PARKER — A bout with mononucleosis, lack of money and early-week crash were no match for Tyler Martin.

The 17-year-old Parker resident overcame all three obstacles to place ninth in the 42-bike college boy division recently at the Loretta Lynn Amateur National Motocross Championships in Hurricane Mills, Tenn.

It was Martin’s best national finish since placing seventh at the event as a 6-year-old in 2000.

“He did this on pure talent,” his mother, Michelle Martin, said. “Tyler was able to compete in only six races all year. We just didn’t have the money.

“As a parent, you feel horrible that you can’t put him in the places he needs to be.”

Martin will be a senior at Karns City High School this year. He plans to turn pro in motocross sometime next season.

“I want to get my pro license, anyway,” he said. “I was happy with how things went for me at the Loretta. I was as fast as anyone down there and I had to fight through a lot of things.”

Martin competed in the 250 B Mod and College Boy divisions at nationals. On the first lap of his first race in the Mod division, he was involved in an accident.

He came back through the field, reaching 18th place before being victimized by another mishap.

“Parts of the track were a little slick and a kid slid right in front of me,” Martin said. “I caught his back wheel and my bike just cartwheeled.”

Martin said he felt soreness in his right knee, ankle, wrist, right shoulder and back, but continued to race through the week.

He wound up 35th in the 250 B Mod division before his ninth-place performance in college boy. He started 28th and passed 19 bikes in 10 laps.

“I was already down there ... no way I was gonna quit,” Martin said. “My wrist still hurts. All of that soreness was something I just had to deal with.”

He dealt with mono during the weeks leading up to nationals, but still forced himself to go out and train in the heat.

“My conditioning helped me because I never got tired down there,” Martin said. “The heat index was 115. I got hot, but not tired.

“The laps I was turning were as fast as anyone’s. All I lacked this year was getting in riding time. Seat time means a lot in this sport.”

Mrs. Martin made a point to thank all of her son’s sponsors “because he doesn’t make it down there without them.”

Martin hopes to acquire a few more.

“Yeah, I’d like to add some more sponsors and maybe get down to South Carolina for some races during the winter,” he said. “The only way you get faster is through more competition.

“The faster the bikes are that you’re out there riding against, the faster you become.”