Day 5 in Adelaide and it’s fair to say no one was leaping out of bed in the morning after so many days in the intense heat. But after a good storm last night to clear the air, it dawned little cooler (well, mid 20’s!) and we enjoyed a small window of ‘refreshment’ before the humidity set in again. The Air-Con has become a very welcome perk to our accommodation!
Anyway, after a quick supermarket run, off to the track we went. Ground hog day! First up were the sprint qualifiers. Karl and Lee were pumped and ready to go, and both produced personal bests in 11.021 and 11.034 respectively. Still improving and keen to learn. Nationals should be good for these boys! Big thank you to Doddzy for helping out – it was unanimously decided that the big guy would be the preferred option for pushing the sprint boys out on the track for the start of their 200m qualifying!
Other Southlander’s in action in the NZ team included Jeremy Presbury, who produced an outstanding 10.883 in the U19 Sprint Qualifying, sitting 4th going into the ¼ finals, but was unfortunately defeated in this round, eventually coming in 6th overall.
In the Elite Men Sprints, Matt Archibald and Eddie Dawkins qualified 4th (10.241) and 7th (10.278) respectively, but were both defeated in the quarter finals, eventually finishing 5th & 6th in the competition.
Next up were the Omnium Flying Laps – Riding for NZ, Laura Heywood rode a 15.609 to sit 7th in the U19 Competition, but unfortunately crashed then punctured in the Points Race (round 2 of the Omnium), but was ok to continue in the competition. In the Elite Women, Sequoia Cooper (also for NZ) rode a 15.631 for 4th in the Elite Women, and Brad, in his first hit out of the Champs, pumped out a 14.487 to sit in 13th in the strong Elite Men’s Field.
Nick lined up next in his Scratch Race heats, slotting into the top 10 easily to head through to the Final. After a quick bar swap and wheel change, he was warming up with the NZ No. 2 U19 Team Pursuit, which he was called into at the previous night’s racing. So up he went, without a single lap of practice with the boys he was riding with, slotting in like he’d always ridden with them, in his first ever competition Team Pursuit, helping them to record a 4.28.8. We were full of pride!
A quick break between sessions (this time I stayed for a sauna in the Superdrome – was interesting yarning to the other gear guardians), and in the blink of an eye, it was time for the evening session.
First up for us, was Brad in his Omnium Points race. He put in a solid ride to pick up a couple of 4th’s and a 2nd to finish on 5 points, placing him 11th in the Omnium Competition. Piet Bulling had a blinder to lap the field twice, and was looking very sharp, eventually finishing 3rd overall. We had a moment of excitement when Brad punctured with 8 Laps to go, and we had to do the wheel change and get him back in the race before 5 laps to go. All we can say is THANK GOODNESS FOR ROSS MACHJEFSKI! Thanks for saving the day Rosco!
Later in the night the Omnium boys had their Elimination, with Brad finishing a consistent 11th and Piet finishing 2nd, which puts him in 2nd place in the Omnium standings. Big day for the boys tomorrow with the Individual Pursuit, Scratch Race and Kilo.
Mike Culling and Josh Haggerty meanwhile had the U19 Team Pursuit Final, but were up against a very classy Australian Junior team, and had to settle for the silver.
The U19 boys had their Scratch Race final next (not much rest for the Team Pursuiters!), and with a representative from each team in the early break, there was no chase and they had soon lapped the field. Josh Haggerty really shone in the lead out to deliver Regan Gough to the line for the win, and Nick finished safely in the bunch after a massive few days of racing.
Sequoia rode strongly in the Points and Elimination round of the Omnium, and is sitting well up in the overall standings going into the second day and looking strong against some classy Australian riders.
After all the sprint rounds, the final race of the night was the Elite Men’s Points race which was turned out to be quite a dramatic finale to the night, with Hayden McCormick smashing the field to lead by a massive margin, only to crash in the final corner of the final lap and break his collar bone! He got back on his bike and was pushed across the line to finish and take the win before heading off to Hospital. A sad end to a really phenomenal ride.
And now it is 12.30am and it is time for bed! It’s been a very long, but very fun day and Cathy and I have had lots of laughs with a great crew. Let’s do it all again tomorrow!
DT
Image: Thanks to the Potter family for the shot of Sequoia Cooper of Annette Edmondson's wheel in the Women's Omnium Points Race.