By Pierre LaBossiere
Peninsula Daily News
KELLOGG, Idaho — Steven Johnson of Port Angeles won his division at the sixth leg of the Northwest Cup downhill mountain bike races held at Silver Mountain, Idaho, this weekend.
Johnson won the Cat 3 men’s 60-plus division with a time of 2 minutes, 49.19 seconds at the races held outside of Kellogg, Idaho.
It was Johnson’s second straight win as he also took first place in his division at Stevens Pass on July 14.
There were a few other top finishes from North Olympic Peninsula riders, while a few riders have solid shots to win their divisions with two races remaining during the season.
Finishing third were Bryan Campbell of Port Angeles in the Cat 2 men’s 30-39 division with a time of 2:53.06; Ron Riggs of Port Angeles in the Cat 2 men’s 40-49 division with a time of 2:53.72 and Matt Mangano of Port Angeles in the Cat 1 (expert) men’s 0-18 division with a time of 2:35.03. That is Mangano’s highest finish since moving up this year to the expert division and it was Riggs’ highest finish of the year.
Mangano with a third-place, a fourth-place and two sixth-place finishes this season is third overall in points in the NW Cup Cat 1 0-18 division with 311 points.
Travis Bear of Sequim also finished third in the Cat 3 men’s 40-59 division with a time of 2:49.23. Bear, who has finished either first, second or third in every NW Cup race he’s run in this season, is leading the overall points of his division with 470 points, nearly 200 points more than second place.
Finishing fourth this weekend was Saul Carter of Chimacum in the Cat 3 boy’s 11-14 division with a time of 2:45.79. Finishing fifth was James Gardner of Port Angeles in the Cat 1 (expert) men’s 30-39 division with a time of 2:54.86. Gardner is fourth overall in the Cat 1 men’s 30-39 division NW Cup standings.
Talon Northern of Port Angeles finished seventh in the Cat 2 men’s 15-18 division with a time of 2:33.96. That finish was good enough to keep Northern in second place in the Cat 2 men’s 15-18 division NW Cup overall standings. Northern has a first-place, a second-place and two third-place finishes so far this season. At 364 points, he is 90 points behind first place.
Campbell is second overall in the Cat 2 men’s 30-39 division in overall points with a first-place, two third-place and a fourth-place finish this season. With 265 points, he is 159 points behind the leader in his division.
The seventh leg of the NW Cup is Aug. 23-25 at Whitefish, Mont. The NW Cup concludes Sept. 6-8 at Stevens Pass.
All local finishes include:
NW Cup, Leg 6
Silver Mountain, Idaho
Cat 3 Boys’ 11-14 — Saul Carter, Chimacum, fourth, 2:45.79; Joseph Ritchie, PA, sixth, 2:50.92; Cash Coleman, PA, eighth, 2:54.70; Anthony Jones, PA, 11th, 2:59.09; Lincoln Bear, Sequim, 16th, 3:06.58.
Cat 3 Men’s 15-18 — Connor Bear, Sequim, ninth, 2:48.43.
Cat 3 Men’s 40-59 — Travis Bear, Sequim, third, 2:49.23; Shannon Mangano, PA, eighth, 3:04.73.
Cat 3 Men’s 60-plus — Steven Johnson, PA, first, 2:49.19.
Cat 2 Men’s 15-18 — Talon Northern, PA, seventh, 2:33.96.
Cat 2 Men’s 30-39 — Bryan Campbell, PA, third, 2:53.06.
Cat 2 Men’s 40-49 — Ron Riggs, PA, third, 2:53.72; Brian Still, (Olympic Dirt Society), seventh, 3:09.34.
Cat 1 Men’s 0-18 — Mathew Mangano, PA, third, 2:35.03;
Cat 1 Men’s 30-39 — James Gardner, PA, fifth, 2:54.86.
