CHOCTAW, Miss. – More than 300 people attended the Southern Enduro Riders Association awards banquet held on Jan. 24 here at the Silver Star Hotel and Casino.

The evening began with a 1-hour autograph session for all the kids class winners and Cliff Ousley. All the winners were provided with posters of themselves racing and used the posters for autographs.

Cliff Ousley of Maplesville was awarded the title of Overall Grand Champion because he aced both the Enduro and Harescramble series. He received a helmet for each series as well as a bonus carbon fiber helmet for the dual championship.

Ousley also finished first in the National Enduro Series in Open A and ninth overall. He will now compete as a Pro at the national level. Ousley’s awards were presented first so that he and Mike Reynolds could catch a plane for a National Enduro in Sumter, S.C., on Sunday.

Jeremy Ketchum of KTM was also on hand at the banquet to pass out KTM bucks for competitors who rode KTMs and finished in the top three of their class. More than 11,000 dollars was awarded.

The Kids’ Enduro and Harescramble awards were given next with state kids dominating the top positions. Austin Anz of Stanton topped both of the series in the Beginner Pee Wee Class, Trent Whisenant of Hoover won both of the series in the Intermediate Kids Class, Steve Nicholas of Chunchula won Enduro Vet Kids, Dayton Nicholas won Harescramble Pee Wee and Jacob Davis of Maplesville came out on top in Harescramble Vet Kids.

Along with these, there were 37 other awards given to the kids’ classes. Among these were: Jackson Davis, second in Harescramble Int. Kids; Connor Barrett, sixth in Harescramble Pee Wee; and Neal Ousley, Jared White and Landon Barrett, third, fifth, and eighth in Harescramble Vet Kids.

Kellie Nicholas won the Taylor Reynolds Spirit award presented by Randy Parke and Mike Reynolds for her eagerness to compete and her sweet attitude toward others. The award is given each year to a child in SERA in memory of Taylor Reynolds, who was a strong competitor until his untimely death.

Carolyn Reed of Louisiana received Sportsman (woman) of the year for her endeavors with the Kids races—sharing pictures of competitors on the Web site and raising money for the scholarship fund through the sale of videos of the races.

Kevin DeLoach and Hunter Sanders received scholarships earlier in the season and were presented plaques at the banquet.

The Enduro Awards were presented after all of the kids had received theirs, and Chilton County and surrounding areas were represented well. Jonathon Seales finished second in 200B, Ted Anz fourth in Sr. B, Michael Caver seventh in Sr. B, Vicki Anz first in Women, Carey Steele first in Jr. 12-16, Brad Belcher third in Sr. Short A, and Tommy Seales second in Super Sr. A.

In the Harescramble Series, Frank Davis finished third Overall and fourth in AA; Will McConnell fourth Overall and first in Open A (welcome to AA); Zach Steele, Kevin DeLoach, Jonathon Seales and Hunter Sanders first, second, third, and fifth, respectively, in Lites B; Ted Anz, John Huggins and Jason Copeland second, third, and fourth in Vet B; Phil Williams first in Masters; Phillip McMillan first in Golden Masters; and Carey Steele, Beau Burnette and Alex Price first, third, and sixth, respectively, in the Junior Class.

Perry Mountain Motorcycle Club dominated in the group awards by receiving 3 of 4 races of the year. The annual Gobbler Getter in November received Enduro of the Year; the Chicken House Harescramble received top honors in the Adult race and the Kids’ race.

It takes a lot of unselfish people to make an organization run smoothly, and SERA has countless members to be indebted to for its success. The next event for the 2009 season is Jan. 31-Feb. 1 in Meridian, Miss., as the Ridgerunners host their annual Bonita Lakes Harescramble.