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KILPATRICK
HANNAH HODGES
Hannah Hodges is one of the most suc- cessful women still currently competing at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch. The Floridian has earned six podium finishes, including three number one plates, during the seven years that she has raced the Amateur National Championships in Hurricane Mills. The Team Green Kawasaki rider was dealing with nagging injury problems throughout the 2016 season that affected her prepara- tion heading into Loretta’s, but she still managed to pull out a podium finish in the Women (16+) All-Star class against some of the top pros throughout the country.
In the last event of the year at Mini-O’s, Hodges broke her wrist during one of her 250 B heat races. She subsequently opted out of the B class and decided to focus on the Women’s classes, battling through her injuries in order to win every moto. The domination continued during both WMX rounds at Daytona and Freestone in March with another pair of overall victories, stamp- ing her authority on the series with some incredibly impressive performances. She has established herself as the rider to beat in the Women’s class with a resounding first place overall at the Gatorback Youth Regional in her home state of Florida, and she’ll be looking to bring her total tally of Loretta Lynn’s National Titles to four when the gate drops at the Ranch.
JEREMY RYAN
Jeremy Ryan flew under the radar for most of the 2016 season coming into Loretta Lynn’s until he scored a fifth overall in the Mini Sr. 2 class in one of the most competi- tive fields in recent history. The California native has since made the move up to
the Supermini class and has immediately excelled on the bigger bike. Due to his tall, lanky frame he isn’t suffering the same dis- advantage that he did on the starts in the Mini Sr. class which was one of his major setbacks last year at the Ranch. Ryan had one of the unsung rides of the entire week after falling in the first corner, placing him almost thirty seconds behind the competi- tion, before carving his way back through the pack in treacherously muddy conditions all the way up to tenth position. He has one podium finish to his name at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch back in 2014 in the 65cc (10-11) Limited class, but it’s quite likely that Ryan will find a way to add to his tally this year. He earned a third place finish in the Super- mini Dominator Class at the Atlanta AX in the most competitive class of the season, earned a third overall in the Supermini 2 class at the JS7 Freestone Spring Cham- pionship, and he added another podium finish to his collection at the Cal Classic. Ryan is floating on a wave of momentum coming into Loretta Lynn’s after a pair of second place finishes in the Prairie City Regional in addition to two podium finishes on the final day of racing at Mammoth Mountain -- can he keep his podium streak alive against a full gate at the Ranch?
KILPATRICK
WWW.MOTOPLAYGROUND.COM
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