VANTAGE WINDOWS & DOORS ELITE & U19 TRACK CYCLING NATIONALS – DAY 4
Excess baggage may start to become an issue for Waikato-Bay of Plenty rider Ally Wollaston as she continues her domination of the Vantage Windows and Doors Elite and Under 19 Track National Championships in Invercargill.
The first year Under-19 rider finished day four of racing at the SIT Velodrome by adding a silver in the team pursuit and gold in the scratch race to the national titles she had already won in the points race, omnium and individual pursuit.
Wollaston still has the team sprint and madison to go on Sunday’s final day of racing.
“It’s been a good week, I’m very, very pleased. I came into it with pretty high expectations, so happy to come out of it achieving them,” Wollaston said.
“I was hoping for a couple of medals. Before I came in I had my mind set on the IP and that turned out pretty well. I set a new PB in the qualifying time, but I was hoping for a faster time - still more time to get that.”
Wollaston’s major focus this year is selection in the New Zealand team for the junior world track championships in Switzerland.
Ally hasn’t had a mortgage on medals by the Wollaston family this week either, with older sister Nina picking up two silver medals as the pilot rider for blind Southland athlete Hannah Pascoe on the tandem.
“It was our first nationals together because we’ve always had separate nationals with me being younger,” she said.
“It was really cool to see her out on the tandem - the Para-cycling is a cool thing for her to be part of and it’s pretty cool watching her do that.”
Canterbury dominated the team pursuit finals, claiming both the men’s and women’s titles with dominant rides in their respective finals.
Southland’s Nicole Marshall came from the back of the pack with a lap to go to win the under 19 women’s keirin, the gold medal completing the set after bronze in the 500m time trial and silver in the sprint.
Thomas Garbett (West Coast North Island) continued to make the under 19 sprint competition his own, adding the keirin title to the sprint and kilo gold medals he won earlier in the week.
Former New Zealand head track coach Dayle Cheatley turned back the clock with a cameo appearance in the elite men’s scratch race.
The race featured a longe-range breakaway by former Tour of Southland winner Brad Evans and Aucklander Aaron Wyllie, with Evans winning the sprint between the pair for gold and Harry Waine (Auckland) coming through with the chasing pack for bronze.
Results, Vantage Windows and Doors 2018 Elite and Under 19 Track National Championships, Day four:
Elite
Women 4000m Team Pursuit final: Canterbury (Elyse Fraser, Sami Donnelly, Annamarie Lipp, Kate Smith) 1; Waikato Black (Mckenzie Milne, Samantha Ogle, Eva Parkinston, Ally Wollaston) overtaken 2; Composite 2 (Helena Rikiti, Emily Shearman, Grace Saywell, Dayna Haythorne) 4:47.0923, 3.
Men 4000m Team Pursuit final: Canterbury (Hugo Jones, Max Jones, Josh Scott, Bailey O’Donnell) 1; Auckland (Sam Dakin, Harry Waine, Aaron Wyllie, Lachlan Dickson) overtaken 2; Waikato Black (George Jackson, Kiaan Watts, Archie Martin, Jarred Treymane) 4:19.090, 3.
Men Scratch race final (15km): Brad Evans (Otago) 1; Aaron Wyllie (Auckland) 2; Harry Waine (Auckland) 3.
Under-19:
Women Keirin final: Nicole Marshall (Southland) 1; Britney Greene (Canterbury) 2; Shaane Fulton (Tasman) 3.
Men Keirin final: Thomas Garbett (WCNI) 1; Angus Claasen (WCNI) 2; Samuel Upton (Auckland) 3.
Women Scratch race final (7.5km): Ally Wollaston (Wai-BOP) 1; Jenna Merrick (Auckland) 2; McKenzie Milne (Wai-BOP) 3.
Caption: Waikato-Bay of Plenty rider Ally Wollaston clears out from the field during the Under 19 women’s scratch race at the Vantage Windows and Doors Elite Track National Championships.
Photo courtesy Eugene Bonthuys