Cliff Ousley, reigning champion of Southern Enduro Riders Association’s Harescramble Series of 2009, picked things up right where he left off last season.

Ousley hasn’t competed in a SERA harescramble since the fall of 2009 but has been racing in other venues.

There was nothing rusty about his performance on Sunday in Perry Mountain Motorcycle Club’s 12th Annual Southeast Cross Country Shootout

The Trisanction event at Reynolds Pasture featured three different organizations running for points.

With snow falling in the area on Thursday and sleet and drizzle hitting the ground most of the day on Friday, the grounds for this event were hard and slick. Many ice pockets could be found throughout the course and campground area.

The morning race was composed of the special classes, those with less experience or those of an older age group. Several young men competed in the highly contested Jr. class, with Beau Burnett claiming the top prize for SERA.

Burnett got off to a rough start as he slid down in the first turn. There was hardly a class that started this event that didn’t have someone slide down in the slick grass coming down the back straightaway. Burnett went from the holeshot to almost last going into the woods section of the 11-mile course. Neal Ousley was right there with him at the start and did manage to stay on two wheels to go into the woods first. By the end of the day, Burnett was out front, followed by Jared White in second, Neal Ousley third, and Avery McCarley fourth. Rolie Barrett did not finish.

The main event for the day got started at 1 p.m., and the grounds were still cold and hard. One could tell the difference, though, in experience at the start as hardly anyone slid down in the slick grass off the start.

Ousley did not get a great start in the large AA class but rode consistent and smart as he finished atop the SERA leader board.

Dustin Stevens finished fourth SERA in the Open A class for the day.

Tyler Carter had an excellent day in the 250A SETRA class to claim first in class and a top 5 Overall SETRA position.

Chad Earl finished second in class.

Bryan Petty said it best before the race began when he commented that “today is not about speed but survival,” and he did just that. Petty rode a smart race and finished second in Lites A SERA in his first race in quite some time. Petty was the scorer for last season and did not get to compete in many events.

Kevin DeLoach was unable to finish after a hard crash on the third lap of the 4-lap race.

Jason Copeland finished second SERA in Vet B, one of the larger classes of the day.

Jonathon Seales had a great day to finish atop the SERA Lites B class on his new KTM 250 with an 11-minute lead over second place.

Jonathon Calloway, new to SERA, finished third in Open B.

On Saturday afternoon, the Kids races were held, and a few local youngsters competed in the cold and windy conditions.

Landon Barrett, Harrison Caver, Colton Castleberry and Ryan Gilbert finished third through sixth, respectively, in the Vet Kids class. These guys raced for 50 minutes on a technical 4-mile course.

Jackson Davis finished second in Intermediate Kids, and Connor Barrett and Ethan Gregg were first and second in the Pee Wee Class.

There was one major injury at this event with Jeff Austin of Tennessee breaking his femur in the adult race on Sunday afternoon. He was airlifted to UAB hospital and at last report was doing well.

“Except for the broken leg, I had a good time in Maplesville,” Austin said.

The next SERA event is the Awards Banquet this weekend in Philadelphia, Miss. We have several local competitors receiving honors for their performances last season.