Australian Jared Graves (Yeti-Fox) and Melissa Buhl (KHS) were crowned overall champions of the inaugural USA Cycling Mountain Bike National Gravity Calendar at the Gravity East Finals in Plattekill, New York, which marked the conclusion of the 22 event season-long calendar.
Graves edged countryman Amiel Cavalier (NSW-Giant) in the men's division by just 19 points, with a score of 495 points to 476. New Zealander Justin Leov (Yeti-Fox) was third overall with 334 points, followed by Cole Bangert (Morewood) and Eric Carter (Mongoose) who scored 319 and 308 points respectively.
In the women's division, Buhl dominated the calendar with 1,054 points while second-place finisher Jacqueline Harmony (Team Cactus) finished with 648 points. Kathy Pruitt (Jamis) notched 445 points throughout the season to place third, while Lisa Myklak (Morewood) finished fourth with 439 points and Darian Harvey (Durango Rough Riders) rounded out the top five with 424 points.
Dual slalom national champion Buhl's large margin of victory came from several key victories including the Chile Challenge (downhill and 4X), the Deer Valley Nationals (downhill and dual slalom), the Infineon Cougar Mountain Class (downhill), the Sugar Mountain National (downhill and dual slalom), and Snowmass Nationals (downhill and 4X), just to name a few.
Graves 495 point total came as a result of victories in the 4X event at the Blast the Mass and dual slalom wins at the Deer Valley and Snowmass Nationals. Graves also scored a pair of second-place finishes in the downhill and dual slalom competitions at Sea Otter and finished second in the downhill races at both Blast the Mass and the Snowmass National.
