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South Island Cross Country Cup #3- NE
Coronet Peak, New Zealand, February 15, 2009
Northcott and Sheppard win South Island series final round
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Mike Northcott and Samara Sheppard won the third and final round of the New Zealand South Island Cross Country Cup at Coronet Peak ski field. The race was run on a 5.3km lap with stunning views over the Lake Wakatipu area. However, riders had no time to enjoy the scenery while completing between three and seven laps per category.
Top place-getter Mike Northcott led from the start of the seven-lap elite men's race with Brendon Sharratt passing him during lap five to lead briefly. Sharratt faded slightly in lap six, finally finishing third with Marcus Roy taking second place.
"It was a good battle with Brendon for most of the race," said Northcott. "Marcus was looking strong on the last lap, so I lifted the tempo, and the others surely made me work for it but I am pleased with my win in the end."
Dirk Peters placed fourth in his first race in the elite men's category - his first race with the elites after being invited to race the category following impressive results in previous rounds racing the Under 19 junior men.
"It was a great opportunity to race in elite [field]," said Peters. "It was tough, but it made me really push myself and I am pleased with my result."
In the elite women's category, Samara Sheppard made a strong comeback after less successful racing at rounds one and two. Sheppard was all smiles as she crossed the finish line.
"It was an awesome course, and Jeannette kept it challenging," said Sheppard. Jeannette Gerrie placed second with Katherine O'Neill battling it out for third.
BikeNZ Chief Executive Kieran Turner also participated in the race, placing fifth in the Masters men 30-40 category. Turner was impressed with the level of racing and particularly pleased with the venue.
Riders will now look forward to the New Zealand National Mountain Bike Championships, which are being held in Nelson February 26 to March 1.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Shanine Hermsen
- Mike Northcott puts his water bottle back in its cage while racing on his way to a win in round three of the South Island XC series in Queenstown.
Results
Elite men 1 Mike Northcott 2.06.33 2 Marcus Roy 0.29 3 Brendon Sharratt 1.24 4 Dirk Peters 1.47 5 Ash Hough 3.00 6 George Bennett 3.02 7 Craig Tolson 7.16 8 Jon Richardson 8.05 9 Connor Power 8.45 10 Carl Jones 10.21 11 Gavin McCarthy 10.55 12 Mark Williams 11.51 13 Oliver Whalley 12.13 14 Scott Green 13.05 Lapped 15 Brad Tilby 16 Tim Madgwick 17 Jeremy Inglis DNF Mickey Fan DNF Tony Hogg Elite women 1 Samara Sheppard 1.48.15 2 Jeanette Gerrie 0.48 3 Katherine O'Neill 3.40 4 Cathy Hamer 4.46 5 Sarah Taylor 4.48 6 Erin Greene 8.03 7 Karen Collins 14.12 DNF Sara Macdonald Under 19 men 1 Logan Horn 1.53.10 2 Locky McArthur 0.37 3 Richard Anderson 0.40 4 Bradley Hudson 0.59 5 Adrian Retief 2.10 6 Ethan Glover 2.21 7 Samuel Shaw 7.33 8 Conor Corbett 12.17 9 Jeff Notman 14.34 Lapped 10 Cameron McHardy 11 Edward Jackson DNF Jamie Hawke DNF Kieran Hambrook DNF Joshua Wight DNF William Bowman DNF James Gilmour Under 19 women 1 Sarah McDonald 1.13.57 2 Rachel Richards 4.30 Under 15 men 1 Craig Oliver 1.05.58 2 Fabian Wybrow 12.09 Under 17 men 1 Anton Cooper 1.12.47 2 Joel MacMillan 8.18 3 Jake Glover 10.02 4 Sean Hambrook 12.49 5 Tayla Harrison 13.31 6 Connor Jenkins 31.04 DNS Oli Austin DNS Jed Findlay Senior men 1 David Clark 1.18.11 2 Andrew Wong 1.50 3 Kurt Lancaster 3.49 4 Mark Richards 5.06 5 Kadin Morse 10.42 6 Sam Thompson 11.50 DNF Stephen Blissett DNF Tom Klibby Senior women 1 Amy Laird 1.12.48 2 Sam Yeo 6.25 3 Celia Lie 12.20 Masters 30+ men 1 Kyle Wood 1.16.31 2 Nick Emery 2.46 3 Paul Kelly 11.31 4 Ben Phillips 12.54 5 Kieran Turner 20.42 6 Richard Mackley 23.24 DNF Josh Findlay DNS Andrew Ballantyne Masters 30+ women 1 Hannah Thorne 1.08.23 2 Bridget McMillan 18.22 Masters 40+ men 1 Wayne Park 1.26.15 2 Bruce Jenkins 1.25 3 Steven Sawyers 1.51 4 Tony Middendorf 3.48 5 Martin MacDonald 6.47 DNF Brendan Cook DNS Ian McDonald DNS Karl Ratahi Masters 50+ men 1 Geoffry Hunt 1.41.58 Fastest men's laps 1 Mike Northcott (Pro men) 0.18.05 2 Marcus Roy (Pro men) 0.04 3 Anton Cooper (Under 17 men) 0.07 4 Brendon Sharratt (Pro men) 0.12 5 Dirk Peters (Pro men) 0.15 6 Ash Hough (Pro men) 0.25 7 George Bennett (Pro men) 0.26 8 Logan Horn (Under 19 men) 0.47 Fastest women's laps 1 Samara Sheppard (Pro women) 0.21.39 2 Jeanette Gerrie (Pro women) 0.10 3 Katherine O'Neill (Pro women) 0.44
