Oceania Track Cycling Championships – Day 4 Wrap

New Zealand found the Commonwealth Games-medal winning Australian combinations in compelling form on the final night of the Oceania Track cycling Championships in Adelaide last night.

Their Delhi gold medal winning crews proved too strong in the men’s and women’s team pursuit and team sprint although the newer New Zealand combinations had some more than useful competition ahead of the World Cup in Melbourne next week as well as important UCI qualifying points towards the London Olympics.

The youthful New Zealand sprint trio of Eddie Dawkins, Ethan Mitchell and Sam Webster had another nailbiter against Australia in the final today and like Delhi there was only a blink of the eye between the two teams. The hosts got home in 44.713 with New Zealand only 2/10ths of a second behind.

The men’s 4000m individual pursuit was dominated by the top Australian combination including the outstanding Cameron Meyer who also teamed with Leigh Howard to win the Madison. It took some Meyer magic for them to gain the crucial lap over the field after the kiwi pairing of Aaron Gate and Myron Simpson had worked their way into a competitive points haul.

The legendary Olympic and Commonwealth Games champion Anna Meares won the women’s keirin final with Southland’s Natasha Hansen grabbing the bronze.

The untried New Zealand combination of Kaytee Boyd, Lauren Ellis, Jaime Nielsen pushed hard but had to bow to Australia in the women’s 3000m team pursuit final as they look to build depth in this new Olympic discipline.

A full-strength Australia proved further advanced in their campaign with the Melbourne event their key target with New Zealand looking to peak later into the New Year and on to the world championships in March.

Results:

Men, team pursuit qualifying: Australia 1 4:05.832, 1; New Zealand (Aaron Gate, Cameron Karwowski, Myron Simpson, Jason Allen) 4:10.902, 2; Australia Institute 4:15.803, 3. Final: Australia 4:02.270, 1; New Zealand 4:08.280, 2.

Madison: Australia 1 (Leigh Howard, Cameron Meyer) 21 points, 1; NZL (Aaron Gate, Myron Simpson) 1 lap, 24 pts, 2; Australia 2 (Edmondson, Benson) 1 lap, 8 pts, 3.

Team Sprint: Australia 44.713, 1; New Zealand (Eddie Dawkins, Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster) 44.967, 2; Aust Institute 45.698, 3.

Under-19 Team Pursuit qualifying: Australia 1 4:17.975, 1; New Zealand 4:24.366, 2; Australia 2 4:25.371, 3. Final: Australia 4:15.676, 1; New Zealand (Jacob Junghanns, Kennett, Hayden McCormick, Pieter Bulling) 4:18.744, 2.

Omnium final: Mitchell Benson (AUS) 16 points, 1; Alexander Edmondson (AUS) 18, 2; Jack Cummings (AUS) 28, 3. Also: Dylan Kennett (NZL) 45, 6.

Under-17 Keirin final: Emerson Harwood (AUS) 1, Tom Beadle (NZL) 2, Luke Parker (AUS) 3.

Women:

Keirin, qualifiers: Heat 1: Anna Meares (AUS) 1, Holly Mitchell (AUS) 2. Heat 2: Natasha Hansen (NZL) 1, Stephanie Morton (AUS) 2. Heat 3: Emily Rosemond (AUS) 1, Cassandra Kell (AUS) 2. Repechage 1: Henrietta Mitchell (NZL) 1, Catherine Culvenor (AUS) 2, Paige Paterson (NZL) 3. Semifinal 1: Meares 1, Jelbert 2, Rosemond 3. Semifinal 2: Hansen 1, Williams 2, Jennings 3. Final: Meares 1, Rosemond 2, Hansen 3.

3000m team pursuit qualifying: Australia 1 3:29.378, 1; New Zealand 1 (Kaytee Boyd, Lauren Ellis, Jaime Nielsen) 3:31.570, 2; New Zealand 2 (Sequoia Cooper, Gemma Dudley, Alexandra Neems) 3:37.761, 3; Australia Institute 3:42.623, 4. Final: Australia 3:27.856, 1; New Zealand 3:28.638, 2. Bronze: Australia Institute 3:35.433, 3; NZL 2 3:38.089. 4.