Just hours before being named the Northern Inland Academy of Sport Female Athlete of the Year, Rebecca Sams was shredding it alongside the best in the country.
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The Gunnedah mountain biker was unable to attend the annual Academy Awards on Saturday night as she was in Victoria competing in the 2023 Aus Cycling Gravity Enduro (GE) Nationals.
Riding in the under 17s division, the 15-year-old just missed out on the podium, finishing fourth.
"I think I went pretty well," Sams reflected on her performance.
"I'm happy that I got top 10, that was my goal."
When The Leader spoke with the teenager she was out for a ride in Canberra, en route to Sydney to link up with her Calrossy Year 9/10 music class for their excursion.
Sams plays the drums: just another one of her many talents, it seems.
Before she became a mountain biking gun she was a four-time gymnastics state champion.
The weekend was her first national championships, and a big step up from anything she'd experienced previously.
"The trails were pretty difficult and the opponents were pretty quick," she said.
The weather didn't make things any easier.
It rained in the lead-up and during the event, which made for some tricky conditions.
As Sams put it: "water plus roots equals slippery roots".
There was, as a result, "lots of crashes" and injuries.
Thankfully Sams was able to avoid too much trouble.
She had a pretty consistent race, placing in the top five all six of her runs and being the third fastest in two of them.
Wrapping up the the year for her, she is "pretty happy" with how it has gone.
"I've gotten good results and hopefully I can do the same next year or better," she said.
Part of NIAS for the last couple of years, the award just topped it off nicely.
"I'm pretty happy with that, it's a big accomplishment," Sams said.
It was a big weekend for the family.
After racing on Saturday, Sams then proudly watched her mum, Elsie, win gold in the 45-54 masters women on Sunday.
