Airdrie's Abygale Reeve has yet another accolade to add to her growing list of accomplishments. The 14-year-old BMX racer from Airdrie capped off an impressive 2019 season Sept. 7 and 8, by securing her eighth-consecutive provincial title.
“I put so much hard work into this weekend and I trained a lot,” said Reeve, who has been racing since she was six years old. “The weather wasn’t as good as I wanted it on Sunday, but I had to keep my mental focus on the race, and the final.”
The event in Cochrane concluded Alberta BMX’s 2019 provincial series, which included nine stops throughout the province. Reeve finished atop the Junior Development Female category, which features girls aged 14 to 16. The Airdrie athlete’s closest competitor was Sophia Gibbs, of Okotoks.
Reeve, a Grade 9 student at Bert Church High School, ended the circuit on a positive note in Cochrane, going undefeated in all 11 of the motos (races) she competed in.
“It was a good weekend,” she said. “The focus was getting my eighth provincial win, and the seven series. I achieved all my goals this weekend and I’m going to keep striving to get better and better.”
Reeve holds the N4 plate, which means she is the fourth-ranked female BMX racer for her age group in all of Canada. She has also competed twice at the BMX world championships, including earlier this year in Belgium, where she finished in the top 20.
Reeve said her inspiration to continue winning comes from within.
“I don’t really like losing, so being better than the other girls and continuing to win is a big thing for me,” she said. “I motivate myself to become better and strive for excellence, in everything.
“I’m pretty proud of how I stayed consistent for the whole year and tried my hardest.”
Reeve was not the only local rider to put forth a solid showing on the provincial circuit. Kaileb Dowson, Ian Haggarty, Isaac Ranson, Jack Titus, Hayden Drever, Benet McKee and Cooper Makin also won their respective age categories.
While BMX is an individual sport, Reeve said, the sense of solidarity among members of the Airdrie club is very strong.
“I think everyone at Airdrie BMX helps each other out and we help all the riders to get better,” she said. “Airdrie has a very strong program to help us compete at a national level.”
Now that the provincial circuit is over, Reeve said she will shift focus toward competing at a race in Houston, Texas, in late October. Following that, she will set her sights on next year’s world championships, taking place in Houston in May 2020.
