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Picton earns elite women's downhill title

Buchar grabs silver, Boer takes bronze

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Leonie Picton on her gold medal winning ride.

Leonie Picton on her gold medal winning ride.
(Image credit: Russell Baker)
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U17 Womens Downhill Podium (L-R) Danielle Beecroft, Tegan Molloy, Molly Payne

U17 Womens Downhill Podium (L-R) Danielle Beecroft, Tegan Molloy, Molly Payne
(Image credit: Dan Peters)
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U19 Womens Downhill Winner Emily Hockey rounding the berm

U19 Womens Downhill Winner Emily Hockey rounding the berm
(Image credit: Dan Peters)
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Canadian Claire Buchar pushing hard for a 2nd place in the Womens Downhill

Canadian Claire Buchar pushing hard for a 2nd place in the Womens Downhill
(Image credit: Dan Peters)
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Leonie Picton rides hard to an easy 2 second win in the Womens Downhill

Leonie Picton rides hard to an easy 2 second win in the Womens Downhill
(Image credit: Dan Peters)
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Jolene Knight crashed in the final and would finish in 9th place.

Jolene Knight crashed in the final and would finish in 9th place.
(Image credit: Russell Baker)
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Claire Bucha en route to a silver medal in the Elite women's downhill.

Claire Bucha en route to a silver medal in the Elite women's downhill.
(Image credit: Russell Baker)
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Julia Boer would earn a bronze medal for the day.

Julia Boer would earn a bronze medal for the day.
(Image credit: Russell Baker)
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Holly Baarspul claimed 4th place in the Elite women's downhill.

Holly Baarspul claimed 4th place in the Elite women's downhill.
(Image credit: Russell Baker)
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Genevieve McKew rides to a 5th place finish.

Genevieve McKew rides to a 5th place finish.
(Image credit: Russell Baker)
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Elite women's downhill podium.

Elite women's downhill podium.
(Image credit: Russell Baker)

National series leader Leonie Picton continued her clean sweep of the Australian domestic season by winning the elite women's downhill for her first national championship.

Starting the 2010-11 season with no podium performances, Picton has since posted wins at the Glenorchy, Mt Baw Baw and Mt Buller national series rounds and she did not disappoint with an impressive nationals performance at Eagle Mountain Bike Park.

The Maffra rider put everything she had on the line to take the win. "I made sure I pedaled my guts out, there was nothing left in the tank when I crossed the line. My legs are shaking, I am still shaking, it's so crazy. This is my first one, so I am ready to bawl my eyes out with excitement," Picton said.

"I had a very restless night last night just going over in my head what I can do to pick up those times. In my seeding run, I thought I did the best I could have done. Coming out today I had a good think about what I could improve on, walked the track this morning and picked up a few seconds."

Recovering from a fall near the finish, Canada's Claire Buchar finished with the second fastest time of 2:33.38, while Canberra's Julia Boer rounded out the top three with 2:37.24.

Full results

Elite women
1Leonie Picton (Yarra Valley Cycles Kona Sram)0:02:31.27
2Claire Buchar0:02:33.38
3Julia Boer (Intense bikes, Onya Bike Tuggeranong)0:02:37.24
4Holly Baarspul (Kona Factory Team, Sram, Rock Shox, Avid, Mavic)0:02:38.77
5Genevieve McKew0:02:39.13
6Alyssa Lyons0:02:44.17
7Shelly Flood0:02:48.38
8Sarah Booth (Kona Factory Team, Sram, Rock Shox, Avid, Mavic)0:02:48.62
9Jolene Knight0:02:54.97
10Simmone Lyons0:03:05.55
11Natasha Bonney (spokes NT)0:03:33.42
DNSJulie Berry (Bikeology, Corsair Bikes and Bushwacker Fitness)

Under 19 women
#Rider Name (Country) TeamResult
1Emily Hockey0:02:59.34

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