Southland will field a strong team when the BikeNZ elite and under-19 track championships get under way in Cambridge today.
The Southland team includes world team sprint champion Eddie Dawkins and world championship team pursuit bronze medallist Pieter Bulling, along with 2012 Olympian Natasha Hansen, who makes her first appearance at a major meeting since competing in London.
Sophie Williamson will be trying to impress the national selectors and win a place in the New Zealand team for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Nick Kergozou heads a strong list of under-19 riders, coming off the back of winning a thrilling under-19 omnium at the national age group championships in Invercargill last week.
Elite women
Sprint: Stephanie McKenzie, Natasha Hansen.
Endurance: Sophie Williamson, Kirstie James, Sequoia Cooper, Cathy Jordan.
Elite men
Sprint: Eddie Dawkins, Matt Archibald, Tom Beadle, Jeremy Presbury, Karl Watson, Ben Stewart, Fabian Wybrow.
Endurance: Pieter Bulling, Cameron Karwowski, Josh Haggerty, Liam Aitcheson.
U19 girls: Makayla Smith, Laura Heywood, Bronwyn Graham.
U19 boys: Nick Kergozou, Mike Culling, Josh van den Arend, Anton O’Connell, Jake Milligan.
© Article courtesy Nathan Burdon The Southland Times