The teenage competitor is working hard on her gate starts and building her strength as she looks to consolidate on her third-place finish in the 15-year-old girls’ section at the BMX Victoria titles.

The V3 plate which she collected following strong form at the Jetty Flat track on Sunday sits pride of place on her bike.

It was her highest result at the Victorian championships, bettering her sixth-place result of 12 months ago.

Jephcott, 15, said racing for a state plate at her home track was a thrill and gave her a slight advantage on her opponents.

“I trained really hard all year,” she said of her preparation for the three-day event.

“In the final I came out of the gate last and ended up getting third.

“I had determination and wanted it.”

Jephcott has been racing for nine years – more than half of her life.

The Warrnambool College student is working hard off the track to reach her goals.

“I am going to the gym, going to Geelong for training to work with my coaches (Tony Harvey and Nathan Glab),” she said.

Jephcott said BMX was her sporting priority and investing time into it was important to her.

“I do callisthenics and I play hockey but I am not really on a team anymore because I have kind of just dedicated everything to BMX,” she said. “I guess I just love the competitiveness of it all, trying to achieve your best, the rivalry and the atmosphere. I just love it all.”

The Australian titles in Shepparton in May next year are in Jephcott’s sights.

The Track Attack competition, “where you race most tracks in one week”, in Melbourne is also something she looks forward to each year.

Knox is her favourite away track and has formed part of the Track Attack series, which will run for January 12-20 next year, in the past.

“All the events there are always really good and the track’s always in really good condition,” Jephcott said.