Australian Track Championships - NESydney, Australia, March 17-28, 2000Main page Women sprint Men sprint JU19 Men 1000m TT Men 20km scratch JU19 Women 20km points Day 5 - March 23Women's sprintThe women's sprint saw yesterday's top two qualifiers, Michelle Ferris and Lyndelle Higginson (both Victoria) battle it out in the final after making comparatively short work of their opponents in the lead up rounds. Ferris, as fastest qualifier yesterday earned herself one national title and tonight she was able to make it two as she beat arch rival Higginson in straight heats. However, it was anything but easy as she admitted afterwards: the second final saw Ferris come from behind but only just beating Higginson on the line. "Trust me it was tough tonight," she said. "Lyndelle made it really difficult. I was mentally prepared, and feeling strong, but she pushed me all the way." Ferris was very relieved with the result and will try and make it three tomorrow in the 500 m time trial, but has not done any specific preparation for that event. It was a significant win for Ferris, who has been beaten in recent months by Higginson in many smaller events. She was extremely nervous, as she knew that this race was being watched by the national selectors in particular. To gain one up on Higginson will set her up for the year, with only 170 days to go until the Olympics. "This is the one I wanted," she said. "She's been on top of me for a few months now - I really wanted that edge over Lyndelle. Last year, I had a lot of problems with injury so this was important." It was definitely a big confidence boost for Michelle who is now "back on track" to contest the sole Olympic spot in the Women's sprint. There are two available in the 500m time trial, so there is significantly less pressure there, however she could easily take that one in her stride tomorrow. Results Semi Finals Heat 1 1 Michelle Ferris (Vic) 12.358 12.751 2 Rahna Demarte (Vic) Heat 2 1 Lyndelle Higginson (Vic) 12.451 12.729 2 Rosalee Hubbard (SA) 5th-8th 5 Rochelle Gilmore (NSW) 6 Sandra Smith (WA) 7 Linda Hall (NSW) 8 Chloe Jack (Qld) Final Bronze medal ride off 1 Rosalee Hubbard (SA) 12.248 12.65 2 Rahna Demarte (Vic) Gold medal ride off 1 Michelle Ferris (Vic) 12.504 12.141 2 Lyndelle Higginson (Vic) Final Rank 1 Michelle Ferris (Vic) 2 Lyndelle Higginson (Vic) 3 Rosalee Hubbard (SA) 4 Rahna Demarte (Vic) 5 Rochelle Gilmore (NSW) 6 Sandra Smith (WA) 7 Linda Hall (NSW) 8 Chloe Jack (Qld) Men's sprintQualifying 1 Sean Eadie (NSW) 10.368 (69.44 km/h) 2 Gary Neiwand (Vic) 10.412 3 Jobie Dajka (SA) 10.577 4 Danny Day (Qld) 10.588 5 Kane Selin (SA) 10.673 6 Ben Kersten (NSW) 11.010 7 Shaun Collins (Vic) 11.081 8 Gavin White (Vic) 11.272 9 Hisahi Aonuma (Jpn) 11.335 10 Darren Harry (WA) 11.352 11 David Short (NSW) 11.423 12 Masaya Narasaki (Jpn) 11.893 Round 1 Heat 1 1 Sean Eadie (NSW) 11.840 (60.81 km/h) 2 Masaya Naraskai (Jpn) Heat 2 1 Gary Neiwand (Vic) 12.436 (57.90 km/h) 2 David Short (NSW) Heat 3 1 Jobie Dajka (SA) 11.310 (63.66 km/h) 2 Darren Harry (WA) Heat 4 1 Danny Day (Qld) 11.269 (63.89 km/h) 2 Hisashi Aonuma (Jpn) Heat 5 1 Kane Selin (SA) 12.420 (57.97 km/h) 2 Gavin White (Vic) Heat 6 1 Ben Kersten (NSW) 11.627 (61.92 km/h) 2 Shaun Collins (Vic) Round one repechage Heat 1 1 Shaun Collins (Vic) 11.913 (60.44 km/h) 2 Hisashi Aonuma (Jpn) 3 Masaya Narasaki (Jpn) Heat 2 1 Gavin White (Vic) 11.508 (62.57 km/h) 2 David Short (NSW) 3 Darren Harry (WA) JU19 Men 1000m time trial1 Mark Renshaw (NSW) 1.05.908 (54.62 km/h) 2 Ryan Bayley (WA) 1.06.880 3 Kial Stewart (ACT) 1.07.644 4 Peter Fitzpatrick (NSW) 1.07.959 5 Brodie Cullen (WA) 1.08.255 6 Jason Niblett (Vic) 1.08.900 7 Stephen Rossendell (Tas) 1.08.953 8 Adam Carter (Vic) 1.09.411 9 Bradley Evans (Vic) 1.09.640 10 Stuart Appleyard (NSW) 1.09.695 11 Scott Dixon (NSW) 1.09.746 12 Troy Dajka (SA) 1.10.185 13 Jono Hamlin (NZl) 1.10.543 14 William Hodgetts (SA) 1.10.701 15 Robert Edge (Vic) 1.11.302 16 Richard Bowker (NZl) 1.11.731 Men 20km scratchThe men's 20 kilometer scratch was an important one in terms of Olympic selection, despite the fact that it is not an Olympic event. However, top performers in this race would boost their chances in the points and madison selection, so the race was fiercely contested. Two very experienced riders were in the field - Brett Aitken (SA) and Stephen Pate (Vic). Both are very keen to get that second madison spot with Scott McGrory as a likely partner. The race was very tactical - the South Australians were lacking a little in speed, however the rest of the field were mainly sprinters. Each of the SA riders took it in turns attacking, although none could get clear of the bunch for too long. However, the tactics served their purpose with the edge being taken off the sprinters in the race. With three laps to go, a move of tactical genius (and more than a little strength) saw South Australia's Gene Bates put a dangerous gap in the field. Teammates Brett Aitken and Luke Roberts could just sit back and defend, while the other states chased the break down with their last reserves. With one to go, Bates was caught but the damage was done. Tasmanian Nathan Clarke led out with Aitken in second wheel. No trouble at all for Aitken to come around for a well earned win from Stephen Pate and Graham Brown (NSW). Afterwards, Aitken was very happy with his team tactics: "This is the best win I've had for a while," he said. "Everything worked out perfectly. Gene went with 3 to go, and I had plenty of legs left for the sprint. I was just happy to sit on the wheel and come round." "It was an important event for me for the Olympics, because one of the races I'm aiming at is the madison. You have to be the strongest and the smartest to do well, and I think I showed that tonight," said Aitken, who certainly showed his class in the event and still had plenty left. Results 1 Brett Aitken (SA) 2 Stephen Pate (Vic) 3 Graeme Brown (NSW) 4 Scott Suckling (WA) 5 Nathan Clarke (Tas) 6 Edward Hollands (WA) 7 Gene Bates (SA) 8 Ashley Hutchinson (Qld) 9 Stephen Wooldridge (NSW) 10 Luke Roberts (NSW) 11 Darren Young (Vic) 12 Joel Leonard (Vic) DNF Paul Dobson (WA) DNF Christopher Klem (Qld) DNF Daniel Morrison (Qld) DNF Stephen Fitzpatrick (NSW) DNF Masaya Narasaki (Jpn) DNF Tsuyoshi Ikeda (Jpn) DNF Hisashi Aonuma (Jpn) JU19 Women 20km points score1 Katherine Bates (NSW) 30 pts 2 Katrina Purcell (Vic) 19 3 Fiona Dwyer (NSW) 16 4 Belinda Goss (Tas) 16 5 Rachel Rademaker (Vic) 5 6 Meg Sulzberger (Tas) 5 7 Amanda Davis (Qld) 3 8 Katie Brown (NSW) 3 9 Kristine Bayley (WA) 2 10 Kylie Hattenfels (NSW) 0 DNF Paula Sutton (ACT) DNF Vanessa Crawford (Vic) DNF Helen Wray (SA) DNF Kerrie Meares (Qld) DNF Millie Brewer (ACT) DNF Stephanie Muscat (NT) |