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theGRIT
Katie’s week at Freestone Spring Championships started off great. She qualified 1st, 3rd, and 4th in her girl classes and 20th in 85 (9-12) among the boys. In moto one of Girls Jr., Katie ripped the start and led from beginning to end. She turned the fastest lap of the moto and took the win with ease. In the first moto of Schoolgirl, Katie lined up against the big
bikes on her KTM 85. She surprisingly enough got a great start and was running 4th until lap three where she made the pass into 3rd. She would finish 3rd and go onto her next race with a confidence boost. Katie lined up against the boys for the 85 (9-12) but a bad start and crash would be the cause of Benson’s 17th place finish. The 13 year old lined up again for her final first moto in Texas for the Girls Sr. class. She got another great start and was running third until lap 4. Katie
was making the pass for 2nd place when things took a turn for the worse. She got a little loose coming into the wall section and the bike swapped, throwing Katie head first into the face of the wall. Katie brushed herself off and put her focus on her second motos. When the second motos began, Katie was in pain but ready. She lined up for the second moto of Girls Jr. and when the gate dropped, she nearly got the holeshot. She was able to make her way into the lead by lap 2 and the rest was history. Katie put down the fastest lap of the moto and won the championship in dominating fashion. Her family decided it was best for her not to race the rest of her motos due to risk of worsening her injury from her crazy crash. Even though she wasn’t able to finish all of her motos, she still claimed her 11th national title and will be looking for more.
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