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Australian Junior Track Championships - NE
Adelaide, 13-16 April 2003
Day 1 - April 13: 500m Time Trial, Scratch Race
By Kathie Stove
Session 1: 500m Time Trial
The 500m time trial opening to the program, while seemingly low key for the small but enthusiastic crowd at the velodrome, is a nerve-wracking event for the competitors. They start off one by one in an order determined by results at recent State titles, from the slowest to the fastest. Results went more or less to script and the medallists all showed impressive pacing throughout the 2-lap event, generally driving all the way to the finish line.
The star of the morning's proceedings, Victorian Leigh Howard, established an Australian under 15 men's record of 36.65, smashing the 37.14 set by current Junior World 1000m Time Trial Champion Wade Cosgrove on the same track in March 1998.
Session 2: Scratch Race
A night of furious action in the scratch races of the Australian National Track Championships culminated in a relegation and a subsequent appeal in the final race of the night - the under 17 men's scratch race.
Victoria continued the form it displayed in the time trials earlier in the day with its riders crossing the line first in three of the four finals. It sits clear at the top of the medal table with 10 in total, including four gold (five if the appeal is successful), more than twice as many as its nearest rival, Western Australia which has four.
The NSW tactic of bringing in a team 'mascot' in the imposing shape of Sean Eadie to give general advice and moral support to the youngsters has yet to bear much fruit but Sean believes the time when he can really contribute will come on Tuesday in the sprints.
Sean, who under normal circumstances would be at the World Cup meet in South Africa, is more than happy to support his home team in this way. Apart from his natural good-natured inclination to help young riders when he can, it is helping to stop him from "going completely mad" as he endures an enforced rest with a knee injury he sustained in training. The medical profession is, apparently, subjecting him to every test known to man but the nature of the injury hasn't yet been determined. Sean is hopeful that the answer will come this week and he can then work on his recovery.
Safety issues dictate 12 as the maximum number of youth riders in the scratch races, which are the only events in the meet in which so many riders are on the track at the same time. Officials were expecting spills but there were only two falls during the night, both during the preliminary under 15 races. No-one was seriously hurt and the professional health carers brought in by the SA Cycling Federation gave each fallen rider a comprehensive and immediate check over to ensure there was no serious damage before they were patched up.
In the first final of the night the 5km under 15 women the Tasmanians had four contenders and played it cool, biding their time for much of the race until they turned on the power to take first (Carrie Price) and third (Samantha Hellyer) places, with time trial gold medallist Lisa Friend between them taking the silver.
The action began in the under 15 men's 5km race with six laps to go when Queenslander Joshua Edwards made a well-timed move, followed by Travis Meyer and Nicholas Spratt, to take a break on the bunch. The trio could not sustain the break and were brought in within a lap. That did shake the field up though and the pace was then on. Victorian Sean Burke was strong at the front for a couple of laps, nicely setting up team mate Luke Gooley for the win. Gooley easily ran over third place getter Clay Murfett with half a lap remaining and Meyer snatched second near the line.
The early stages of the under 17 women's 8km scratch race final were punctuated with unsupported and inevitably futile attempts by South Australian Bianca Rogers and NSW rider Naomi Adams to break clear of the field. A move by NSW with six laps to go was closely covered by Victoria and the field stayed together until the penultimate lap when Sky-Lee Armstrong from NSW made an ill-timed break that saw her relegated to fourth place when the three place-getters overtook her in the last half lap. Victorian Jessica Tanner used her strength to take out a relatively comfortable win with team-mate Tess Dowling second and Amanda Spratt from NSW in third.
For the first half of the under 17 men's 10km final the pace was high enough to keep the field strung out along the track. As the end of the race approached the pace slackened with riders busy watching each other and bunching up over the track. Tasmanian Will Robinson took what looked like the perfect opportunity coming down under the bunch and stealing a sizable break. NSW's Jackson-Leigh Rathbone grabbed his wheel but the pair did not have the endurance to maintain the break. Once the bunch gained a bit more order the pair was reeled in. With two laps to go the pace was well and truly on with Gerard Murphy, Shaun Morris, Tyler McLachlan and Mario Giramondo setting the pace at the front and stragglers falling off the back.
Giramondo and McLachlan were able to sustain the pace to the line with Alex Franzinelli third to cross. Giramondo was relegated to third for interference in the final bend but lodged a protest.
The entertaining evening provided the 200 spectators with plenty of exciting racing with the youngsters variously displaying aggression, wide levels of tactical nous and some examples of sustained strength.
The third and fourth sessions on 14 April comprise the individual pursuit in all four sections. Qualifying begins at 10am and the finals at 6.30pm.
Results
Session 1: 500m Time Trial
Under 15 women 1 Lisa Friend (Vic) 40.08 2 Georgina Freeland (Vic) 40.70 3 Emily Wood (WA) 40.83 4 Rebecca MacPherson (WA) 41.05 5 Samantha Hellyer (Tas) 41.70 6 Courtney Le Lay (Qld) 41.85 7 Silvia Potente (NSW) 42.51 7 Heidi Kirk (WA) 42.51 9 Jessica Ellis (ACT) 42.57 10 Netasha Pearse (NSW) 42.70 11 Deena-Maree Faulkner (NSW) 42.80 12 Meaghan Tanner (Vic) 43.06 13 Carrie Price (Tas) 43.31 14 Terese McAuliffe (Qld) 43.43 15 Kailee Goodwin (Tas) 43.50 16 Charlotte Hallam (Qld) 43.66 Under 15 men 1 Leigh Howard (Vic) 36.65* 2 Jack Rhodes (SA) 37.08 3 Nicholas Spratt (NSW) 37.18 4 Byron Davis (Qld) 37.33 5 Angus Morton (NSW) 38.01 6 Lachlan Plane (Qld) 38.04 7 Anthony Rix (Vic) 38.39 8 Matthew Wood (Vic) 38.89 9 Dale Scarfe (NSW) 39.00 10 Craig Seage (Qld) 39.06 11 Christos Winter (SA) 39.24 12 Travis Meyer (WA) 39.71 13 Nicholas Kaine (Tas) 39.79 14 Warren Kruger (SA) 40.29 15 Alex Holden (Tas) 40.36 16 Tom Robinson (Tas) 40.40 17 Daniel Herrick (NT) 40.67 18 Tod Francis (WA) 41.35 19 Joel Lewis (NT) 42.32 * New Australian Record - subject to ratification Under 17 women 1 Hayley Wright (Qld) 38.03 2 Sarah Humphreys (Vic) 38.49 3 Bianca Rogers (SA) 38.68 4 Tess Downing (Vic) 39.05 5 Jennifer Loutit (ACT) 39.56 6 Amanda Spratt (NSW) 39.65 7 Laura Battista (SA) 39.93 8 Jessica Tanner (Vic) 40.40 9 Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW) 40.66 10 Erin Peoples (Vic) 40.99 11 Natasha Mapley (Tas) 41.02 12 Katie Smith (Qld) 41.43 13 Naomi Adams (NSW) 41.51 14 Carolyn Cunningham (Tas) 42.03 15 Angela Jones (NSW) 42.09 16 Natalie MacFarlan (Sa) 42.10 17 Elicia Kelly (SA) 42.25 18 Kristen Gilbert (Qld) DNS Under 17 men 1 Scott Sunderland (WA) 35.11 2 Shaun Morris (Vic) 35.74 3 Joel Davis (Qld) 35.88 4 Russell Gill (SA) 35.94 5 Steven Phelan (ACT) 35.96 6 Nathan Moore (Qld) 36.09 7 Tyler McLachlan (NSW) 36.22 8 Jackson-Leigh Rathbone (NSW) 36.25 9 Gregory Beer (NSW) 36.27 10 Daniel Ellis (ACT) 36.28 11 Anthony Bennett (NSW) 36.35 11 Benjamin Simonelli (Qld) 36.35 13 Alex Franzinelli (WA) 36.39 14 Byron Page (WA) 36.57 15 Abe Hastwell (Vic) 36.68 16 Zak Dempster (Vic) 36.71 17 Jonathon Lewis (NZ) 36.76 18 Ben Heylen (SA) 37.05 19 Adam O'Connor (WA) 37.07 20 John Rayner (Tas) 37.23 21 Darren Shea (NZ) 37.38 22 Simon Barkla (Vic) 37.45 23 Gareth Coffee (SA) 37.47 24 Craig Mattingly (SA) 37.56 25 Matthew Stephens (NT) 37.59 26 Nicholas Ruscoe (NT) 37.62 27 Rowan Brown (NZ) 37.73 28 Will Robinson (Tas) 37.77 29 Matthew Bonham (Tas) 38.79 DNS Ryan Francis (WA)
Session 2: Scratch Race
JW15 5km Scratch Race
1 Carrie Price (Tas) 7:38.38
2 Lisa Friend (Vic)
3 Samantha Hellyer (Tas)
4 Sarah Eaves (Tas)
5 Netasha Pearse (NSW)
6 Courtney Lelay (Qld)
7 Rebecca MacPherson (WA)
8 Deena-Maree Faulkner (NSW)
9 Silvia Potente (NSW)
10 Georgina Freeland (Vic)
11 Kailee Goodwin (Tas)
12 Emily Wood (WA)
JM15 5km Scratch Race
1 Luke Gooley (Vic) 7:09.53
2 Travis Meyer (WA)
3 Clay Murfet (Tas)
4 Joel Lewis (NT)
5 Russell Taylor (Sa)
6 Nicholas Spratt (NSW)
7 Bryon Davis (Qld)
8 Thomas Palmer (NSW)
9 Angus Morton (NSW)
10 Benjamin Lavender (Qld)
11 Joshua Edwards (Qld)
12 Sean Bourke (Vic)
JW17 8km Scratch Race
1 Jessica Tanner (Vic) 11:52.98
2 Tess Downing (Vic)
3 Amanda Spratt (NSW)
4 Sky-Lee Armstrong (NSW)
5 Angela Jones (NSW)
6 Bianca Rogers (Sa)
7 Natalie MacFarlan (Sa)
8 Naomi Adams (NSW)
9 Elicia Kelly (Sa)
10 Haley Wright (Qld)
11 Sarah Humphries (Vic)
12 Natasha Mapley (Tas)
JM17 10km Scratch Race (unofficial)
1 Tyler Mclachlan (NSW) 14:01.02
2 Alex Franzinelli (WA)
3 Mario Giramondo* (Vic)
4 Scott Sunderland (WA)
5 Benjamin Simonelli (Qld)
6 Gregory Beer (NSW)
7 Jackson-Leigh Rathbone (NSW)
8 Cameron Meyer (WA)
9 Russell Gill (Sa)
10 Shaun Morris (Vic)
11 Gerard Murphy (Vic)
12 Will Robinson (Tas)
* Rider relegated to 3rd placing for interference in the final bend
Medal Tally
Gold Silver Bronze Total
Vic 4 5 1 10
WA 1 2 1 4
Tas 1 - 2 3
NSW 1 - 2 3
Qld 1 1 2
SA - 1 1 2
NT - - - -
NZ - - - -
