Track racing saw several tight finishes during the North Island Schools Cycling Championships July 7 – 9. Photo – Michael Jeans.
The North Island Schools Cycling Championships wrapped up last Monday with some stellar results for our local riders. In total, Cambridge cyclists pulled in a massive haul of over 60 medals.
Cambridge High School’s cycling coach Colin Dixon described the weekend as “incredibly successful”.
“As coach I was extremely proud of the team,” he said. “They worked hard all weekend but were incredibly supportive of their teammates which pleased me just as much.”
Cambridge High School’s senior girls team ahead of the time trial, Grace Kelly, Mya Anderson, Sammi Ogle, Summer Williams and Nia Dixon. Photo – Michael Jeans.
The Cambridge High cyclists collected a huge number of podium placings during the road racing rounds over Saturday and Sunday, with Jaxson Russell winning the under 15 boys road race, Matt Davis winning the under 15 boys criterium, Reuben Webster placing third in the under 17 boys criterium and Maui Morrison placing second in the under 14 boys criterium and third in the road race.
“Our real success came at the track,” said Dixon, where the CHS girls were named as the top girls team overall.
Cambridge High School’s Summer Williams (294) puts power on the pedals as racing gets underway. Photo – Michael Jeans.
The senior girls – Nia Dixon, Summer Williams, Mya Anderson and Sammi Ogle – also won their under 20 team pursuit, and the latter two won the under 20 sprint. The senior boys – Matt Berry, Patrick Clancy and Reuben Webster – won their under 20 team sprint, and Reuben was named as the top under 17 boy. In addition, Mya Anderson and her sister Keisha were named the top under 17 and top under 15 girls respectively, Jaxson Russell was named top under 15 boy and Matt Berry top under 20 boy.
Spectators and supporters turned out in full force. Photo – Michael Jeans.
The Cambridge High School boys also placed as the second top team, losing by a small margin to the St Peter’s boys team in first.
“We are really proud with how all our riders performed over the three-day event,” said Fiona Carswell, Head of Cycling at St Peter’s School. The school’s team captain, Ally Wollaston won three gold medals in the under 20 division, taking first in the road race, criterium and omnium.
She also won every individual track event she raced in to take out the best overall under 20 women’s track title.
Ally Wollaston (St Peter’s) pedals her way into the lead. Photo – Michael Jeans.
“Being named best female track cyclist was very rewarding, as I can see the benefits of my hard training over the past weeks,” Ally said. “The large number of competitors in my field made for hard and fast racing which was great training for my build up towards Junior Worlds in August.” Straight after the competition ended, Ally joined the rest of the NZ junior elite team for world champs training this week.
St Peter’s cyclists get going in the first leg of the road race. Photo – Michael Jeans.
Another St Peter’s student, Jack Carswell also won all of his individual track races to earn the overall under 16 boys track title, also winning two golds with the teams pursuits and team sprint, in addition to his six individual gold medals, including first in the under 16 boys road race and criterium.
Cambridge High School’s cycling team were all smiles after a successful weekend. Photo – Michael Jeans.
