Day 1 – 500m Time Trial Championship - Day 1 Results

The championships began on Friday night at the Adelaide Superdrome with the 500m Time Trial Championships.  This event is held over 2 laps of the track with the cyclist starting from a standing start with the fastest time posted winning the title.

In the U15 Men’s grade, Jai Sutton was the first Whyalla rider out setting a time of 43.557 seconds to be sitting in provisional second place with four riders remaining.  Sam Campbell posted 46.811 seconds to place 9^th whilst fellow Whyalla cyclist Dylan Starkey was out next and set a scorching time of 42.043 seconds, eclipsing last years winning time by half a second.  No one was able to match Starkey’s time and he picked up his first State Championship title with Sutton winning Bronze.

In the U17 Women’s grade Liza Wakeling posted a time of 47.726, while her sister Charlotte set a time of 48.103 to place 6^th and 7^th respectively.  Nicole Goldring posted 42.974 to finish in 5^th place.

In the U17 Men’s grade Tim Fulton narrowly missed out on a bronze medal, placing fourth with a time of 38.105 seconds, a mere .400 seconds behind third place.

Day 2 – Sprint Championship - Day 2 Results

Always the longest day in any championship weekend. Each rider must post their fastest time over 200m to gain a seeding for the match sprints.  1^st fastest versus 8^th, 2^nd versus 7^th etc.  The match sprints are contested over three laps of the track with the two riders racing against each other, and getting the bell lap with one to go.  The first rider to win two out of three races moves on to the next round.

The U15 Men were off first with Starkey the fastest qualifier with a time of 14.428 seconds (an average speed of 49.902 km/h). Sutton was second fastest posting 15.278 seconds.  Campbell set 16.587 seconds but unfortunately placed 10^th. Only the first eight times qualified for the quarter finals.

Starkey, as the fastest qualifier, matched up against the slowest qualifier and easily accounted for his opponent over two rounds to progress to the Semi Finals.  Sutton, as second fastest qualifier, was too good for his opponent also going through to the semis in straight rounds.  Again it was clear Starkey and Sutton were by far the two quickest riders in the U15 Men’s grade and after two rounds each went directly to a face-off for the Gold Medal.

In the Gold medal ride off Starkey took the first leg with a strong ride from the front, the second leg was a similar story with Starkey riding off Suttons hip around the last bend to win by half a wheel after a strong ride from Sutton.  A fantastic effort by both riders with Starkey winning his second Gold medal of the championships and Sutton earning a Silver to go with his Bronze medal from the previous night.

The U17 women’s qualifiers saw Liza Wakeling setting a time of 17.755 seconds (not bad considering she was feeling the effects of illness that morning), qualifying 8^th.  Charlotte Wakeling posted a 16.814 to qualify 7^th.  Nicole Goldring set a time of 14.793 qualifying 5^th.

Both Liza and Charlotte found the quarter final rides tough, coming up against the two fastest qualifiers and were both eliminated in two rounds, but should be very proud of their efforts at the championships so far.  Nicole Goldring was unlucky to lose the first leg, missing out by less than a wheels length to a fast finishing Jessica Mundy who used the banked track to her advantage to win it on the line.  Goldring tried a different tactic in the second leg by laying off Mundy’s wheel and trying to come around her on the last bend.  However Mundy’s speed was enough to hold Goldring off.

Goldring, Liza and Charlotte Wakeling, though eliminated from the medal rounds were back in action in a four person repechage to set the 5^th to 8^th placings.  These are required for next year’s championships in order to place the riders.  Goldring showed her pursuiting strength that would come to the fore later in the championships by attacking the other three riders from the start and stretching the three lap race, dropping Charlotte and Liza Wakeling who finished  7^th and 8^th overall respectively.  Goldring continued to stretch the race and easily placed 5^th overall.

In the U17 Men’s grade Tim Fulton (who was last years U15 Men’s champion) set a time of 12.835 seconds (avg. speed 56.096 km/h) to qualify fifth fastest.  Fulton progressed easily to the quarter finals however struggled to make his tactics stick over the two rounds and was eliminated by eventual fourth placed finisher Miles Scotson.

Day 3 – 2000m Individual Pursuit - Day 3 Results

Sunday saw the final day of competition set two events for each rider.  The 2000m Individual Pursuit and the Mass Start Scratch Race.  The morning session was all about personal pain and being able to push the boundaries, both physically and mentally with the 2000m Individual Pursuit.  As the name implies, the event is run over 8 laps (2000m) with two riders on the track on opposite sides.  The qualification round is all about riding the fastest time possible, with only the four fastest times riding off for medals.  The first and second fastest times riding for Gold, whilst the third and fourth fastest riding off for bronze.

The U15 Men were off first with Jai Sutton posting the fastest qualifying time in the very first heat setting 2:59.142 seconds.  Dylan Starkey set the second fastest time of 2:59.367 seconds, ensuring both Whyalla riders would face each other yet again in the Gold Medal final.  Sam Campbell set a personal best time of 3:12.534 to finish the event in 8^th place.

The final was an epic, with Starkey getting out to a very fast start and holding upwards of a two second lead on fastest qualifier Sutton.  Starkey was maintaining the lead and looked to have his third gold medal and state title in the bag with 2 laps remaining, however Starkey was starting the slow and Sutton responded with a blistering last lap coming from 1.7 seconds down at the previous lap time check to storm home to win the race and secure his first State Championship and Gold medal by a mere 0.265 seconds.  Both riders knocked massive amounts of time off their personal bests and previous qualifying time with Sutton setting 2:57.193 seconds to win the title.

The U17 Women saw a scratching of one of the Adelaide riders which meant Liza Wakeling lined up for her qualifier with no opposing rider on the other side of the track.  Liza set a time of 3:23.475 to finish 7^th fastest.  Charlotte Wakeling was up next and posted the 6^th fastest time of 3:18.890 seconds.  Nicole Goldring was the final Whyalla rider and lining up in her pet event was confident of setting a time good enough to ride off for a medal.  Goldring was in devastating form and destroyed her fancied Adelaide opposition by more than three seconds to set a time of 2:53.695 seconds, taking a massive three seconds off her personal best.  With two riders remaining and Goldring holding the fastest time, it was a nervous wait to see what colour she would be riding off for. Goldring was set to go for the Bronze medal after just missing out on the second fastest time.

The Bronze Medal ride-off pitted Goldring against Clare Mingorance, the rider Goldring defeated in the qualifiers.  With confidence high, it was all about going out and putting the time on the board.  Mingorance got off to a flyer and held a half second lead after 500m but with Goldring riding to a schedule, this advantage was turned around within the following 500m.  Goldring started to extend the lead by as much as 1.8 seconds and with just two laps remaining held on to secure the Bronze Medal and set a new personal best time of 2:51.552 seconds (avg. speed 41.97 km/h).  Amazingly Goldring’s bronze medal winning time was over a second faster than the time set by the silver medalist in the next final.

In the U17 Men Tim Fulton set a personal best time of 2:35.196 seconds but was only able to qualify as the 6^th fastest and so missed out on the chance to ride off for a medal.

Day 3 – Scratch Race

The final events for the State Championships were the Scratch Races.  A mass start event with all competitors starting off on an even footing and having to complete 20 laps (5km) with no rule set as to how fast, or slow, the race needs to be.

The U15 Men competed in a 20 lap scratch race with the two form riders of the grade Sutton and Starkey riding comfortably in the group.  Starkey was the first to attack, coming off high from mid bunch with just under two laps remaining.  Sutton responded immediately and settled on his wheel with a lap to go.  The other riders were already 15 metres off the two leaders with Sam Campbell sitting in fifth wheel with an outside chance to medal.  Sutton moved off his saddle along the back straight and moved up to Starkey’s hip around the final bends, it was a mad sprint to the finish line with Sutton using the banked track to his advantage to gain the edge over  Starkey to win by a wheels length to win his second Gold medal of the meet.  Sam Campbell was unable to move around the other two riders but finished in an excellent fifth placing, his best of the championships.

The U17 Women’s race was an intriguing affair with Liza and Charlotte Wakeling finding the pace a bit too hot and dropping off the bunch midway through the race.  It was still a great championships for the sisters and they should be very proud of their achievements over the weekend.  The women continued to attack, with Goldring bridging the gap to each break, she stayed with the other riders until 3 laps to go where three riders got away and held a 20m gap until the finish.  Goldring continued to push hard and finished fifth overall.

If the U17 Women’s race was fast, the U17 Mens was blistering, with attacks commencing from the get go.  A field of 16 riders started the 30 lap (7.5km) event and this was quickly whittled down to a select group of eight riders with half the race remaining.  Tim Fulton was looking good in the lead group and showed some form by attacking when he got to the front of the group, unfortunately for him, not long after doing his turn of pace at the front and returning to the back of the group, another attack was initiated at the front which split this group into two.  With little more than four laps to go Fulton found himself in a group of three but with the other riders not prepared to work as hard as Fulton they were unable to bridge the gap to the lead bunch. Fulton who had been under a sickness cloud all week leading up to the championships finished 7^th overall.

In what was one of the most successful Junior Championships in a long time.  The final medal tally for the Whyalla riders was four Gold, three Silver and 2 Bronze medals, along with a stack of Personal Best times.

At the end of the medal presentations the State selectors announced the riders selected to represent South Australia at next months National Championships to be held in Adelaide, 19-21 March 2009.

Stand out riders Dylan Starkey and Jai Sutton were selected from the U15 Men’s grade.  Nicole Goldring was selected to represent the state from U17 Women’s and Tim Fulton gained a nod in the U17 Men’s grade.

Congratulations to all the Whyalla riders who attend the Championships and all the best in the upcoming National Championships.