Personal History
My name is Sasha Hanggi also known as "Stix" locally. I am one of the top female riders of my district 23. I started riding in 2020. My first bike was an old Kawasaki 100. It was the peak of Covid and my friend had an outdoor track. I had only ridden my cousins bike a few times so I really had to learn to work the clutch. I rode that old KX as much as I could. It provided me with such relief from all the stress happening around me. My friend put together the “Corona Cup Series” (hate the Corona not the Cup) he had an amazing turnout.
After all that, I decided I would practice and race on the district sanctioned tracks when they opened back up. I think back to my first race in the girls 11-16 class, and that adrenaline of the holeshot. I knew that this is what I wanted to put my blood sweat and tears into. My family and I knew that I had the drive and wanted to push. They saw I wanted more than just racing locally. The winter of 2021-2022 I went down to Florida to train at Orlando MX with Dean Dyess. I had only been down in Orlando a couple weeks and we wanted to see what the next step would look like so we went to Mini O's. Doing Mini O’s gave me goals, to see how much faster that I needed to be to achieve my dreams. And for the next 6 months, 4 days a week, I worked as hard as I could.
March of 2022 we went to my first Area qualifier at Thunder Valley MX in Tennessee, and qualified for the Mid East Regional. Next, I raced the Area qualifier in Little Falls MN, I placed 3rd against girls that used to lap me. Regional time was a big eye opener and showed me how far I had come in my training. Chillitown MX Youth Regional 2022, they said it was the biggest regional they have ever had. It was my first regional ever, I raced my hardest but came out with a 9th. I was only 1 place away from making it my first year at my first regional. I knew I had to bring it to my next regional at Tigerton MX WI Youth Regional, I was lined up with those same girls that lapped me the year before. I knew I had to put everything into these next races. I pulled a holeshot in the second race but went down. I ended up with an 8th place. I was upset because I was so close my first time trying for Lorettas. Despite being the first alternate for the Girls 11-16 for the Loretta Lynn National and the 43 fastest girl in the Nation I am ready to work that much harder to get to where I want to be. I am ready to make up those spots and make it this year.
2022 has shown me what I am capable of and has given me confidence to progress. I just bought a bike with my own money, it is a 2023 TC 125. And I am super excited for the 2023 MX season. I will be riding my super mini in the Girls 11-16 class and look forward to getting to know that new 125.
Riding Goals
My main riding goal is to make it to Loretta Lynn National in the Girls 11-16 class on my Husqvarna supermini. Along with that I want to place top 3 at my regional. And I want to become known as one of the top female riders. I am looking forward to racing more National races and want to explore some of the larger rides. I want to travel the nation and explore this sport. I want to find out how to make this sport a career for myself. Right now I have dreams of being a track owner and running a training facility. I am not sure where it will take me, but I know I love it.
Competitive Highlights
The 2022 season was amazing! I got my first championships for the District 23 Gold Cup Series, in Girls 11-16 and Women +13! Also, I placed 3rd at the Little Falls MN area qualifier. I went to my first regional's this year. One at Chili Town MX , its rider and fan attendance broke their record and was the biggest regional they have ever had. I placed 9th in Chili Town. My next regional was Tigerton, WI. I placed 8th and was one spot away from qualifying.
Because I didn't even own a bike until 2020 my competitive highlights may seem short but I have come a long way in a short time. Another fun competitive highlight is I broke my humerus after only a couple months with the bike. I was not enjoying being off the bike and was definitely driven to get back on that bike and finish that six pack of doubles that took me out. Sure enough when I was able to return I faced those double and showed them who was boss!