Given memories from 2025 of (literally, in some cases) swimming in mud in Independence, the fast, dry and dusty singletrack may have surprised many participants upon arriving at this year’s fifth round of the Junior Cyclocross Series (JCS), which also served as the 2026 OBRA Cyclocross Championships. I know I was expecting at least a little moisture under the trees! This singletrack included the largest feature we’ve seen at an OBRA CX race all year—a daunting drop—and Erik Tonkin’s selection of awkward dismount-and-remount combos made sure that each and every one of the day’s podium finishers earned their places.
Before claiming two OBRA Cyclocross Championships, Chlöe Spritz captured images of our juniors in action at CX Bike Indy, and Bertrand Mejia-Morin’s JCS photos from Heron Lakes are now up as well!
The closest JCS race of the day was a repeat of the duel between Team Booger teammates Jack Abel and Bennett Gassner, with Jack taking the OBRA title and solidifying his lead in the Junior Open 17-18 competition. Jack took the Yakima Hot Lap and bested Bennett in the final sprint. Meko McDaniel earned one of many podiums for Corvallis Junior Cycling by finishing third, and is now third in the JCS competition behind the Booger riders. Meanwhile, Stella Cafiso (Team Booger), went on a solo rampage in the Junior 17-18 Women and earned a Hot Lap prize. She now leads the series with just one round left.
Sunny Wittreich (Grouptrail Cycling) rode to an equally emphatic victory in the Junior 15-16 Women, putting her on equal footing with Ari Tabish (Team Booger) and Kadence Helm (Eugene Composite), each with 30 points apiece. The Open 15-16 field saw a tight battle between Johnie Hogue (Team Booger), Ollie Litinsky (Team S&M) and Jase Henderson. The trio stuck together for the first three laps until Johnie snapped the elastic, with Jase continuing to apply pressure on Ollie, and inching away during the penultimate loop. Garrett Hawes (Corvallis Junior Cycling) clinched the series victory with a fifth place on the day, and Axel Weaver (Team Booger) is now just two points in front of Bjorn Swanson (Dirty Fingers) courtesy of Bjorn’s ride for fourth.
Johnie’s younger brother Crosby surely felt vindicated in his day-of decision to race, with a commanding victory in the Open 13-14 field over Benjamin Krawchuk-Miller (Corvallis Junior Cycling) and Eli Baraff (Grouptrail). Benjamin went out hard and was able to ease off and enjoy the final lap, and can celebrate an overall JCS win of his own as a result. Eli locked up second in the JCS. Gabby Linn (Mettle Cycling) put on another clinic in the Junior 13-14 Women race. Gabby is another rider who can rest easy with a perfect season thus far and another guaranteed JCS win. She just missed out on a second OBRA championship title in the Cat 3 Women, her second race of the day.
Vivi McManuis (Team Booger), a frequent sparring partner of Gabby’s despite Vivi’s competing in the Junior 11-12 Women, continued her own perfect season. Phoebe Hogue (Team Booger) put in a consistent ride to gradually distance herself from Bobbi Buswell (Team Booger), making for an all-Booger Junior 11-12 Women on the podium. Bobbi cemented her second place in the JCS and younger sister Willow Buswell was fourth, giving her a near-insurmountable lead of 28 points over Ella Coombs (Corvallis Junior Cycling) as they head to Edgefiled next weekend. Having a guaranteed overall JCS title didn’t stop Luka Dedrick (Grouptrail) from nabbing his fourth straight win in the Open 11-12 race. Everett Hawes (Corvallis Junior Cycling) rode a well-measured race, closing a 10-second gap to Cyrus Brown (Fast Fun Nice Racing) in the last two laps and taking second in the sprint. Cyrus and Everett will be battling for second and third in the sixth and final JCS round. Cyrus sits in silver, but just four points separate the two of them.
Wyatt Russell (A&B Racing) returned to claim the OBRA Cyclocross Championship in the Junior 9-10 Open race after missing a few JCS rounds. He went out hard, kept his foot on the gas and ended up being the only rider in his field who managed to squeeze five laps in on the day. Nicolas Rinaldi Ceroni (Biciclista) came in for a strong second, but will be looking over his shoulder at McMenamins Edgefield—a victory from Wyatt there would allow him to leapfrog Nicolas into first. Finnley Bergquist grabbed third with a steady ride, putting him in striking distance of Kiger Walters (Corvallis Junior Cycling) for the final spot on the JCS podium. The Junior 9-10 Women yielded another duel between Eliza Hazboun (Corvallis Junior Cycling) and Edith Brown (Fast Fun Nice). Eliza claimed the win on the day and in the JCS with a consistent ride, putting a few seconds between herself and Edith each lap.
With rain in the forecast, chaos courtesy of costumes, a classic course and plenty of podium positions to play for, our sixth and final round of the JCS at Cyclocross Crusade McMenamins Edgefield should be a blast! We’ll have Jay Ortiz on hand for photography, and I’m told that there will be a full-service bike wash courtesy of Muc-Off, which will make all our parents’ lives much easier. On that note, thanks to everyone who makes the JCS possible! It starts and ends with parents, and I’m especially grateful to the folks who have offered to assist with things before, during and after races. Thanks as well to series sponsors Sellwood Cycle Repair (with extra appreciation warranted for their having promoted last weekend’s races), Castelli (another double thanks for their JCS leader’s jerseys and OBRA Championship jerseys), Yakima and BikeTiresDirect. Our wrap-up party is still TBA, but keep an eye on Cross Crusade’s communications, as it’ll be in concert with them again!