Heather Jackson won a second consecutive women’s title at Stetina’s Paydirt on Saturday, while Justin Peck secured the victory in the men’s overall.
Jackson set the marker with a solo lead of two minutes on the first of the three timed segments across the long course, 72 miles with 5,400 feet of elevation gain across the mixed terrain south of Carson City, Nevada. Kristen Legan closed the margin to 33 seconds after the second segment, but Jackson then stormed away on the third and final section to seal the best overall time. Leah van der Linden was third, while Flavia Oliveira Parks, the overall women’s winner in 2022, finished fourth ahead of Lauren Cantwell.
Last year, Sarah Sturm recorded the fastest cumulative time on the segments of the course, but Jackson earned 20 bonus seconds in a post-race tire toss to boost her into first place overall. This year the toss delivered cash prizes, not bonus seconds, at the race which has a pro women's prize purse of $10,000 split among the top 5 overall.
In the men's race Veteran Lachlan Morton took the early lead with the best time on the first segment, riding five seconds faster than Peck and fellow mountain biker Lucas Miers. But the race ultimately came down to a battle of the two 21-year-olds, with Peck sprinting two seconds faster than Miers in the final segment for the victory. Morton took third place.
