. I’m so lucky to be able to race my bike in such awesome places with even better people! Back to work for now, and already can’t wait for the next one”.
– McKenna Merten
Click here for the results
