27/03/2011 - Cycling Southland's Eddie Dawkins earned his second top six finish at the 2011 World Track Cycling Championships in Apledoorn, The Netherlands this morning in the Men's Keirin.
Dawkins drew a tough heat, alongside Great Britain's Sprint silver and bronze medal winning duo Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny but won his First Round Repechage and then took third in his second round race to qualify for the final.
Australia's Shane Perkins took out the gold medal from Hoy with local hero Teun Mulder grabbing bronze.
Simon van Velthooven tied for 13th, after dipping out with a second place finish in his repechage.
Elsewhere Shane Archbold claimed the silver medal behind Australia's Michael Freiberg in the Men's Omnium.
Starting the day in fourth spot, he leapt to the top of the standings after event four when he placed second in the Individual Pursuit. However he dropped back to fourth with a disappointing 11th in the Scratch Race. But he showed his class in the final event, the Kilo to register the fastest time of 1'03.879 to leapfrog into the silver medal position, just four points off gold.
Missed opportunities in the two mass start distance events (Points and Scratch) proved the difference between medal colours, but the man they call Novie showed he is a genuine contender for an Olympic medal next year.
Jo Kiesanowski sits in 7th place overall midway through the Women's Omnium, sitting on 28 points, 10 points outside a medal spot. She finished 9th in the Flying Lap, 17th in the Points Race and an impressive 2nd in the Elimination.
The final day of action tonight/tomorrow morning will feature both of Cycling Southland's stars. Eddie Dawkins will complete a full programme in the Men's Kilo alongside Simon van Velthooven while Tom Scully teams with Aaron Gate to ride the Madison.