Lady rider Atete Benzinge was Kenya’s best-placed competitor in the FIM Africa Motocross of African Nations (Mxoan), which concluded in Marrakech, Morocco’s fourth-largest city.

Atete secured third place in the WMX class, trailing behind hard-charging Leah Heygate of Zambia and Mienke Cawood of South Africa.

As the lone representative for Kenya in the competitive WMX category, she contributed to the country’s fourth-place overall finish in the class.

Overall, team Kenya celebrated three podium finishes, two of which came from the MX50 and MX65 team standings.

In the MX50 female class, Chiara Hatanga of Kenya came in second behind Hellena Ainomugisha from Uganda.

Kenyan skipper Apollo Mbuki placed ninth in the MX1 class, finishing behind winner Saad Soulmani of Morocco, who won all three heats, while Fortune Ssentamu of Uganda finished third.

In the MX Vets/Masters category, Kenya’s Fredrick Yongo finished twelfth in a race won by Craig Cruger of South Africa.

South African riders swept the podium in the MX50 class, with Joshua-Zion Naude defeating Trey Dean and Alessandro Green.

The best-placed Kenyan in MX50 was Jeremy Hawi Opudo, who finished sixth.

Other Kenyan riders in MX50 included Chiara (10th), Paul Thanga (12th), Leto Tohani (14th) and Matt Kahondu (16th).

Kigen Mutuma, who finished sixth, was the best-placed Kenyan rider in MX65.

Other Kenyans in MX65 included Dylan Hatanga (7th), Jedd Hatanga (8th), Lemaiyan Muraya Mugo (9th), Armani Amani (11th) and Jayden Njogu (18th).

Kenya finished fourth in the event.

Uganda garnered 479 points to finish second overall, behind South Africa (586 points), while hosts Morocco came in third with a total of 447 points.