Moore’s Keeaira Sherrill is Ready to Take on the BMX World

It's the middle of July and the middle of the afternoon. Blast furnace time in Oklahoma and the last place you would expect to find a 15-year-old Moore teenager racing at breakneck speed around a black asphalt BMX track. But for Keeaira Sherrill, this is what you call "living the dream." Furthermore, it's the kind of attitude that has made her one of the top BMX racers in the world.

"The goal is to get up to as fast as possible and make myself better every single day," said Sherrill. "Right now, my goals are pretty much the Olympics, so this is pretty much just trying to live

my life as best as I can and get as far as I can go in racing."

For Sherrill, "as far as I can go" means an August trip to Glasgow, Scotland. That's where she'll be competing in the 2023 UCI BMX Racing World Championships. Sherill will compete in two classes: 15 Challenge Girls on a 20" bike and 13-16 Challenge Girls Cruiser on a 24" bike. She'll be riding on a new course built specifically for the world BMX championships, with plenty of banked turns and hills. Just looking at a BMX course can cause an average bike rider to break into a cold sweat.

"It is definitely intimidating," said Sherrill. "A lot of racing is obviously physical. But I don't think most people know there's a lot about the sport that's mental. Riding your bike and racing against people almost every other weekend is incredibly hard on your mind, and it's tough to keep your cool, especially when you're about to race out there."

Sherrill has embraced the tension between her love of the sport and the mental and physical challenge since she was seven.

"Whenever I was little, I used to ride out at the skate park, which is like freestyle tricks," said Sherrill. "When I was almost eight, I went to the BMX track to try out a race night, and I completely fell in love with racing."

Her love of racing and action sports is something Sherrill says she grew up with.

"My brother skateboards, and Dad and I always rode bikes," said Sherrill. "We have always traveled to different places just to ride our bikes. But when I started racing, we started traveling the world to do that."

It is not a typical lifestyle for a 15-year-old Oklahoma girl, but Sherrill says she's fully aware of how her passion and skills for BMX racing have given her entrance into a unique experience.

"It's kind of become mostly what I do," said Sherrill. "It's an amazing life and an amazing opportunity to be able to travel the world all the time and be able to race my bike everywhere. I mean, when you stop to think about it, especially going to Scotland."

Back to the mental side of the sport, it's been incredibly challenging for Sherrill over the past few months as she has had to come back from an injury. There is a saying among cyclists of all types: "There are two types of riders – those who have fallen and those who are going to fall." Sherrill knows the truth of that saying all too well.

"I've taken one of the worst wrecks that I've had in a very long time, and I was actually out for a while," said Sherrill, "But I'm coming back, and I'm very excited to see what the rest of the year has in store for me."

Her mental toughness is serving her well. Sherrill says she has learned to focus and visualize races to overcome any jitters she might feel before a race.

"I kind of keep to myself and listen to music a lot," said Sherrill. "On a big race weekend, I just work on my breathing and keeping my mind calm. I just keep telling myself that I'm gonna do good and everything is gonna be ok."

Away from racing, Sherrill loves to draw, paint, and hang out with her friends. She says that her family and friends have all been incredibly supportive of her passion for BMX racing.

"I'm amazingly grateful to everyone who has helped me get here, and I cannot wait to go and do my best," said Sherrill. "I'm especially thankful for my family. They have always been supportive of me. It's amazing, we're all just like a BMX family, and we all have a lot of fun supporting each other."

(All scheduled events are subject to change)

FOOTBALL

Moore

August 17 Scrimmage

August 25 Edmond Memorial (Scrimmage)

S0FTBALL

August 7 @Westmoore

August 10 Broken Arrow

August 11-12 @Broken Arrow Tournament

August 15 PC North

August 18-19 Southmoore Festival

August 22 Southmoore

August 24 @Sand Springs

August 29 Booker T. Washington

August 30 Yukon

VOLLEYBALL

August 8 @Broken Arrow

August 10 Piedmont

August 15 Westmoore

August 18-20 @Regent Prep Tournament

August 29 Edmond North

August 31 @Southmoore

CROSS COUNTRY

August 12 Norman Time Trial/5K

August 19 @Deer Creek

August 26 Moore War

Southmoore

FOOTBALL

August 17 @Carl Albert (Scrimmage)

August 24 @Norman (Scrimmage)

Softball

August 7 @Booker T. Washington

August 10 @Yukon

August 11-12 @Tuttle Festival

August 14 Putnam City

August 15 Sand Springs

August 18-19 Southmoore Festival

August 22 @Moore

August 24 @Broken Arrow

August 25 @Pryor Festival

August 28 PC North

August 31 @Edmond Santa Fe

VOLLEYBALL

August 10 Edmond North

August 15 OCS

August 17 @Edmond Memorial

August 22 Edmond Santa Fe

August 29 @Norman North

August 31 Moore

CROSS COUNTRY TBD

Westmoore

FOOTBALL

August 12 Jag Jam

August 17 @Enid (Scrimmage)

August 24 Union

S0FTBALL

August 7 Moore

August 8 Stillwater (Location TBD)

August 11-12 @Broken Arrow Tournament

August 14 @Lawton

August 18-10 Southmoore Festival

August 21 @Norman

August 28 Norman

August 29 Stillwater (Location TBD)

VOLLEYBALL

August 8 Yukon

August 15 @Moore

August 22 Shawnee

August 24 Norman North

August 25-26 @Choctaw Tournament

August 29 Piedmont

August 31 @Edmond North

CROSS COUNTRY

August 12 Norman Time Trial/5K

August 19 @Deer Creek

August 26 Moore War