A few months ago, Ian McCue was just hoping to keep up with the competition.

The competition is now doing the chasing.

McCue competed in the American Motocross Association's District 5 Class C Championship Series, which recently concluded with a race in Tionesta.

The win gives the Renfrew resident the Pennsylvania state title for 2005.

The Series consists of eight races. McCue had tallied enough points in the first seven competitions to give himself a three-point lead entering the final race in Forest County, at which he placed

first, securing

the points title.

McCue's goal before the season began was a lofty one.

"I said before the first race that I wanted to finish in the top three in the points standings," he said.

The AMA consists of four classes, and Class C is the third ranked of those.

The eight races, which were spread throughout Pennsylvania, saw a wide range in the number of entrants.

"At one race, there were about 80 competitors in my class," McCue said. "And then there was one where just 22 showed up.

"I came into (the series) thinking the other riders would be pretty fast," the Butler High School junior added. "I practiced between the races to keep up with them."

The practice paid off, as McCue tallied six first-place finishes in the eight races.

McCue has come a long way since his dad, Scott, first introduced him to the sport six years ago.

"At the beginning, my dad would set up some jumps for me," McCue said. "I worked on some basic jumps and how to take corners, things like that."

Within a year of learning the fundamentals, McCue found himself competing at Switchback Raceway, a motocross course on Route 8 north of Butler.

"That first race, I was nervous and didn't really know what to expect. But I finished second," he said.

McCue wound up competing at a few AMA tracks over the last few years, but an injury forced him off his bike in 2004.

"I was practicing at Switchback's and came up short on a jump," he said. "I dislocated my hip and jammed it into my vertebrae. It kept popping out on me after that and I had to go to the chiropractor. I wasn't able to ride for a month and couldn't wait to get back on the bike after that."

With winter approaching, McCue is looking to move to an indoor track.

"I plan on going to Akron," he said. "There's an indoor track there and that's where I'll practice until next spring."

With a state championship under his belt, McCue has his sights set on moving up a class in 2006.

"I'm making the move to Class B," he said. "There's a lot more competition there and hopefully it will help me progress as a rider."