MOUNTAIN BIKING: Two young local riders win at Sunday’s NW Cup

They came from as far away as the cold of Quebec and Vermont and the balmy deserts of Southern California.

They even came from as far away as Dublin, Ireland.

And, for the most part, the heavy rains forecast for the weekend stayed away for the 12th year of the Northwest Cup, held at Dry Hill west of Port Angeles April 5-7.

“It went fantastic. It was a little bit of a wet day Saturday (which was practice and seeding runs). It was absolutely perfect on Sunday. Dry Hill can handle a lot of wet weather,” race organizer Casey Northern said.

He also said it was an impressive crowd that came out Sunday.

“I did the announcing, and it was very easy to feed off the crowd,” Northern said.

This Northwest Cup is part of an eight-race series held over the spring and summer in the Pacific Northwest and it was also part of the national GRT (Gravity Racing Tour) circuit.

More than 465 downhill mountain bike racers descended on the Olympic Peninsula to participate in three days of racing. That numbers includes 40 local riders from Port Angeles, Sequim, Port Townsend and Port Ludlow.

Local riders included a pair of young winners. Joseph Clemens of Port Angeles won the Cat 3 boys 11-14 race with a time of 3 minutes, 31.98 seconds while Talon Northern, a veteran of the downhill circuit from past years, won the Cat 2 men’s 15-18 race with a time of 2:55.28.

Talon, Casey’s son, won despite being just 15 going up against 41 mostly older riders. It was one of the biggest categories at the NW Cup.

“I’m a proud dad, that’s his first big win. I was blown away by how well the local riders did,” Northern said.

In that Cat 3 race won by Clemens, six out of the top 10 positions were won by Port Angeles and Sequim boys.

One of Northern’s competitors from last year, Matt Mangano of Port Angeles, won the Cat 2 NW Cup overall championship last season. Mangano was so good at Cat 2, he moved up to Cat 1 this year, competing with the most elite amateurs. He came in 14th in his first-ever Cat 1 race, going up against a heavily Canadian race field — 12 out of the 26 racers in his category were from Canada, and another six were from California, so he was competing against racers from all over the West.

Several other locals placed. Sean Rankin of Port Angeles finished second in the men’s 15-18 Cat 3 with a time of 3:23.53 and Jared Scott of Port Angeles finished second in the men’s 40-59 Cat 3 with a time of 3:36.74.

Meanwhile, Travis Bear of Sequim finished third in the men’s 40-59 Cat 3 race with a time of 3:37.12 and Philip Giles of Port Angeles finished third in the Cat 3 men’s 19-29 race with a time of 3:29.79.

Steven Lauderback of Port Angeles finished seventh in the men’s 19-29 Cat 1, one of the toughest categories in the race. Lauderback’s time of 3:01.36 was just 7 seconds off of first place.

This race is very popular with Canadian downhill mountain bikers as well over 100 competitors came from Canada to compete. Canadians won five categories during the weekend.

A total of 75 professional riders (18 women and 57 men) from all over the U.S. and Canada came to the Olympic Peninsula to compete. Winning the women’s professional race was Kialani Hines of Auburn with a time of 2:55.71. The men’s winner was Charlie Harrison of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., who won with a time of 2:28.40.

Making the longest journeys to Port Angeles for the race were professional riders from Quebec, Vermont and Dublin, Ireland. Unfortunately, the Irish rider, Daniel Wolfe, crashed out.

There were a few crashes, which is to be expected in a dangerous downhill sport, and a broken leg was sustained by a rider on Saturday. Northern said Norpoint Medical was the on-site medical providers and did a great job treating riders.

“They absolutely went above and beyond the call of duty. We couldn’t be happier with them on board,” Northern said.

The NW Cup returns to Port Angeles and Dry Hill on May 3-5 for the second race of the Pacific Northwest series.

2019 NW Cup, No. 1 Gravity Racing Tour

Dry Hill, Port Angeles, April 5- 7, 2019

Top 3 riders and local riders:

Cat 3 Girls 0-10 — Nory Klein, Redmond, first, 4:24.47.
Cat 3 Girls 11-18 — Gracey Hemstreet, Sechelt, B.C., first, 3:21.09; Emma Artz, Kirkland, second, 3:58.35; Mica Erickson, Hayden, Idaho, third, 4:03.88; Natalie Brigandi, PA, 11th, 10:49.73.
Cat 3 Women 19-39 — Raelynn Darsow, Columbia Falls, Mont., first, 4:32.07; Chelsea Heniges, Seattle, second, 4:38.06; Julianne Mattecheck, Arlington, third, 4:45.17.
Cat 3 Women 40+ — Shannon Lell, Bellevue, first, 4:17.67; Shannon Sutherland, Auburn, second, 4:35.71.
Cat 3 Boys 0-10 — Travis Maliska, Tehachapi, Calif., first, 3:36.94; Cole Gurney, Vancouver, second, 3:49.37; Elliott Klein, Redmond, third, 4:04.24.
Cat 3 Boys 11-14 — Joseph Clemens, PA, first, 3:31.98; Max Gosciniak, University Place, second, 3:35.88; Seth Fuller, Bonners Ferry, Idah0, third, 3:37.72; Tanner Jacobson, PA, fifth, 3:39.82; Cash Coleman, PA, sixth, 3:40.95; Finn Thompson, PA, eighth, 3:45.35; Joseph Ritchie, PA, ninth, 3:47.10; Lincoln Bear, Sequim, 10th, 3:57.81; Anthony Brigandi, PA, 16th, 4:27.18.
Cat 3 Men 19-39 — Justin Ash, Portland, Ore., first, 3:23.47; Ethan Miller, Everett, second, 3:24.02; Philip Gilles, Port Angeles, third, 3:29.79; Nathan Denton, PA, fifth, 3:42.52.
Cat 3 Men 15-18 — Jobe Androckitis, Port Orchard, first, 3:18.43; Sean Rankin, PA, second, 3:23.53; Troy Spurlock, Newcastle, third, 3:30.39; Will Roening, PA, fourth, 3:47.29.
Cat 3 Men 40-59 — Joshua Montroy, Bellingham, first, 3:35.43; Jared Scott, PA, second, 3:36.74; Travis Bear, Sequim, third, 3:37.12; Todd Rankin, PA, fourth, 4:04.31.
Cat 3 Men 60+ — Rick Gale, ZigZag, Ore., first, 4:00.89; Curtis Shepherd, Kent, second, 4:10.06.
Cat 2 Girls 0-18 — Julia Lofqvist Traum, Issaquah, first, 3:36.82; Jessi Anderson, North Bend, second, 3:43.75; Aletha Ostgaard, Selah, third, 3:45.11.
Cat 2 Women 19-39 — Anna Suroweicki, Woodinville, first, 3:25.74; Kristen Faris, Pasco, second, 3:44.30; Alison Angione, Sammamish, third, 3:47.93.
Cat 2 Women 40+ — Erika Scholz, Silverton, Ore., first, 3:50.25; Dana Wolf, Seattle, second, 3:52.65; Susan Walsh, Tacoma, third, 3:57.11.
Cat 2 Boys 0-14 — Jon Mozell, North Vancouver, B.C., first, 2:59.86; Etan Bravard, Bend, Ore., second, 3:05.07; Denton Johnson, Snohomish, third, 3:12.77.
Cat 2 Men 15-18 — Talon Northern, PA, first, 2:55.28; Henri Vergara-Grindell, Hillsboro, Ore., 2:56.51; Brendan Leon, Eastvale, Calif., third, 2:57.75; Harley Dachs, PA, 20th, 3:12.18; Colby Groves, PA, 31st, 3:24.10; Henry Manza, PT, 34th, 3:26.45
Cat 2 Men 19-29 — Carter Krasny, first, Whistler, B.C., 2:48.84; Jacob Carbajel, Columbia Falls, Mont., second, 3:02.03; Kyle Plante, Sea-Tac, third, 3:02.54; Joe Skerdeck, PA, fourth, 3:03.19; Hudson Soelter, PA, eighth, 3:08.18; Zach Fraser, PA, 10th, 3:08.88; Dillon Smith, Port Townsend, 12th, 3:12.44; Josh McElrath, PT, 25th, 3:32.13.
Cat 2 Men 30-39 — Josh Carruthers, Seattle, first, 2:54.80; Daniel Phipps, Whistler, B.C., second, 2:58.80; Wallace Barr, Whistler, B.C., third, 3:02.08; James Kauffman, PA, ninth, 3:10.66; Bryan Campbell, PA, 16th, 3:21.76; Nate Walker, PT, 22nd, 3:28.05; Dalton Webb, Port Ludlow, 28th, 3:33.74; Leland Gibson, PT, 29th, 3:35.98; Pete Sexton, PT, 31st, 3:43.69.
Cat 2 Men 40-49 — Shawn Anderson, Seattle, first, 3:04.58; Clint Tosoff, Chilliwack, B.C., second, 3:07.46; Graham Beatty, North Vancouver, B.C., third, 3:13.25; Ron Riggs, PA, 10th, 3:21.26.
Cat 2 Men 50+ — Tim Robbins, Welches, Ore., first, 3:11.60; Kirk Linder, Bend, Ore., second, 3:20.39; David Overman, Vancouver, third, 3:20.50; Will Stevenson, PA, third, 3:23.16.
Cat 1 Girls 0-18 — Bailey Goldstone, Squamish, B.C., first, 3:11.38; Dixie Owens, Yucaipa, Calif., second, 3:12.18; Ella Erickson, Hayden, Idaho, third, 3:21.17.
Cat 1 Women 19+ — Connor Shae James, Bellingham, first, 3:46.50; Meghan Dahl, Bellingham, second, 3:48.83; Annie Craig, Orting, third, 4:01.71.
Cat 1 Boys 0-18 — Lucas Cruz, Pemberton, B.C., first, 2:32.18; Matthew Sterling, San Jose, Calif., second, 2:34.54; Austin Dooley, Yucaipa, Calif., third, 2:36.83; Mathew Mangano, PA, 14th, 2:43.57.
Cat 1 Men 19-29 — Jackson Zechnich, Bellingham, first, 2:54.30; Jack Hill, Eugene, Ore., second, 2:54.72; Miles Lind, Bend, Ore., third, 2:56.08; Steven Lauderback, PA, seventh, 3:01.36.
Cat 1 Men 30-39 — Don Brockett, North Bend, first, 2:47.26; Spencer Baldwin, Bellingham, second, 2:50.64; Rye Livingston, Portland, Ore., third, 2:51.28; James Gardner, PA, 17th, 3:14.29.
Cat 1 Men 40+ — Chris Canfield, Layton, Utah, first, 2:48.73; Scott Kemp, Shoreline, second, 2:53.08; Andy Crocker, Gresham, Ore., third, 3:05.87.
Pro Women — Kialani Hines, Auburn, first, 2:55.71; Claire Buchar, Whistler, B.C., second, 2:56.75; Caroline Washam, Mooresville, N.C., third, 3:04.66.
Pro Men — Charlie Harrison, Trabuco Canyon, Calif., first, 2:28.40; Kirk McDowall, Anmore B.C., second, 2:29.63; Remi Gauvin, Squamish, B.C., third, 2:30.01.

Jackson Zechnich of Bellingham races at the Northwest Cup in Port Angeles on Sunday. Zechnich won the men’s 19-29 Cat 1 race. (Jesse Major/Peninsula Daily News)