NSW has taken the champion of champions award for best state after a dazzling medal haul at the Australian Junior Track Cycling Championships in Tasmania, which finished at the weekend. The award came as no surprise to the team’s management. Team NSW was on fire right from the first day of competition and things just got better with every passing day. There was a plethora of great results over the day one program, with NSW coming away with eight medals throughout the day, with some stunning individual and team performances. Mitch Wright showed his stamina and endurance in the U17 Men Points race, winning gold. The U15 Men’s saw NSW domination, with three out of the four riders coming from the Eastern State. With the Academy’s Kirk Cleaven showing his sprinting prowess to come away with the gold medal. The NSW U17 teams rode valiantly in the Teams Pursuits, with the men qualifying fastest, a feat that they would match to take the gold medals home, while the women qualified third fastest and like the men, backed up their strong qualifying efforts to collect the bronze medals. Day two saw Kirk Cleaven win the mens 15 500 metre time trial in 36.922, with team mate Edmund Wright taking bronze with 37.398. Team NSW continued to dominate on day three. Mitchell Wright qualified second fastest in the junior men 17 individual pursuit with 2.18.328 behind NSW teammate Stephen Cuff with 2.18.159 and ahead of fellow NSW team mates Thomas Lynch 2.19.583 and Zach Marshall 2.22.001. Mitch then won the gold and Stephen the silver in the final while Thomas took bronze ahead of Zach in the final rideoff. Mitchell Wright won the junior mens 17 individual pursuit in 2.18.338 over team mate Stephen Cuff in 2.19.205. Thomas Lynch took the bronze. Kirk Cleaven won the junior men 15 500 metre time trial with 36.922 with team mate Edmund Wright taking bronze in 37.398. Tamika Wallace won the first round of the junior womens 15 keirin, Rebel Brooker earned a spot to the final placing second in her heat, Kirk Cleaven and Alex Micalleff won round two spots with a first and second in their heat of the junior mens 15 while Dylan Eather and Edmund Wright won their heats to also earn second round berths. Lucie Fityus’… third place in her junior women 17 heat won her a round two berth while Tasmin Davies won her heat in the same age category. Thomas Cornish won his junior men 17 heat and Zachary Marshall’s third in his heat earned him a round two position. In round two, Rebel’s third place, Kirk’s win, Alex’s second, Lucie’s third, Thomas’ win and Zach’s third earned them a finals berth. Alex Micallef qualified first in junior mens 15 individual pursuit in 2.32.715 ahead of team mate Josh Brodie in 2.35.715. Dylan Eather qualified fourth in 2.37.277. Alex then beat Josh to take gold-silver in the final, while Dylan won the bronze in his final against a Victorian rider. Olivia Saunders was third in the junior women points race. Tamika Wallace took silver in the junior womens 15 500m time trial in 39.450. Eliza Bennett showed class to finish just outside the medals in fourth with 40.020 followed by teammates Elizabeth Huggins 40.072 and Olivia Saunders in 40.179. Lucie Fityus and Ashlee Jones qualified third in junior women 17 in 42.688 then beat Queensland to win the bronze medal in 42.377. Thomas Cornish, John Trovas and Mitch Wright qualified first in junior men 17 in 55.289 while Luke Ensor, Thomas Lynch and Zach Marshall qualified second in 56.151, making it an all NSW gold medal final. The gold medallists and new national champs were Thomas, John and Mitch with Luke, Thomas and Zach taking silver. The final day was a busy one with national titles in the keirin and scratch race up for grabs. Mitchell Wright (NSW) continued his dominance of the under 17 events claiming his firth gold in the scratch race. Teammate Thomas Cornish took out the under 17 keirin. Josh Brodie (NSW) doubled up in the bunch races in the under 15 men’s category adding the scratch race to his points title. Maxwell Sigley (QLD) earned his first gold in the keirin after having taken silver and bronze medals earlier in the week. Maxwell Sigley proved too strong in the under 15 men’s race beating sprint champion Kirk Cleaven (NSW) for gold. The podium was rounded out by Alex Allott (VIC). Thomas Cornish (NSW) picked up his fourth gold to complete his domination of the under 17 sprint events ahead of Zachary Marshall (NSW) and Leigh Hoffman (SA) In the under 15 men’s scratch Josh Brodie collected another gold to add to his points race title ahead of teammate Edmund Wright (NSW) and Zakk Patterson (QLD). There was no stopping Mitchell Wright (NSW) in the under 17 men’s scratch race as he claimed his fifth gold of the week. Stephen Cuff (NSW) crossed the line second ahead of Graeme Frislie (VIC).
