Campbell Whitney, Shelby Steward score wins at BMX state titles

With a time of 32.438, the 16-year-old made the step up to the highest class, but showed no signs of being overawed as he crossed the line ahead of Queensland's Sean Morris (32.739) and Southern City BMX Club's Justin Oxley (33.314).

The performance, which was thought to be a lap-record for any local around the track, has placed the teenager in good stead for the national championships in Shepparton, Victoria, which get under way in just under a month's time.

In the women's superclass, Launceston BMX Club rider Shelby Steward finished in second as she came home behind Townsville competitor Ashleigh Gunn.

The Queenslander's time of 36.302 proved too quick for the rest of the field, with Steward (40.949) and Isabelle Beames (41.047) rounding out the podium.

However, Steward would not leave the St Leonards track empty-handed as she went on to win the 17-24 women and cruiser 17-24 women categories.

The former came in an exhilarating final where the Launceston rider beat Beames by less than three-tenths of a second, adding on to their wheel-to-wheel finish in the superclass final.

In the junior superclass category, Southern City rider Saxon Van Anholt was fastest as he edged out Wynyard's Jacob French by 1.2 seconds.

In the age categories Launceston riders faired well, with Logan Hill and Ryder Rowbottom ending up first and second respectively in the nine boys category. Hill's race was good enough to earn him third in the 10 boys, although he was not competing in that category.

He finished one spot behind fellow Launceston BMX Club teammate Will Burgess.

Wins were recorded by Baxter Manshanden, Dylan Walters and Cruz Williams in 11, 12 and 13 boys, while Michael Dalton (50-54 men) and Michael Spratt (55-59 men) proved age was no barrier for them.

Launceston's River Burgess was fastest in eight girls and clubmate Samantha Carroll was best among the nine-year-olds.

Nyla Williams and Emily Padgett rounded out the Northern success with victories in the 11 and 12 girls categories.

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