LOWER LAKE — Cat Barriga, a freshman at Middletown High School, reached the medal podium Sunday a NorCal High School Cycling League mountain bike race hosted by Six Sigma Ranch and Winery near Lower Lake.
The top five finishers in each division are honored on the podium at NorCal Cycling League races, of which the Six Sigma event was the second of the 2022 season. Next up is a race April 2-3 at the Swasey Recreation Area in Redding. All Lake County riders compete in the Redwood Region.
Barriga was the highest-placing member of Middletown’s racing contingent, which is divided between riders from Middletown High School and Middletown Composite (home-schooled Middletown riders as well as riders from other parts of Lake County). Barriga placed fifth out of 26 riders in the freshman girls division, completing two laps on the 6.56-mile Six Sigma course, which includes a 750-foot rise in elevation, in 1 hour, 22 minutes, 32.40 seconds.
Competing along with Barriga in the freshman girls division were Middletown Composite riders Lilly Wood, who placed 13th in 1:26:20.46, and Alee Beckstead, who was 21st in 1:34:03.65. Charlotte Philkill of Redwood High School topped the fild in 1:14:08.87.
Varsity boys
Steven Beckstead of Middletown Composite finished 12th out of 28 riders in the varsity boys division. Varsity boys riders complete four laps, the most of any division. Beckstead’s time was 1:56:09.11. Race winner Ian Lopez De San Ramon of West County Composite won in 1:47:08.42.
JV girls
Another 12th-place finisher was Middletown High School’s Camille Schaffer in the JV girls race, which consists of two laps. Schaffer crossed the finish line in 1:14:34.76. Izzy Landry of Marin Catholic High School won in 1:08:01.32.
Sophomore boys
Dean McComas of Middletown High School placed 28th out of 59 riders in the two-lap sophomore boys Division 2 race, finishing in 1:11:46.11. Two other Middletown High riders, Jacob Brown (1:22:22.39) and Anthony Sutie-Thomson (1:55:47.90), placed 45th and 57th, respectively. For Middletown Composite, Gavin Dubois placed 43rd in 1:21:23.62.
Sean D’Arcy of Del Oro High School came in first in 1:01:19.63.
JV boys
Kelseyville’s Tristen Sandhoff, racing for Independent Riders NorCal-Redwood, placed 46th out of 74 riders in the JV boys Division 2 race, which is three laps long. Sandhoff finished in 1:51:03.26. For Middletown High School, Logan Wood was 57th in 1:56:12.17.
Miles Talbert of Spartans High School Mountain Bike Composite won in 1:25:53.23.
Freshman boys
Quinn Murray of Middletown Composite was 31st out of 63 riders in the freshman boys Division 2 race, which covers two laps. He finished in 1:15:56.23. The race winner was James Rowland of Vacaville High School in 1:03:16.99.
Middle school
Seventh-grade and eighth-grade boys and girls from Middletown Composite raced Saturday at Six Sigma, all riders completing one lap.
Camille Pyska placed eighth in the seventh-grade girls race in 49:13.71 while Holly McComas finished eighth in the eighth-grade girls race in 51:20.28.
In the seventh-grade boys race, Wyatt Davis was 37th in 43:04.83 while Duncan McPherson was 45th in 48:19.21.
In the eighth-grade boys race, which featured 72 riders, Jaden Nunez came in 48th in 39:05.09 while Bradley Hansen was 62nd in 44:43.56.
