Day 1 Review - 2020 AusCycling Track National Championships 

The hosts took the overall honours on the opening day of the 2020 AusCycling Track National Championships for Elite, Para & Under 19 cyclists at the Anna Meares Velodrome in Brisbane on Wednesday.

Three states are locked in a tight medal tally contest with Queensland and New South Wales sharing six medals each, while South Australia claimed five. Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia also collected medals on the opening day. Live Results.

The Elite Women’s Team Pursuit was won by the New South Wales quintet of Josie Talbot, Georgia Whitehouse, Emily Watts, Lucie Fitys and Chloe Heffernan who rose to the challenge of limited preparation.

Living in different parts of the state made it difficult to train together under COVID restrictions, yet they delivered on the day to post a time of 4 minutes 31.346 seconds which secured the gold medal. “We were still testing out different combinations of riders today so to come away with the gold in the time we rode is pleasing to us,” said Josie Talbot.

The Elite Men’s Team Pursuit gold final wasn’t without drama as shortly after the New South Wales’ fourth rider peeled off, another team member suffered a puncture. But after taking a lap to regather themselves, the team of Daniel Gandy, Ben Harvey, Kurt Eather and Rohan Heydon Smith caught the Tasmanians Dalton Stretton, Jack Menzies, Will Eaves, and Josh Duffy to win gold.

Appearing in her first major national championships since switching from the endurance to the sprint ranks, Kristina Clonan (Queensland) edged Bree Hargrave (South Australia) in the Elite Women’s 500m Time Trial final. Clonan & Hargrave were joined by fellow Queenslander Jacqui Mengler-Mohr on the podium.

In the Elite Men’s 1000m Time Trial, New South Wales’ fast-man Thomas Cornish defended his crown in a blistering time of 1 minute 0.494 seconds. “I wanted to go sub 1 minute,” said Cornish.

“I’m happy with the gold medal considering the challenge that COVID provided us all this year having to be away from my training group for five months.” Cornish now sets his eyes on the Sprint and Keirin later in the week.

Queensland’s Alastair Mackellar, Declan Trezise, Conor Watson, Mitchell Yarde won the Men’s Under 19 Team Pursuit (4:07.328), three seconds ahead of their South Australian rivals.

South Australia and Queensland went head-to-head in the Women’s Under 19 Team Pursuit, with the visiting team Alli Anderson, Tess Wight, Ella Sibley and Kat Chung Orr taking the top step after securing a five second victory.

The Women’s Under 19 Scratch Race was hotly contested featuring reigning world champion Ella Sibley, however Western Australian Sharlia Haines was up for the challenge, edging Sibley for the gold.

Queensland’s Declan Tresize took gold in the Men’s Under 19 Scratch Race ahead of Victorian Tarun Cook and South Australian Angus Miller.

In the Men’s Under 19 Team Sprint, South Australia's Declan Key, Dylan Stanton and Maxwell Liberknecht took gold over New South Wales.

The 2020 AusCycling Track National Championship runs from December 16-20.

Day 1 Champions

U19 Women Team Pursuit

• Gold: South Australia Alli Anderson, Tess Wight, Ella Sibley, Kat Chung
• Silver: Queensland Briana McDonald, Brooke Carnes, Lilliana McLennan, Stephanie Corset
• Bronze: New South Wales Haylee Fuller, Georgia Wiltshire, Rebel Brooker, Sarah Cliff

U19 Women Scratch Race

• Gold: Dharlia Haines (Western Australia)
• Silver: Ella Sibley (South Australia)
• Bronze: Lucinda Stewart (Victoria)

U19 Men Team Pursuit

• Gold: Queensland: Alastair Mackellar, Declan Trezise, Conor Watson, Mitchell Yarde
• Silver: South Australia: Aston Frieth, Zack Marriage, Angus Miller, Leo Zimmermann
• Bronze: New South Wales: Josh Brodie, Ryan Britten, Dylan Eather, Devarge Grewal

U19 Men Team Sprint

• Gold: South Australia: Declan Key, Dylan Stanton, Maxwell Lieberknecht
• Silver: New South Wales: Danny Barber, Daniel Samuel, Daniel Googe
• Bronze: Queensland: Duncan Allen, Ethan Harris, Ryan Elliott

U19 Men Scratch Race

• Gold: Declan Trezise (Queensland)
• Silver: Tarun Cook (Victoria)
• Bronze: Angus Miller (South Australia)

Elite Women 500m Time Trial

• Gold: Kristina Clonan (Queensland)
• Silver: Bree Hargrave (South Australia)
• Bronze: Jacqui Mengler-Mohr (Queensland)

Elite Women Team Pursuit

• Gold: New South Wales: Josie Talbot, Georgia Whitehouse, Emily Watts, Chloe Heffernan

Elite Men 1000m Time Trial

• Gold: Thomas Cornish (New South Wales)
• Silver: Josh Duffy (Tasmania)
• Bronze: Graeme Frislie (Victoria)

Elite Men Team Pursuit

• Gold: New South Wales: Daniel Gandy, Ben Harvey, Kurt Eather, Rohan Heydon Smith,
• Silver: Tasmania: Dalton Stretton, Jack Menzies, Will Eaves, Josh Duffy

2020 TrackNats Quick Guide

Live Results, Daily Schedules & Rider Lists
Follow all the action live at the official events results page http://results.auscycling.org.au/Track/2020/TrackNats/index.html

Tickets

A great range of tickets available At the door or online from just $10! Series and Family passes available via https://tracknationals.org.au/tickets

Website

Keep up to date with the event via the official website https://tracknationals.org.au/

Follow

The action via the AusCycling social media channels at facebook.com/AusCyclingAus, twitter.com/AusCyclingAus and instagram.com/AusCyclingAus/