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2008 Australian Senior Track Championships - CN
Dunc Gray Velodrome, Sydney, February 4-10, 2008
Main Page Results Previous Day Next Day
Day 6 - February 9: Men keirin, Men U19 Omnium, Women scratch race, Women U19 keirin, AWD sprint tandem
Men's tandem sprint: Deremy/Hopkins finally
By Paul Verkuylen in Sydney
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The Gold medal ride off for the men's tandem sprint was a typical grudge match between rival states NSW and Qld. Benjamin Deremy and his partner Shaun Hopkins (NSW) are no strangers to track sprinting and used all of their experience to dominate their opponents, Samuel Harding and Jonathan Dunlop to take the national championships jersey in just two heats.
"Finally," Deremy's pilot, Hopkins exclaimed after the ride.
After finishing second in the event for the past two years the pair were ecstatic with the win. "We have been so close the last few years, so it is great to finally win it," Hopkins explained.
"We are ranked number two in the world and haven't been able to win our national title."
The pair will now knuckle down and work towards their ultimate goal of winning an Olympic gold, with their result tonight surely cementing their spot on the team for Beijing in September.
"We have no racing between now and then so we will just knuckle down and work towards that. We are in a good position [to make the team], so we will train as though we will be there," Hopkins concluded.
In the ride off for the bronze medal, Samuel Harding and Jonathan Dunlop, who are both still under 19, were beaten in the first round by the more experienced Benjamin Macfie and Gerard O'Connell. The pair was unwilling to give up however, and in the second round the pair set off from the start to out pursuit their rivals to make it a win a piece.
In the final heat, the pair once again got the crowd to their feet as they applied the same tactic to climb atop the podium to receive the bronze medal.
Men's Keirin
By Paul Verkuylen
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After Ryan Bayley's fall and subsequent public dispute two days ago with his soon to be brother in law, Shane Perkins, the two met for the first time since in the final of the men's Keirin final. The crowd was expecting fireworks as the two lined up and they weren't disappointed, but not for the wrong reasons.
Both riders showed their professionalism when it comes to racing, with the only action the crowd saw being the six way tussle for the win and the coveted Australian champion's jersey, as Mark French proved once again this week that he is the fastest sprinter in Australia at the moment. With Scott Sutherland, Shane Kelly, and Daniel Ellis also lining up for the final, it was looking to be one of the toughest races that each would face this year, including those at the World cups.
Perkins was the quickest off the mark, diving straight for the derny's wheel with Ellis on his wheel followed by Bayley who along with French had to take the long journey to the final via the repecharge.
Once the derny pulled off the track leaving the rider to complete the final three laps alone, Bayley was off the back of the field, looking like he was winding up his huge gear to attack, like he did in his repercharge heat.
But with a field this strong and moving as quickly as it was he would need all his strength just to come around the leaders.
As the bell rang for the final lap, the three Victorians, French, Perkins and Kelly looked to be the only three left in contention for the win. All three were dominating the track, leaving very little room for anyone to come around them. But as French made his final burst of speed to the line, Ellis dived in to take the final spot on the podium behind French and Kelly.
"It's been a big day and a big week. At the start of it I was wondering whether or not it was worth riding the keirin," a happy French said after receiving his third gold of the championships.
"I didn't feel too sharp, I didn't feel bad, but the warm up didn't really happen for me, as you saw in the first round I just wasn't switched on, so rather than waste energy I thought I'd just go through repecharge. I went through that and put the big gear on for the final," his tactic worked as he powered away from the others to win the title.
"When the time was right, I just put the gas down and I have a lot of it at the moment, so it was good," he concluded.
Junior women Keirin
By Paul Verkuylen in Sydney
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Annette Edmondson added a third gold medal to her collection when she took out the under 19 women's Keirin final from Melissa Hoskins and good friend off the track, rival on it, Stephanie Morton.
"It all went to plan really, I don't know what to say," Edmondson said shortly after the event, obviously taken aback by her success this week.
Edmondson started the event by getting herself into second position behind Morton, her South Australian team-mate. By the time the derny had brought the six ladies up to speed, the action was hotting up as Phillipa Hindmarsh made a move around the outside to put herself in striking distance of the win. But Morton and Edmondson had also already begun their sprints and once they hit full speed it was Hoskins who was able to infiltrate the pair and stop them from making it a one two of South Australia.
Men Under 19 Omnium
By Mal Sawford in Sydney
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Luke Davison (NSW) dominated the omnium, finally reaching the top step of the podium to cap off a successful championships after silver medals in the individual pursuit and points races, and bronze in both the team's pursuit and scratch races. Thomas Palmer (ACT), the early leader, finished the five race series in second place, ahead of Victorian rider Trevor Griffiths. Palmer was the only rider under the 11-second mark in the omnium's opening event, the flying 200 metre time trial to finish ahead of Griffiths and Luke Davison.
Davison took the win in the scratch race bunch sprint, after an attack by Sean Boyle (SA) at two to go saw the bunch surge past in the final bend. Second place to Palmer was enough for him to keep the lead, on three points ahead of Davison's four. Dennis, although well down the leader board, rebounded strongly in the 2000 metre pursuit, with his time that no one could match until the final heat, when Davison went a tenth of a second quicker. Palmer was a fraction slower than Dennis in third place, and surrendered the overall lead to Davison.
Davison dominated the 60 lap points race, winning three sprints to claim his third successive event. Trevor Griffiths (Victoria) rode aggressively throughout, and his pair of sprint wins helped him into second place, while Palmer had a disappointing race by comparison, and collected just three points to finish in seventh place, effectively ending his gold medal hopes.
Griffiths' excellent result saw him close in to within a point of Palmer's second place, but a win by Palmer in the final race, the kilo, meant Griffiths had to be satisfied with bronze. Davison capped off his gold medal winning night with a close second place to Palmer in the kilo, to finish with the impressively low total of eight points, well clear of Davison and Griffiths.
Davison's background is in sprinting, but he came into this year's championships with "a bit more endurance work behind me." He said he had gone into the opening flying 200 hoping for a top four finish to set himself up for a good overall result, and having done that "my team-mate Alex [Carver] helped me out so much in the scratch race. We made good position and I won. Then I went into the pursuit, did a good time and was very happy with that, and my confidence just built up from there."
Women's scratch race
By Mal Sawford in Sydney
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Tasmanian rider Laura McCaughey rode the race of her life to upstage her more fancied rivals, including team-mate Belinda Goss, to claim the scratch race title. "I can't wipe the smile off my face, it's starting to hurt but I'm so incredibly rapt. It just shows that believing in yourself and backing yourself really works," the elated winner said. "It's the first time I've really done it and thank god it paid off!" McCaughey and Toireasa Gallagher (NSW) slipped away from the field with 13 laps remaining, joined two laps later by Jessie MacLean (ACT) and Josephine Butler (WA).
The opening ten laps were run at a solid tempo, before the first two attacks came from Josie Tomic (WA). Goss lead a group of six soon after the half way mark, but was reeled in with fifteen minutes remaining, setting up McCaughey's counter attack. A fall involving one of the pre-race favourites, Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW) and Esther Pugh-Uren (Victoria) soon after the winning attack made little difference to the final result, with the combined efforts of Goss, Josie Tomic (WA), Kirsty Broun (Queensland) and Tess Downing (Victoria) not enough to close the half lap gap to the leaders.
McCaughey jumped away from her tiring companions, coming into the final lap and taking the win well clear, with MacLean holding on for the silver medal ahead of Gallagher. The 26 year-old winner is a former state level runner, who turned to cycling after a serious back injury. Coached by Jame Carney, the US track star who has been a regular visitor to the Tasmanian Christmas carnivals, McCaughey said she had gone into the race with "no tactics, just instinct. I wasn't marking anyone, because I know that with a scratch race if you race it ten times you'll get ten different winners."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by John Veage
- Thomas Palmer (ACT) wins the U19 sprint.
- The young riders carefully check each other out.
- There was fierce racing for the omnium title.
- Luke Davison (NSW) won the omnium with grit and determination.
- Davison in the time trial.
- Davison celebrating his national title.
- Hopkins and Denery (NSW) beat Lindores and George in the tandem event.
- Action-packed racing with dual power as the tandem event sees fierce battling.
- Spectacular view onto the Keirin event.
- The Keirin events have become one of the highlights of the track championships.
- Annette Edmondson (SA) wins the U19 Keirin event. Team-mate Stephanie Morton (gray helmet) is the first to congratulate. Morton got third.
- You get close to competitors in Keirin during and after the race.
- The podium of the U19 women's Keirin from left to right with Melissa Hoskins, Annette Edmondson and Stephanie Morton .
- The women's scratch race was hottely contested.
- Tasmanian Laura McCaughey won the event but not without a little pain showing on her face.
- McCaughey celebrates after her great performance.
- The podium from left to right with runner-up Jessie MacLean (ACT), winner Laura McCaughey and bronze medalist Toireasa Gallagher (NSW).
- The men's Keirin get underway. Better get out of their way here!
- Heading home to the finish in the men's Keirin event.
- A double victory for Victorians as Mark French takes the title.
- The podium from front to back with Shane Kelly, Mark French and Daniel Ellis.
- The U19 omium event included some time trialing
- The menU19 were going fast in order to have a shot at the omnium title
Results
M19 2000m Individual Pursuit Omnium Round 1 Luke Davison (NSW) 2.14.867 2 Rohan Dennis (SA) 2.14.965 3 Thomas Palmer (ACT) 2.15.031 4 Matthew Meisel-Dennis (ACT) 2.16.151 5 Michael Hepburn (QLD) 2.17.253 6 Trevor Griffiths (VIC) 2.18.170 7 Stephen Hall (WA) 2.19.280 8 Alex Carver (NSW) 2.19.352 9 Jamie Crass (VIC) 2.19.691 10 Sean Boyle (SA) 2.20.634 11 Ethan O'dell (QLD) 2.21.684 12 Jordan Van Der Togt (WA) 2.23.570 13 Andrew Dolan (TAS) 2.25.597 W19 Keirin Round 1 Heat 1 1 Annette Edmondson (SA) 12.15 2 Melissa Hoskins (WA) 3 Naomi Pinto (VIC) 4 Caitlin Todd (ACT) 5 Veronica Dudderidge (ACT) DSQ Sinead Cosgrove (NSW) DSQ Carly Mccoombe (VIC) Heat 2 1 Stephanie Morton (SA) 12.50 2 Philippa Hindmarsh (QLD) 3 Megan Dunn (NSW) 4 Chloe Hosking (ACT) 5 Laine Hammond (VIC) 6 Lauren Kitchen (NSW) 7 Teegan Morton (WA) Men Keirin Round 1 Heat 1 1 Shane Perkins (VIC) 10.738 2 Scott Sunderland (WA) 3 Mark French (VIC) 4 Joel Leonard (VIC) 5 Byron Davis (QLD) 6 Alex Bird (ACT) Heat 2 1 Shane Kelly (VIC) 10.796 2 Daniel Ellis (ACT) 3 Ryan Bayley (WA) 4 Andrew Taylor (NSW) 5 Jason Holloway (WA) 6 David Miller (SA) 7 Jason Niblett (VIC) M19 15km Points Race Omnium Round 1 Luke Davison (NSW) 19 pts 2 Trevor Griffiths (VIC) 14 3 Matthew Meisel-Dennis (ACT) 6 4 Jamie Crass (VIC) 5 5 Rohan Dennis (SA) 5 6 Alex Carver (NSW) 4 7 Thomas Palmer (ACT) 3 8 Sean Boyle (SA) 3 9 Michael Hepburn (QLD) 3 10 Ethan O'dell (QLD) 2 11 Stephen Hall (WA) 1 12 Jordan Van Der Togt (WA) 1 13 Andrew Dolan (TAS) W19 Keirin Round 1 Repechage Heat 1 Chloe Hosking (ACT) 12.977 Naomi Pinto (VIC) Lauren Kitchen (NSW) Veronica Dudderidge (ACT) Heat2 Laine Hammond (VIC) 12.978 Caitlin Todd (ACT) Teegan Morton (WA) Megan Dunn (NSW) Men Keirin Round 1 Repechage Heat 1 1 Mark French (VIC) 10.970 2 Alex Bird (ACT) 3 Jason Holloway (WA) 4 Andrew Taylor (NSW) Heat 2 1 Ryan Bayley (WA) 10.774 2 Jason Niblett (VIC) 3 Joel Leonard (VIC) 4 Byron Davis (QLD) 5 David Miller (SA) Women 10km scratch race final 1 Laura McCaughey (TAS) 2 Jessie Maclean (ACT) 3 Toireasa Gallagher (NSW) 4 Josephine Butler (WA) 5 Tess Downing (VIC) 6 Skye-Lee Armstrong (NSW) 7 Belinda Goss (TAS) 8 Aimee Alsbury (SA) 9 Elizabeth Georgouras (NSW) 10 Davina Summers (WA) 11 Kirsty Broun (QLD) 12 Narelle Hards (ACT) 13 Jessica Berry (VIC) 14 Rebecca Barwick (ACT) 15 Josephine Tomic (WA) DNF Esther Pugh-Uren (VIC) DNS Emily Rosemond (QLD) Open men tandem sprint final Gold & Silver Medals 1 Ben Demery (NSW) 11.645/11.712 Shaun Hopkins (NSW) 2 Steven George (QLD) Bryce Lindores (QLD) Bronze Medal 3 Jonathan Dunlop (WA) 14.632/14.796 Samuel Harding (WA) 12.738 4 Benjamin Macfie (QLD) Gerard O'connell (QLD) M19 1000m Time Trial Omnium Round 1 Thomas Palmer (ACT) 1.06.157 2 Luke Davison (NSW) 1.06.370 3 Stephen Hall (WA) 1.06.714 4 Matthew Meisel-Dennis (ACT) 1.07.694 5 Michael Hepburn (QLD) 1.07.838 6 Trevor Griffiths (VIC) 1.08.403 7 Jamie Crass (VIC) 1.08.854 8 Alex Carver (NSW) 1.09.034 9 Rohan Dennis (SA) 1.09.097 10 Sean Boyle (SA) 1.09.652 11 Ethan O'dell (QLD) 1.12.057 12 Andrew Dolan (TAS) 1.12.816 M19 Omnium Final After 5 Rounds 1 Luke Davison (NSW) 3.32.386 - 8pts 2 Thomas Palmer (ACT) 3.32.147 - 14 3 Trevor Griffiths (VIC) 3.37.611 - 20 4 Matthew Meisel-Dennis (ACT) 3.34.997 - 23.5 5 Stephen Hall (WA) 3.37.146 - 31.5 6 Jamie Crass (VIC) 3.40.065 - 32 7 Rohan Dennis (SA) 3.35.735 - 36 8 Michael Hepburn (QLD) 3.36.615 - 36 9 Alex Carver (NSW) 3.40.191 - 37 10 Ethan O'dell (QLD) 3.45.249 - 45 11 Sean Boyle (SA) 3.41.982 - 51 12 Andrew Dolan (TAS) 3.35.152 - 44 DNF Jordan Van Der Togt (WA) W19 Keirin final 1 Annette Edmondson (SA) 12.362 2 Melissa Hoskins (WA) 3 Stephanie Morton (SA) 4 Philippa Hindmarsh (QLD) 5 Chloe Hosking (ACT) 6 Laine Hammond (VIC) Men Keirin final 1 Mark French (VIC) 10.845 2 Shane Kelly (VIC) 3 Daniel Ellis (ACT) 4 Shane Perkins (VIC) 5 Ryan Bayley (WA) 6 Scott Sunderland (WA)
