Day 4 Review - AusCycling Track National Championships

Para National Championships Recap

Coming together for the Para AWII Women and Men Team Sprint were Molly Thatcher, Georgia Powning and Nathan Broeren of Victoria. They completed the event in a time of 1 minute and 5.932 seconds and claimed the gold medal.

Participating in their first tandem team sprints, South Australians Candice Kennedy and Beau Wootton edged out the mixed pairing of Madelen McNeil (South Australia) and Jordon Carroll (Queensland) for gold medal honours.

Drama unfolded in the Para WC/MC Team Sprint as the team of Gordon Allan (New South Wales), Emily Petricola (Victoria), and Michael Shippley (Queensland) were disqualified. Despite this, the eventual winners, Mitchell Bails (South Australia), William Zammit (Vicotria) and Patric Best (Tasmania) rode a respectable 54.861 seconds in their first ever team sprint as a trio.

Molly Thatcher and Georgia Powning returned to the boards to race against each other in the Women AWII 10 lap scratch race. Thatcher got the better of Powning in this contest with a strong attack on the final lap.

Nathan Broeren (Victoria) sailed off the front early in the Para Men AWII Scratch Race and held his lead through to the finish line ahead of Nathan Glarvey (Queensland) and Andre Ascui (Victoria) for who finished second the third respectively.

Donning the rainbow bands, Amanda Reid (New South Wales) also made it national scratch race champion in the Para Women C2. Reid admitted that the feeling of being world champion is still surreal to her.

“I actually surprised myself by winning the event at the beginning of the year, and to pair it with this national jersey is truly special,” said Reid. “To where the rainbows in a race was really exciting, especially that I got to share the moment with Emily Petricola who is world champion in the Women C4”

Emily Petricola (Victoria) sprung an attack with two and a half laps to go for the Women C4 scratch race, and she carried her lead all the way to the finish line to take gold medal honours. Meg Lemon (South Australia) put in her best effort to chase down Petricola but had to settle for silver on this occasion.

Darren Hicks (Queensland) spent most his time in the scratch race bridging gaps between riders who had broken off the front and the rest of the bunch.

“I usually try to place pressure on the bunch by being the one to attack off the front, but I spent most my time today chasing down the breaks in the hope I’d find the right wheel to hold on to in a sprint at the end,” said Hicks.

He was rewarded for his efforts with the gold medal ahead of Gordon Allan (New South Wales) for silver and Mitchell Bails (South Australia) for bronze.

David Nicholas (Queensland) added to his medal tally for the week by winning the Para Men C3 scratch race after his animating start. Nicholas’ fellow statesmen, Kyle Willis tried his luck in by going off the front but was eventually brought back and settled for third behind William Zammit of Vicotria.

Patrick Best (Tasmania) capped off a successful week by winning the Para Men C4 scratch race.

After a week of close seconds to his fellow C5 competitor, Daniel Van Der Laan (South Australia) took his chances when he could to try and shake off Michael Shippley (Queensland) in the scratch race, and it was at three laps to go when he got the gap he needed to take his maiden gold medal for the championships.

U19/Elite National Championships Recap

Kristina Clonan (Queensland) collected a third gold in four days at Elite Track Nationals after victory in the Elite Women’s Keirin gold medal.

“Keirins happen so quickly,” admitted Clonan “I’m not entirely sure what happened myself, but it bunched up and I was able to then position myself well after that. I remember my first national keirin, which was also my most recent, was as a first year under 19 and I got bumped around a bit, so to have learnt from that I’m now more prepared and am happy with myself tonight.”

Bree Hargreave (South Australia) finished in second place and Felice Beitzel (ACT) rounded out the podium in third.

The Elite Men’s Sprint gold final went the full distance as it took Matthew Richardson (Western Australia) three rounds to dispose of Nathan Hart (ACT).

“Nathan surprised me in the second round and caught me off guard by coming underneath me in bend one,” said Richardson. “It made the racing super interesting and we had to go to three rounds, but it was good fun.”

James Brister (South Australia) rounded out the podium with the bronze medal.

The U19 Women’s Individual Pursuit gold medal ride off was tightly contested between Queensland’s Liliana McLennan and South Australia’s Kat Chung Orr. At one stage in the race McLennan led by over 1 second but Chung Orr fought back in the final kilometre to set up a nail-biting final lap. McLennan held on by 0.2 seconds to claim her first gold medal of the championships, leaving silver for Chung Orr. Lucinda Stewart added to her national medal collection, this time with the bronze.

Declan Trezise (Queensland) has been a man on a mission this Track Nationals, taking his personal gold medal tally to five after winning the U19 Men’s Omnium. Trezise was joined by fellow statesman, Finn Walsh on the podium as he claimed the silver medal, with Alexander Jones (Victoria) taking the bronze.

Alex Martin-Wallace (Queensland) was cheered on by the home crowd to claim the gold medal in the Elite Women’s Omnium. After a long day of racing, Martin-Wallace put on a masterclass in the final points race to come away as the eventual winner. Lucie Fitys (New South Wales) was tied 5th leading into the before the final event, but with a strong showing she was able to secure the silver medal, edging out her fellow stateswoman by three points, Georgia Whitehouse, who won bronze.

Josh Duffy (Tasmania) won gold in the Elite Men’s Scratch Race, holding off the Victorian pair of Graeme Frislie and Jensen Plowright who finished with silver and bronze respectively.

Day 4 Champions

Para AWII Women & Men Team Sprint

Gold: Victoria
Molly Thatcher, Goergia Powning, Nathan Broeren

Para MB / WB Team Sprint

Gold: South Australia
Candice Kennedy, Beau Wootton

Silver: South Australia/Queensland
Madelen McNeil, Jordan Carroll

Para WC / MC Team Sprint

Gold: Team 3
Mitchell Bails (SA), William Zammit (VIC), Patrick Best (TAS)

Para Women C2 Scratch Race

Gold: Amanda Reid (New South Wales)

Para Women C4 Scratch Race

Gold: Emily Petricola (Victoria)

Silver: Meg Lemon (South Australia)

Para Men C2 Scratch Race

Gold: Darren Hicks (Queensland)

Silver: Gordon Allan (New South Wales)

Bronze: Mitchell Bails (South Australia)

Para Men C3 Scratch Race

Gold: David Nicholas (Queensland)

Silver: William Zammit (Victoria)

Bronze: Kyle Willis (Queensland)

Para Men C4 Scratch Race

Gold: Patrick Best (Tasmania)

Para Men C5 Scratch Race

Gold: Daniel Van Der Laan (South Australia)

Silver: Michael Shippley (Queensland)

Para Women AWII Scratch Race

Gold: Molly Thatcher (Victoria)

Silver: Georgia Powning (Victoria)

Para Men AWII Scratch Race

Gold: Nathan Broeren (Victoria)

Silver: Nathan Glarvey (Queensland)

Bronze: Andre Ascui (Victoria)

U19 Women Individual Pursuit

Gold: Liliana McLennan (Queensland)

Silver: Kat Chung Orr (South Australia)

Bronze: Lucinda Stewart (Victoria)

U19 Men Omnium

Gold: Declan Trezise (Queensland)

Silver: Finn Walsh (Queensland)

Bronze: Alexander Jones (Victoria)

Elite Women Omnium

Gold: Alex Martin-Wallace (Queensland)

Silver: Lucie Fitys (New South Wales)

Bronze: Georgia Whitehouse (New South Wales)

Elite Women Keirin

Gold: Kristina Clonan (Queensland)

Silver: Bree Hargreave (South Australia)

Bronze: Felice Beitzel (ACT)

Elite Men Sprint

Gold: Matthew Richardson (Western Australia)

Silver: Nathan Hart (ACT)

Bronze: James Brister (South Australia)

Elite Men Scratch Race

Gold: Josh Duffy (Tasmania)

Silver: Graeme Frislie (Victoria)

Bronze: Jensen Plowright (Victoria)

2020 TrackNats Quick Guide

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

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