{"id":580407,"date":"2026-04-03T22:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T22:11:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/580407\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T22:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T22:11:07","slug":"local-cyclist-named-2025-nbshof-britt-jessup-memorial-award-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/580407\/","title":{"rendered":"Local cyclist named 2025 NBSHOF Britt Jessup Memorial Award winner"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grayson Franks competes in mountain biking and cyclocross, two demanding disciplines that require year-round preparation and competition at both the national and international levels<\/p>\n

An 18-year-old North Bay athlete who continues to make his mark on the international cycling stage has been named the city\u2019s top male athlete.<\/p>\n

Grayson Franks, a Grade 12 student at Chippewa Secondary School, has been selected as the 2025 recipient of the Britt Jessup Memorial Award, presented annually by the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame to the community\u2019s Male Athlete of the Year.<\/p>\n

The Britt Jessup Memorial Award is named in memory of Britt Jessup, a prominent figure in the local sports community, and is awarded to the Male Athlete of the Year by the North Bay Sports Hall of Fame<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Franks was chosen for the award by the NBSHOF awards committee ahead of hockey player Ben Brunton, who was voted in\u00a0as the\u00a0\u00a0BayToday Sports Story of the Year<\/a>. That selection process was conducted by BayToday staff and our sports freelancers, aided by more than 1,000 reader poll votes.<\/p>\n

Franks competes in mountain biking (MTB) and cyclocross (CX), two demanding disciplines that require year-round preparation and competition at both the national and international levels. Grayson, who rode with the Stimulus Trek Race Team for the 2025 season, began his campaign with training camps in Spain and Victoria, B.C., setting the stage for a year that would see him race across Canada and Europe.<\/p>\n

On the mountain bike circuit, Franks competed in the Canada Cup Series, a national tour featuring stops in Whistler, Canmore, Sherbrooke, Baie-Saint-Paul, St. F\u00e9licien, Dieppe and Brookvale.<\/p>\n

He placed ninth at the Canadian MTB National Championships, finished fourth at the Brookvale Canada Cup in P.E.I., and ended the season 10th overall in the Canada Cup standings, establishing himself among the country\u2019s top junior riders.<\/p>\n

His cyclocross season was equally impressive. Racing across North America in the fall, Franks competed in events throughout the United States, including Rochester, Wisconsin, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Virginia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C., with only one Canadian stop in Quebec City.<\/p>\n

He finished fourth at the Canadian Cyclocross National Championships in Quebec City, a result that earned him selection to Team Canada for the Belgian \u201cChristmas Cross\u201d race block from mid-December to early January.<\/p>\n

The renowned Belgian series features roughly 11 races over three weeks and includes many of the best junior riders in the world.<\/p>\n

Franks was also named by Cycling Canada as one of four junior male riders selected to compete at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships in the Netherlands at the end of January, 2026.<\/p>\n

Despite the demands of elite sport, he remains a dedicated student at Chippewa Secondary School, completing coursework remotely while travelling. Coaches and teachers describe him as internally motivated, disciplined and committed to long-term goals.<\/p>\n

The Britt Jessup Memorial Award recognizes athletic excellence, dedication and character within the North Bay sporting community. Franks\u2019 success across disciplines and his ability to balance sport with academics made him a clear choice for the honour.<\/p>\n

Franks will receive his award\u00a0at the 45th Annual Induction and Awards Dinner on Saturday, May 2, at the Davedi Club. Tickets can be purchased through Larry Tougas at 705-303-8104. Tickets are also available at the Davedi Club by calling 705-474-4190. Tickets are $65.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Grayson Franks competes in mountain biking and cyclocross, two demanding disciplines that require year-round preparation and competition at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":356829,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":["post-580407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/356829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}