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Silverthorne teen wins amateur motocross national championship

Antonio Olivero / Summit Daily News
Silverthorne youth motocross rider and Summit High sophomore-to-be Jagger Koch, 14, celebrates with the championship trophy after riding to first-place overall for the 125-cubic centimeter "C" class riding division at Friday's Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn's Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.
Amber Flenniken / Special to The Daily

That cross-country trip was worth it for Jagger Koch.

On Friday, the 14-year-old motocross rider from Silverthorne won the 125-cubic centimeter “C” class at the Amateur National Motocross Championships at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee.

Competing against 41 other motocross racers from states as varying as California, New Jersey and Alaska, Koch secured the amateur national championship in dramatic fashion, bouncing back from a seventh-place finish in his first race to take second in his second race and then first overall in his third race.



His combined showings across all three races bumped Koch up to first-place overall as of the final 125-cc C-class standings. He edged second-place rider Kyle Wise of Modesto, California, who finished in sixth, fourth and second places across the three 125-cc C-class races.

It was a an event where Koch showed constant improvement throughout. For each of the three races, Koch and the 41 other riders were required to compete seven laps on the course at the country singer’s ranch in Hurricane Mills. During the first race atop his 200-pound Yamaha YZ-125 motocross bike, the 5-foot-9, 130-pound Silverthorne teen finished the first lap in 17th position. He improved that mark to 12th position for the second lap and then seventh position for the third lap, a position he’d keep through the end of the race.



During the second of the three races, Koch, kept a second-place mark through all seven laps, putting himself in position to win overall entering the third and final race.

As for that last race, Koch was in third-place position after lap one and second-place positions for laps two and three before taking over first place on the fourth lap, a spot he’d keep through the end.

Koch also rode his 125-cc bike in the 250-cc C-class event this week. On the less powerful bike for that race division, Koch finished in 29th place of 42 riders, including a strong fifth-place showing during the second of the three 250-cc C-class races.


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