Third-Grader Places Fifth in Motorcross World Championship

At only age 8, Preston Evans "The Hammer" of Northeast Cobb placed fifth in the 8- and 9-year-old boys division of the UCI BMX World Championships 2011 in Copenhagen, Denmark, in July, according to the Cherokee Tribune. There was a field of 78 international competitors.

Evans, an East Side Elementary School third-grader, has become a world-class athlete in the fast-growing extreme sport of bicycle motocross (BMX) racing.

In April, Evans qualified for the UCI World Championship American team at the qualifier races in Chula Vista, Calif. Last November, he competed against 36 boys in Tulsa, Okla., where he won the American Bicycle Association BMX Race of Champions event and achieved his best racing speed — 22.8 miles per hours.

Since 2008, when he began competing, Evans has won local, state and national titles in the sport, in both the ABA and National Bicycle League.

Evans, who spends hours practicing at home, said his biggest jump to date is 25 feet.

His parents, John and Melanie Evans, and 3-year-old sister, Mollye, have traveled with him to Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Oklahoma and California for competitions.

The costs of Preston’s uniforms, bike frames and race entry fees are covered by Black Crown BMX, a Rossville-based maker of BMX number plates.

“With entry fees being taken care of, it allows for us to be able to travel and get to these races,” John Evans, a Walton High School teacher and football coach, told the   Cherokee Tribune. “Then we’re responsible for the hotel, food and gas expenses. So we’re not trapped with all the expenses, which is a great thing.”

Next up for Evans is a series of upcoming weekend races, including the ABA State Championship at Wild Horse Creek Park in Powder Springs; NBL Grands in Louisville, Ky; NBL State Championship in McDonough; Disney Cup Fall Nationals in Orlando; and the ABA BMX Race of Champions in Tulsa.

The Cobb County BMX, which is sanctioned by the ABA, operates two tracks, Wild Horse Creek in Powder Springs and Noonday Park in Kennesaw.