Turning in monster effort

Niles teen in top 40 nationwide for motocross

EDITOR'S NOTE: This is one of a series of Saturday profiles of area residents and their stories. To suggest a profile, contact features editor Burton Cole at bcole@tribtoday.com or metro editor Marly Reichert at mreichert@tribtoday.com.

NILES -- At 15, Gavin Putnam of Niles may not be able to legally get behind the wheel, but since he was 5, motocross has been a way of life.

"Going to the flat track and seeing everyone else having fun, I wanted to be a part of it," Gavin said. "Once that ended, we got bored and were looking for something else and ended up finding motocross. It was a lot more fun. Eventually I just switched to motocross and stuck with it."

Sticking with it has seemingly paid off. Last weekend, Putnam qualified for the Monster Energy AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn Ranch, which will take place Aug. 2-7 in Hurricane Mills, Tenn. Putnam is one of only 40 in his class to qualify for this event out of thousands of motocrossers.

To get to Loretta Lynn Ranch, he had to get through a gauntlet of events. Only a handful of regional competitions are held throughout the country and to get to the regional races, riders first need to claim area qualifiers. At the regional qualifying races, like the one last weekend, six get their tickets to the national championship.

Gavin has remained humble throughout the entire experience. Heading into the race, Gavin said he knows how difficult the championship will be.

"It's nervousness and excitement," Gavin said about how he feels. "I know there's going to be a lot of competition. Obviously you want to be No. 1, but you can't always expect that."

For the event, Putnam said he wants to place in the top 20.

"That would be amazing. Out of all the kids I've raced against, there's so many fast, amazing and talented people. It would be an honor to get in the top 20," Gavin said.

FOR LOVE OF THE SPORT

Gavin said entering his first race when he was 5 was what led him to pursue the sport.

"I think I got third and was just so happy and excited about it that I kept doing it," he said.

The sport has taken him to 11 states, ranging from Michigan and New York to Georgia and Alabama. He said the farthest he's gone is to Florida, where he raced on the Daytona Speedway.

"They made a track on the infield of the speedway, and I was able to race there," he said.

Much like any other sport, training is intense and takes up most of his week. He has both physical training and bike training every week. For the physical training, he goes to Joel Younkins Training in Mineral Ridge three days per week. Bike training takes place once a week with Driven MX on property owned by Woodford's Excavating, where there are three tracks.

"We do a lot of cornering, a lot of body positioning, bike stabilization -- we do a lot," Gavin said.

He said body positioning and bike control are two areas of motocross that are important.

"You have to have really good bike control," Gavin said. "If you don't have good body positioning, I've seen kids go flying off the bike because they don't have the proper positioning."

When it comes to riding in events, Gavin said mental health also is key. He credits his coaches for keeping him cool for races. Before the races themselves, however, Gavin said he typically gives himself a pep talk and tells himself, "I got this."

"For this sport, you have to have really good mental health or you're not going to ride right. The happier you are, the better you're going to ride," he said.

DANGER

With the sport, there is an element of danger. Things can go wrong quickly and reaction is basically instinct for Gavin. He said wrecks during the race can lead to a domino effect and in those moments the choices happen quickly.

"You have to scan and navigate to see every option there is," Gavin said.

In his 10 years of racing, Gavin said he's broken his wrist, been knocked unconscious and suffered concussions. The worst, according to his mother and father, Jennifer and Chris Putnam, was when he was 8 years old. Chris remembers when Gavin was just starting to jump with the bike.

"He launched the bike, came off of it and landed on the back of his head pretty hard. He hit the ground and knocked himself out," Chris said.

Jennifer said in those moments, the first instinct is to run on the track.

"You just pray and hope he gets up," Jennifer said. "I get a lot of parents who ask if I'm nervous or how I can watch it. It's nerve-wracking. Just because he's been doing it for 10 years doesn't change my emotions when he gets on the track."

Jennifer said during the races she is staring only at her phone as the times are tracked.

"I'm there, but it's so hard to look up and see if someone runs into him or if something happens," she said.

"You let the EMTs do their thing and when he gets to the ambulance, then you assess the situation. There's a lot of praying involved," Chris said.

Chris added that national competitions are even more nerve-wracking than the other races because the competitors are from all over the country.

"They're faster and we don't normally race them, so you don't know how they race," Chris said.

LEADING BY EXAMPLE

Gavin said his role models in the sport are Ryan Dungey and Ricky Carmichael.

"Ricky is a legend. He's the G.O.A.T. (greatest of all time) of riding," Gavin said. "For Ryan, I've always looked up to him since I started racing."

Chris said Carmichael is an ambassador for the sport. Through their examples, Gavin said he wants to help the younger generation.

"I've always wanted to be a pro racer," he said. "As long as I've got the requirements to keep going, I'll go as long as I can until my body gives out. I want to be able to help the beginners. I want to help people when they first start out."

Gavin added that it's rewarding to see those younger than him get better with his help.

"It's a good feeling helping them out," he said.

Gavin has two younger brothers, Owen and Darrien. Owen has started training at Driven MX along with his older brother.

The road to get to the professional status is going to be a challenge, however. This year, Gavin is in what's called C-Class. Next year, he will get bumped to B-Class. Class shifting is all based on a point system. Points are earned by winning events like the regional qualifiers.

"Eventually, your points will move you up to a better class and hopefully you keep moving up until you become an A-Class rider and be in the pro class," Gavin said.

Gavin will be a sophomore at Niles McKinley High School in the fall.