Day three of Southland Track Champs provided a cocktail of sprint and endurance event, kicking off with a Standing Lap competition, followed by Individual Pursuit Qualifying and Keirins. The U13 riders also finally got their day of racing after watching the rest of the competition on the previous few days.
The U17 Girls Standing Lap competition was again taken out by Emma Cumming with a 22.104, with impressive Wanaka rocket Ellesse Andrews in 2nd blasting out a 22.791. Aly Doherty rounded out the medals with a 23.193. The U17 Boys standing lap was taken out by a speedy Brayden Stephens, with a 20.047, followed closely by Kain Bowles in 20.116 and Mitchell Morris with 20.211.
In the Masters Women’s grade, it was Erin Criglington at the fore again, with a 21.594, Cherie Champion in Silver Medal position with a 22.531, and Kylea Gough in bronze with 22.852. Masters Men legend Mike White took out the Men’s equivalent with a smoking 19.800, Brett Roulston in 2nd with 20.112, and Jon Andrews with the bronze in 20.606.
On to the Elite/U19 competition and it was Otago rider Katie Schofield who posted the fastest time with 19.599, just edging out Southland Rider Steph McKenzie with 19.653, with McKenzie taking the Southland title. Paige Paterson was 3rd in the competition with a 20.563, but it was Makayla Smith who took the Silver for Southland with Bronwyn Graham in 3rd. In the Men’s equivalent, Jeremy Presbury took the spoils with a 18.939, from Auckland’s Greg Potter in 19.071. However Southland’s Tom Beadle took the silver medal from a consistent Karl Watson.
In the meantime, the U13’s blasted out their Derby Final, Hunter Gough taking the Gold medal from Josh Miller, with visiting Christchurch rider Navarh Brotherstone in 3rd, and then a 250m Time Trial, again Hunter Gough taking the Gold with an impressive 23.799, with Brotherstone this time in 2nd, although the Silver Medal was won by Southland Rider Josh Miller.
After a full round of Pursuit Qualifying, Keirin and Derby Heats, it was time for the Finals and medal deciders.
Gold in the U17 Girls 2000m Individual Pursuit competition was awarded to Emma Cumming with an excellent 2.46.312, from rapid improver Ellesse Andrews, Kendall Kilpatrick taking the bronze from Sheree Horne. The U17 Boys 2000m Pursuit finals were a close competition, Tom Sexton edging out Brayden Stephens to take the gold with a 2.24.598, Hayden Strong winning the bronze from Jack Pedler.
In the Masters Competition, Sonya Barton won the Gold in Masters 2 Women division, from Marie Muhl and Christine Jones. In the Masters 1 Women’s division, World Masters Champion Erin Criglington stamped her dominance on the event, overtaking Kylea Gough in the final to win the gold medal, with Gough’s sister Nicola Stevens taking the bronze.
In the Masters Men 3 division, Neil Familton took out the Southland Title from Simon Lusk and Peter Grandiek, with a dominant Jerry Stock taking the Gold in the Masters 2 competition from Garry Smith, Mark Day with the Bronze Medal. In Master’s 1, Mike White won the Gold medal from Brendan Akeroyd, with Derek Tan taking the Bronze from Andrew Lienert.
In the U19 Division, it was Makayla Smith taking the Women’s win from Bronwyn Graham, with Nick Kergozou winning the Men’s competition from Josh van den Arend, Anton O’Connell with the bronze.
The Elite Women’s gold was won by a strong Laura Fairweather, from Kirstie James, injury meaning these two riders didn’t complete a final ride and results were taken from their qualifying ride. Gabby Vermunt took the silver medal from Sequoia Cooper.
In the Elite Men’s competition, the final was an intriguing race, with Mathew Zenovich unleashing a fast start and almost catching his opponent Josh Haggerty, before seemingly blowing, before finding a 2nd wind and coming back to almost even up the deficit. In the end, Haggerty took the Gold from Zenovich.
The final event for the U13’s was the 1000m Scratch Race, with Hunter Gough again claiming the Gold from Josh Miller, Navarh Brotherstone in 3rd spot.
For the U15’s it was Derby Final time, the first two spots in the U15 girls race going to out-of-towners Jessie Banks and Sammi Ogle, with the Southland title awarded to the first Southland rider home, which was Nicole Marshall, Emily Paterson in 2nd and Madeline Gough in 3rd.
The U15 Boys final was another nail biter, Corbin Strong holding off Hamish Keast to take the gold, with Taz O’Connell again in Bronze position.
The Keirin Finals finished off the day, the Masters Women Gold medal won by a consistent Erin Criglington, from Kylea Gough and Nicola Stevens. The Masters Men race was won by Mike White, with Garry Smith relegated to 3rd, leaving Gerald Paterson with the Silver Medal.
The Elite/U19 Women’s title was convincingly won by Steph McKenzie, with Schofield and Paterson again in 2nd and 3rd, it was Bronwyn Graham who won the silver medal with Kate Wilson in bronze position.
The final event of the day was the Elite/U19 Men’s Keirin. With a star studded field, it promised to be a fantastic race, and it kept the Commissaire’s talking for some time afterwards! The standings eventually stayed as they were, with Jeremy Presbury winning the Gold medal from Tom Beadle and Karl Watson.
And signalled the end of a very big weekend of fantastic racing!
A HUGE thank you to all those people who volunteered – your time and effort was much appreciated!!
Next up on the track is the New Year Carnival on January 17th/18th. See you then!