VIS athletes produced some blistering performances at the 2016 Cycling Australia Track National Championships at the Adelaide Super-Drome last week.
Caitlin Ward broke through to claim a maiden 500m time trial title on the second day of racing, crossing the line in 35.149secs while Brit Jackson finished third in the women’s U19 500m time trial in 36.289secs.
Dual Junior Track World Champion Kelland O’Brien led the Victorian team (O’Brien, Godfrey Slattery, Riley Hart and Thomas McDonald) to the men’s U19 men’s team pursuit title.
In the U19 women’s team sprint, VIS athlete Brit Jackson and team mate Emma Chilton won gold for Victoria with a time of 36.101secs.
In the U19 3km individual pursuit event Kelland O'Brien won his second gold medal of the Nationals with victory over fellow Victorian Godfrey Slattery. Alex Morgan finished fourth in the elite men’s event.
In the U19 women’s 2km individual pursuit, rising star Ruby Roseman-Gannon picked up the silver medal in a time of 2:27.697.
In the U19 men’s time trial event, Kelland O’Brien finished in second place (1:03.369), just six one-thousandths of a second behind the winner Cameron Scott with Conor Rowley (1:03.962) taking the bronze.
Jacob Schmid picked up the silver medal in the hotly contested elite men’s sprint event behind South Australia’s Matthew Glaetzer.
On day three of competition, Kelland O'Brien overcame fellow Victorian Riley Hart to claim his third gold and fourth medal with a win in the points race that went down to the final sprint. In the U19 keirin it was a reversal of the previous days sprint result with Harrison Lodge taking gold ahead of Conor Rowley.
Shane Perkins won his third keirin national title with a powerful victory over defending champion Jacob Schmid on a thrilling final day of racing. Perkins took the position behind the derny on the six-man field with Peter Lewis (NSW) storming to the front at the first opportunity. However, Perkins burst back into the lead on the final lap and held off late challenges from fellow VIS rider Schmid, who finished just behind in second.
Gunning for a second Olympic Games berth to the Rio Olympic Games Perkins hopes he has done enough to impress the selectors.
Kelland O'Brien pick up his fourth gold medal of the 2016 championships with an impressive performance in the U19 men's scratch race.
O'Brien was awarded the Champion of Champions trophy for his four gold haul.
A full wrap of all the VIS results below:
Elite Men
Shane Perkins - GOLD in the Keirin, BRONZE in the sprint and BRONZE in team sprint
Jacob Schmidt - SILVER in the sprint, SILVER in Keirin and BRONZE in team sprint
David Koroknai - BRONZE in team sprint
John Cochrane - Fourth in the Keirin
Alex Morgan - Fourth in the 4km individual pursuit
Elite Women
Caitlin Ward - GOLD in 500m TT, BRONZE in team sprint
Courtney Field - BRONZE in team sprint and fourth in Keirin
Junior Women
Ruby Roseman Gannon - SILVER in 3km individual pursuit, SILVER in points race
Brit Jackson - GOLD in team sprint, BRONZE in 500m TT
Junior Men
KELL OBRIEN - GOLD in Teams Pursuit, GOLD in scratch race, GOLD in points race, GOLD in individual pursuit and SILVER in 1km TT
Godfrey Slattery - GOLD in teams pursuit, SILVER in individual pursuit
Riley Hart - GOLD in Teams Pursuit, SILVER in points race
Thomas McDonald - GOLD in Teams Pursuit, fourth in individual pursuit
Conor Rowley - GOLD in sprint, SILVER in Keirin and SILVER in 1km TT
Thomas McFarlane - SILVER in scratch race, BRONZE in sprint and fourth in 1km TT
In other cycling news, VIS athlete Alistair Donohoe was named the 2015 Victorian Cyclist of the Year and the Victorian Paracyclist of the Year. The evergreen Carol Cooke was named the female Victorian Paracyclist of the Year, while Kelland O’Brien and Caitlin Ward were named the male and female Victorian Track Cyclists of the Year respectively. Young gun Godfrey Slattery was awarded the Victorian Junior Athlete of the Year (Road and Track). Congratulations to all the Award recipients!
