May 6, 2006 – The second day of the opening round of the 2006 National Mountain Bike Series at Southridge Park concluded with top seeds Jared Rando of Australia and Leanna Gerrard (Lake Tapps, Wash./Bear Naked-Cannondale) winning the respective men’s and women’s ‘ titles in the pro mountain cross finals Saturday night.

Rando hopped to the front of the pack early, avoiding a crash in the second corner that left 20th-seeded Garrick Anderson (Poway, Calif./Avent-Bombshell) and third-seeded Rich Houseman (Golden, Colo./Yeti-Fox Racing) out of contention. New Zealander and 11th-seeded John Kirkcaldie narrowly missed the tangle to ride into second.

“I was just looking for the finals from the start, so I protected all of the inside lines and it’s just a matter of getting a good start most of the time,” Rando said. “It was pretty tight racing; everyone was getting pretty aggressive; it was just a matter of staying out of trouble.”

Great Britain’s Dale Holmes won the small final to secure a fifth-place finish.

In women’s action, Gerrard took the lead in her field early and held on for the decisive win. Second-seeded Joanna Petterson (Folsom, Calif./Morewood Bikes) finished second, with third-seeded April Lawyer (Bend, Ore./Maxxis) and fourth-seeded Wendy Reynolds (Moab, Utah/Bear Naked-Cannondale-Sport Legs) rounding out the field.

“I was sitting in lane one, which is inside and a very good gate to have on this course, and I wanted to get a good gate – fortunately I did,” Gerrard said. “I pretty much just fired it down the first straight. The girls were pretty even with me to the first corner and I just railed it through the first corner and didn’t see anyone else the rest of the way.”

South Africa’s Anka Martin won the consolation round to place fifth and complete the women’s podium.