A brief report about NSW U15 - U17 Track Championships

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boltonfamily
Posts: 41
Joined: 04 Dec 2011, 14:46

Postby boltonfamily » 03 Feb 2014, 21:21

Last week Jo Skinner reminded me that there hadn’t been many reports about the junior races on the forum and I promised to put one in after the State U15 – U17 Champs which happened this weekend. As it turns out there was some good news to report from the event at which Tom was the only DHBC entrant.

On Saturday Tom went well in the sprint events, with 7th* in both the 500m TT (36.36) and the flying 200 (11.92). The latter put him into the final Derby Sprints. Tom then lost his first derby to his mate Shaun Falzarano (Manly) in an entertaining if exhausting shoulder to shoulder two lap drag.

On Sunday Tom performed well in both the Individual Pursuit and the Scratch Race.

Tom practiced the Individual Pursuit a couple of times during January and knew that he was capable of going under 2:30. In the event he managed 2:27.74. He led the competition for some time (the highest seeded riders coming at the end). I’m not sure how NSW selection works, but until the final rider it looked as though he might just qualify to race for NSW as fourth fastest. Unfortunately for him, the final rider slipped in at 2:27.61.

However, he had a successful final hit out in the 30 lap scratch race. He came third in the 24 lap heat. In a very exciting final he stayed with the fast pace throughout without doing too much work on the front. In the final lap, with the ever impressive Cameron Scott leading them home, Tom and two other riders crossed the line in a photo finish. As a breathless Crafty announced: “Second, third, fourth… Who cares? What a race!” Obviously the riders only agreed up to a point with his words. Anyhow, on the basis of the photo Tom was thrilled to get a NSW Championship bronze medal. He received congrats from the assembled cycling establishment and had a big grin for the rest of the evening!

No doubt with the momentum of the younger juniors building there will be bigger DHBC numbers at this event next year and into the future. Apparently in the near future there will be an Academy established for the Eastern Metro area that will include Dulwich Hill. These have already been established around the state and most of the stronger riders represent them as well as their clubs. This will provide opportunities for juniors who are ambitious to compete at state level and I’m sure will be good to further develop DHBC youngsters coming through the excellent juniors program.

During the school vacations Tom didn’t want to focus his training on training specifically for the shorter track events because he was keen to maximise his base km’s for the road season ahead. However, as well as big weeks on the road he had some good speed workouts with Dave Wilmott at DGV and a few sessions behind the motorbike with Southern Cross juniors and Phil Kelly. Thanks to both Dave and Phil.

Congratulations to the Southern Cross riders who took part. Thomas Cornish took bronze in the U15 Individual Pursuit and Claudia Jackson took Silver in the U15 Individual Pursuit. Great riding and a good turn-out of Southern Cross riders.

• NB. A strong ACT rider called Jordan Louis was right behind Cam Scott in most of the U17 events, but as he’s from ACT he is not included in the NSW rankings / medals.

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utopia
Posts: 265
Joined: 18 Nov 2010, 11:24
Location: Canterbury

Postby utopia » 03 Feb 2014, 22:04

super congrats for all participants and especially your efforts and medal Tom!

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JoTheBuilder
Posts: 1500
Joined: 19 Feb 2011, 15:32

Postby JoTheBuilder » 04 Feb 2014, 08:20

Great report Simon! And congratulations Tom...

Looking forward to seeing some more juniors start competing in these events in the next couple of years as they come of age.

Eleri
Posts: 1753
Joined: 31 Dec 2009, 08:43
Location: Erskineville

Postby Eleri » 04 Feb 2014, 18:48

Thanks for the report Simon! I got to congratulate Tom on the Hills ride this morning. Otherwise I wouldn't have known.

RR-M
Posts: 25
Joined: 27 Aug 2012, 11:20

Postby RR-M » 05 Feb 2014, 13:04

Its official jnr bolton is now a Tommy GUN ! Nicely done, justly deserved.
Great news on the pending establishment of an academy closer to our club. Keen to hear more...
R+A


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