Tauranga's Karepa Heke-Kaiawha will be leading BMX's Mighty 11s this year. He secured the honour by winning the boys' class in last weekend's trials at the National Championships at Pukekohe.

Tauranga BMX Club had 44 riders registered for the championships and scooped a few more honours.

Karepa Heke-Kaiawha with his badge of honour.

Tauranga had four entries for the Mighty 11 trials, which was held last Friday morning. For the boys Karepa Heke-Kaiawha and Matt Hill competed and for the girls, Tayla Arnold and Elliot Kale.

This hotly-contested event saw Karepa take out the boys' class, thus secure the captaincy of the 2016 Mighty 11 boys' team.

The Mighty 11s compete each year against Australia in a test series.

'Overall, the club had a strong showing at the 2016 Nationals with two national titles, 17 other finalists and a further 13 riders reaching quarters or semi-finals,” says the club's team manager John Wragg.

'Several riders achieved personal bests.” More than 900 riders competed in various classes during the weekend.

The team represented themselves to a high standard and showed great support and unity, says John.

'This was highlighted with a number of families coming to the track on the days they were not racing to support other team members.”