NZ Track Champs Session 1 overview

Feb 4th, 12. The RaboDirect Elite Track National Championships kicked off at the Stadium Southland Velodrome in Invercargill this morning where the individual pursuit was the big interest.

With a spot up for grabs in the team pursuit team to race the London World Cup all eyes were on Peter Latham (Waikato Bay of Plenty) and Westley Gough (East Coast North Island) in the men's individual pursuit qualifying.

Latham qualified fastest, with Gough half a second behind, ensuring a showdown between these two riders tonight. Young-gun Alex Frame (Canterbury) rode a stunning 4.25.709 to qualify third in his first year in the senior ranks. He will face Cameron Karwowski (Southland) in the ride off for bronze tonight.

Kaytee Boyd (Auckland) was the fastest of the females in the women's individual pursuit qualifying, stopping the clock two seconds faster than Rushlee Buchanan (Waikato Bay of Plenty). Georgia Williams (Auckland) impressed in her first competition in the senior ranks, clocking the third fastest time. She will face Southland local Sequoia Cooper in the ride for bronze.

New Zealand representatives Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster, Simon van Velthooven teamed up to contest the men's team sprint, riding for Auckland, and set a whopping 44.396 in qualifying, only a third of a second slower than the national record. They will race against the Southland trip of Regan Sheath, Matt Archibald, Eddie Dawkins in the final tonight.

Sprint specialists Natasha Hansen and Stephanie McKenzie (Southland) paired up to qualify fastest in the women's team sprint.

With their sights set on the national record expect there to be fireworks tonight as they race the Auckland pair of Vanessa Quinn and Henrietta Mitchell for the gold medal.

A fast flying-lap has put Dylan Kennett in the lead in the under 19 men's Omnium. He backed up his win in the flying lap with a third place in the points race to establish a six point lead after two events. Daniel Ellison (Southland) is in second place on ten points, with Cantabrians Taylor Harrison and Hamish Schreurs tied on 11 points.

Alysha Keith leads the under 19 women's Omnium after winning both the flying lap and the points race this morning. With Cassie Cameron (WCNI), Racquel Sheath and Georgina Wilson (Auckland) all tied for second, the heat will be on in the elimination race tonight.

Results

Men Individual Pursuit, 4000m Qualifying: Peter Latham (WBOP) 4.21.739, 1; Wes Gough (ECNI) 4.22.065, 2; Alex Frame (Canterbury) 4.25.709, 3; Cameron Karwowski (Southland) 4.32.308, 4.

Women Individual Pursuit, 3000m Qualifying: Kaytee Boyd (Auckland) 3.41.251, 1; Rushlee Buchanan (WBOP) 3.43.061, 2; Georgia Williams (Auckland) 3.43.983, 3; Sequoia Cooper (Southland) 3.44.860, 4.

Men Team Sprint, qualifying: Auckland (Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster, Simon van Velthooven) 44.396, 1; Southland (Regan Sheath, Matt Archibald, Eddie Dawkins) 45.772, 2; Composite (Karl Watson, James Vercoe, Ben Simpson) 49.731, 3.

Women Team Sprint, qualifying: Southland (Stephanie McKenzie & Natasha Hansen) 35.077, 1; Auckland (Vanessa Quinn, Henrietta Mitchell) 37.049, 2; Canterbury (Olivia Wieblitz, Elizabeth Steel) 37.912, 3.

Under 19 Men Omnium
- Flying Lap: Dylan Kennett (Canterbury) 13.381, 1; Tom Beadle (Southland) 13.582, 2; Daniel Ellison (Tasman) 13.855, 3
- Points Race: Hayden McCormick (WBOP) 17 pts, 1; Hamish Schreurs (Canterbury) 8 pts, 2; Kennett, 8pts, 3.
- Standings after two events: Kennett, 4 pts, 1; Ellison, 10pts, 2; Harrison and Schreurs, 11pts, 3=

Under 19 Women Omnium
- Flying Lap: Alysha Keith (Otago) 14.938, 1; Racquel Sheath (Auckland) 15.135, 2; Georgina Wilson (Auckland) 15.537, 3
- Points Race: Keith, 12 pts, 1; Cassie Cameron (WCNI) 10 pts, 2; Wilson, 10 pts, 3.
- Standings after two events: Keith, 2pts, 1; Sheath, Wilson, Cameron 6pts, 2=