Tom Sexton claims national title for Southland

It was girl power to the fore on the penultimate day of the Cycling New Zealand Track National Championships at the Grassroots Trust Velodrome in Cambridge.

Olympic medallist Ellesse Andrews showed a glimpse of her power and purpose in winning the elite keirin, and fellow Olympian Bryony Botha broke her own national record to become the third fastest female in the world over the 3000m individual pursuit.

Caption: Ellesse Andrews. Photo: Cullen Browne/Cycling NZ

Andrews, 22, coming back after a crash in competition, was all-class in dominating the elite keirin final. She put down the power to push to the lead and opened up a sizeable advantage over the final lap for an impressive win.

“It was good to come back with a performance I am happy with,” said Andrews. “I am getting more confident heading towards the Oceania Championships in what is going to be a big year of competition.

“Mid-year the big goal is the Commonwealth Games and we have a big overseas campaign with the Nations Cup and qualifying for the Worlds later in the year.”

Andrews said the sprint group are excited to welcome new coach Nick Flyger who will be at the Oceania Championships before coming back with the team to base himself in Cambridge.

Botha, 24, set a new mark of 3:21.506 for the 3000m individual pursuit in qualifying on Thursday but smashed that in winning the final, clocking 3:19.818 to dip under the 3:20 mark for another New Zealand record.

Caption: Bryony Botha. Photo: Cullen Browne/Cycling NZ

Only two women have gone faster in world record holder Chloe Dygert (USA) in 3:16.937 and world champion Lisa Brennauer (GER) who clocked 3:18.258 in winning the world title last year.

She lowered her record to 3:32.506 in qualifying and smashed it again in the final.

“I am pretty stoked. I didn’t expect to do a 3:19 today,” Botha said. “But everyone else had full faith in me. It’s great to have so many people behind me believing that I could do it.

“I came into this week tried after a training came so to come out of that and to perform this week is really good.”

Botha did not rest on her laurels, returning to the track an hour later to dominate the field to win the Points title, lapping the field twice in a dominant display to complete a memorable day.

In other elite competition, Southland’s Tom Sexton claimed the 4000m individual pursuit title in an impressive personal best of 4:10.761 for the Southlander over Keegan Hornblow (Tasman).

Caption: Sam Dakin. Photo: Cullen Browne/Cycling NZ

“My mates thought I was dreaming when I talked about going under 4:10 for the pursuit but that is getting more realistic now as I get stronger and smarter,” said Sexton “Hopefully at the Oceania Championships or in the near future I can crack that 4:10 mark.”

Sprint champion Sam Dakin added the keirin title to his list in a dominant performance. He was untroubled in his first round, and although initially out-smarted by a clever move from Southland’s Bradly Knipe, Dakin was able to switch on the after-burners to claim the victory.

Wellington’s George Jackson showed plenty of track nous to claim the men’s elite elimination over another strong performance from Hornblow.

In age racing, Canterbury’s Shaylah Sayers claimed her fifth title with victory in the under-15 scratch race over 3000m, with the under-15 boys title going to Auckland’s David Kwon.

In Under-17 racing, the individual sprint winners Jodie Blackwood (Auckland) and Auckland’s Nate Boness also prevailed in the 500m time trial. Blackwood clocked 37.137s to edge Southland’s Caitlin Kelly by 0.15s, while Boness held off Southland’s George Manson by half a second.

Boness paired with Lucas Bhimy to give Auckland the win in the Madison with 17 points ahead of Southland on 14, while the girls Madison went to the Waikato BOP duo of Caoilinn Gray and Hannah Paine by one point over Canterbury.

In Under-19 action, top sprint qualifier Gemma Cordery (Waikato BOP) took out the match-race final in two straight rides.

Canterbury’s Amelia Sykes had a busy and profitable afternoon, winning the 2000m individual pursuit final over Seana Gray (Waikato BOP) and the Elimination race ahead of Bee Townsend (Auckland). However Gray edged Sykes in a sprint finish in the scratch race.

The final day of racing on Saturday focusses on team sprint and team pursuit racing across all grades.