Ollie Thibault of Shawnigan Lake, B.C., competes in the NW Cup mountain biking downhill race at Dry Hill on Sunday. More than 500 racers took up the challenge on the Dry Hill courses this weekend. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)

Ollie Thibault of Shawnigan Lake, B.C., competes in the NW Cup mountain biking downhill race at Dry Hill on Sunday. More than 500 racers took up the challenge on the Dry Hill courses this weekend. (Dave Logan/for Peninsula Daily News)

MOUNTAIN BIKING: NW Cup brings huge crowds to Olympic Peninsula

DRY HILL — More than 500 mountain bike daredevils from all over the U.S. and Canadian Pacific Northwest descended, literally, upon Port Angeles this weekend for the second running of this season’s Northwest Cup.

The NW Cup is a downhill mountain biking series of races. Events later this summer will take place in Idaho and Montana.

Competitors raced in Cat 3 (novice), Cat 2 (intermediate), Cat 1 (expert) and professional divisions. Riders came from as far away as Bozeman, Mont., Utah, Arizona, Southern California and even Texas.

Steve Johnson of Port Angeles was a local winner, in the men’s 60-plus Cat 3 division. He won his race in a time of 3 minutes, 46.73 seconds, beating another Port Angeles rider, Will Stevenson, who came in second at 4:01.32.

The professional men’s winner was Coen Skrypnek of Squamish, B.C., who narrowly won by 0.63 of a second. In fact, British Columbia riders dominated the pro men’s ranks, taking the top three spots and seven of the top nine.

The professional women’s winner was Taylor Ostgaard of Selah, who won in a time of 2:29.12.

A total of 484 riders finished runs Sunday (with a few dozen that crashed and didn’t finish). A total of 11 professional women and 42 pro men completed runs.

The next race in the NW Cup series is at Tamarack Bike Park in Tamarack, Idaho, on June 23-25.

NW Cup winners

Dry Creek, May 14

(With times and sponsors)

Cat 3

Boys 7-under — Ryder Goodson, Hood River, Ore., School of Send Junior Team, 4:52.02.

Boys 8-10 — Brody Leon, Eastvale, Calif., SEVEN/ODI/TRP, 3:41.87.

Boys 11-14 — Wyatt Whiton, Clyde Hill, Mount Si MTB, 3:31.41.

Boys 15-18 — Soren O’Neil, Poulsbo, North Kitsap Mountain Vikes, 3:28.00.

Men 19-39 — Loren McWilliams, Lenny’s Bike Shop/DK Diesel, Custer, 3:29.66.

Men 40-59 — Dustin Rehagen, Sedro-Woolley, Lenny’s Bike Shop, 3:30.49.

Men 60-plus — Steve Johnson, Port Angeles, Olympic Dirt Society, 3:46.73.

Girls 10-under — Emilie Simeur, Bellingham, Galbraith Gravity Racing, 3:56.24.

Girls 11-14 — Deborah Gallanar, Preston, Sweetlines Junior Racing, 3:57.06.

Women 19-39 — Cecilia Stevenson, Dallas, Team Stevenson, 4:28.63.

Women 40-plus — Judy Klein, Redmond, Steetlines BKR, 4:07.01.

Cat 2

Boys 12-under — Mack Manietta, Whistler, BC, ILABB/Evolution, 2:55.54.

Boys 13-14 — Chase Riggs, Bend, Ore., 3:03.10.

Boys 15-16 — Reid Farmer, Bend, Ore., 2:58.99.

Men 17-18 — Gavin Lee, Kent, Tahoma Mountain Biking Team, 2:55.03.

Men 19-29 — Dylan Schwenk, Anacortes, 3:02.27.

Men 30-39 — Ian Wingert, Underwood, Bear Grass Racing, 3:04.51.

Men 40-49 — Brian Doner, Shoreline, Send it Society/Loam Lander, 3:10.07.

Men 50-plus — Brent Buckenberger, Fresno, Calif., LMB Race Team, 3:59.88.

Women 18-under — Nory Klein, Redmond, Sweetlines Jr. Racing, 3:17.30.

Women 40-plus — Courtney Nash, Bellingham, Galbraith Gravity Racing, 3:54.33.

Cat 1

Girls 16-under — Cash Shaleen, Acton, Calif., DVO Suspension/Fasthouse Bike, 2:10.25.

Men 17-18 — Drake Parker, Sandy, Utah, Outlaw Tribe, 2:08.67.

Men 19-29 — Graham Benson, Seattle, Soulja Boy Factory Racings, 2:28.17.

Men 30-39 — Clark Nielsen, North Bend, Lifestyle Built, 2:26.45.

Men 40-49 — Chris Kinerk, Olympia, Specialized/Loam Lander, 2:26.91.

Men 50-plus — Christiaan Bourdrez, North Bend, Ride Bicycles Bike Shop, 2:31.14.

Women 18-under — Aletha Ostgaard, Selah, Transition Factory Racing, 2:23.18.

Women 19-plus — Janina MacAurthur, Bellingham, Transition Bikes/Velocio, 2:52.38.

Professional

Men — Coen Skyrpnek, Squamish, B.C., RAAW/Chromag/Garage 31, 2:08.32.

Women — Taylor Ostgaard, Selah, Transition Factory Racing, 2:29.13.

Other local finishers

Cat 3 boys 11-14 — Isaac Anderson, PA, third, 3:36.38; Ethan Barbre, PA, fifth, 3:46.20; Isaiah Nevill, PA, 18th, 4:15.06; Ryan Halfacre, PA, 23rd, 4:52.79.

Cat 2 men 19-29 — Oscar Ruiz, PA, fourth, 3:05.16; Enrique Valenzuela, PA, 3:23.22.

Cat 3 women 40-plus — Laura Gould, Sequim, fifth, 4:36.80.

Cat 3 men 19-39 — Benjamin Rivera, PA, sixth, 3:51.65.

Cat 3 boys 8-10 — Miles Johnson, PA, seventh, 4:11.63; Evan Hernandez, PA, 11th, 4:17.96; Maverick Johnson, PA, 21st, 5:45.06.

Cat 3 girls 11-14 — Eleanor Jones, Sequim, eighth, 4:26.13.

Cat 2 men 40-49 — Powell Jones, Sequim, 10th, 3:17.28; Jared Scott, PA, 17th, 3:33.93.

Cat 2 men 17-18 — Win Jones, Sequim, 10th, 3:08.45; Peter Zelenka, PA, 16th, 3:15.95.

Cat 2 boys 15-16 — Finn Thompson, PA, 31st, 2:18.86; Henry Haxel, PA, 33rd, 3:19.25; Ronan McGuire, PA, 42nd, 3:34.94.

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