Logansport girl has a passion for motocross, hopes to go pro

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) - Teagan Billiard got her first off-road motorcycle about two years ago for her eighth birthday.

Since then, she's raced across the country and filled her family's home outside Logansport with trophies and medals. The 10-year-old enjoys the sport for the thrills and achievements while sharing in her parents' admiration for the values it teaches her.

Teagan said she started riding four-wheelers when she was 6. Then she saw off-road motorcycles on TV and asked her parents, Eric and Heather Billiard, for one.

"It was just to ride around," Heather said. "And then she started watching supercross and stuff like that on YouTube videos and she started wanting to get on the track."

Teagan said she picked up the techniques quickly shortly after starting racing.

"The second time I went to the track, I thought I was getting it pretty well," she said.

Heather said Teagan races about every weekend in the summer and about every other weekend in the winter. They've traveled to Akron, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee for events, Heather added.

Their recent visit to Baltimore resulted in Teagan qualifying for her second consecutive trip to compete in the AMSOIL Arenacross event in Las Vegas this May. Last year, she went up against 13 other riders in a class for girls ages 9-13 and finished fifth.

"I'm really excited," Teagan said. "My favorite part about it is I like to fly high and we have fun. It's all about having fun and trying hard."

Teagan said she enjoys the jumps throughout a motocross track - particularly going high and hitting a double, which means to achieve so much distance on a jump that the rider clears the next jump on the course.

Then there are the whoops - a track obstacle made up of a set of evenly spaced shorter hills all in a row. Teagan demonstrated the proper way of gliding over them using a toy off-road motorcycle and plastic track in her family's living room.

"Every time you go over one, you hit the throttle a little bit, so it makes you go a little bit faster," she said. "Whenever I go over them, every time I hit one of them, it's addicting to hit the throttle."

Heather recalled how she and Eric had to keep Teagan from getting back on her bike after a crash during a race in Kentucky last year that left her with a broken elbow.

"It hurt, but I just wanted to finish the race," Teagan said.

She said she enjoys chasing the goals she sets for herself.

"I want to try doing things that I haven't done before," she said. "If there's a double that I haven't done, I always try harder to get it every time. If I have everything done, then I can try on my next thing."

Teagan added she intends to stick with the sport and eventually take it to the next level.

"I'm trying to work hard so I can become pro when I get older," she said.

Sometimes, Teagan said she and a friend are told they shouldn't ride off-road motorcycles because they're girls and the activity is for boys. Teagan rejects that view.

"We will never quit," she said.

Heather said Eric rode off-road motorcycles growing up as well but never competed to the level Teagan does.

"She's just really a natural at it," Heather said.

Heather went on to describe the sport as a bonding activity for Teagan and her younger sister, Taylon, 8, whom Heather said is starting to show some racing talent of her own.

"I told (Teagan) if she doesn't pick her speed up, sissy's going to come right up behind her," Heather teased, stirring competitive retorts from her daughters.

Heather said she supports the girls' involvement in the activity for the self confidence it builds, the sportsmanship it fosters and the friendships it creates.

While the young riders are competitive during the races, "When they come off the track, it's always a high five... they're playing tag, they're doing water balloons, they're making s'mores together, they're just having fun," Heather said.

Watching Teagan race can be scary and overwhelming, Heather said, but she can't deny the joy it brings her.

"She lives for it," Heather said. "She eats, breathes and sleeps it. My biggest thing is: If you put your mind to something, you do it. And this has been a dream of hers and she wants to go pro, so I'm going to support her 100 percent and I'm going to try to do everything I can to get her there."

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Source: (Logansport) Pharos-Tribune, http://bit.ly/2jveVjC

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Information from: Pharos-Tribune, http://www.pharostribune.com