Last weekend saw 11 Rockhampton Juniors head to Brisbane for the 2013 State Junior Road championships. Saturday was the Time Trials and Road Race at Mt Alford and Sunday the Criteriums were at the Albert Bishop Park Criterium Track in Nundah. Saturday morning turned up fine and frosty out at Mt Alford, fortunately the minimum was on 6 Deg so nice and warm for those parts. The Under 9 riders were first up at 9 am and it warmed up to about 10 deg by then. Caden Ruff was 2nd rider off and the top seed Dylan Devine from Goldstars starting a minute behind him. The week before at the Balmoral Junior tour Caden finished 51 seconds behind Dylan over the same distance so with Dylan averaging 29k/hr. Caden rode an excellent time trial and came in only 29 seconds slower than Dylan to take 2nd place with an average speed of 28.3 k/h. Next off was the Under 11’s with two riders in the girls Ellyssa Ruff and Kayla Brady there was a good chance of us being in the medals and the girls did not disappoint. Ellyssa came home in 1st Place with a 33 second buffer to 2nd and Kayla in 3rd only 9 seconds behind 2nd place. The under 13 Girls for the first time ever in Cycling Queensland history had as many competitors as the under 13 boys. Rockhampton Riders Danielle Ruff and Xanthe Newell took the race to their southern sisters with Danielle finishing in a very fast 2nd place and Xanthe in 4th. Less than 30 seconds separated the four girls. Both Ruff and Newell more than happy with their personal best times. Under 15 Girls, Rockhamptons sole competitor was Lara Tucker. Tucker had an awesome ride coming in 3rd but missing second by only 2 seconds. Under 15 Men saw Rockhampton with 3 competitors, Bailey Goltz, Lachlan Mathers and Reid Newell were to be at least in the top half of the field based on previous times. Unfortunately Newell had an accident early in the race and could not finish as he had damaged his helmet and his bike in the incident. Goltz went on to finish in 2nd place and Mathers in 11th. Our last Junior competitors were Brooke Tucker and Sarah Casey in the under17 women. Both are first year riders. Tucker finished in 6th place and Casey in 7th. Para cyclists were also competing for their state titles and Rockhampton had the Tandem pair of John Wood and Fred De Costa representing. They finished the 15klm course in 22 minutes neat, which earned them a Gold based on time. After an hour or so break the road races commenced with the Under 9 Riders taking to the course first up. Caden Ruff came in 2nd equidistance between 1st and 3rd in a very fast time. The under 11s started boys and girls together unfortunately there was a crash at the 1k mark which saw three riders come down, Kayla Brady was one of the riders that managed to get back on her bike and keep going. Fortunately Ellyssa Ruff was in front of the crash and managed to hold on for a 2nd placing from Balmoral rider Jessica Sherlock. Brady came in a very respectable 4th. With the young ones doing an out and back course the under 13’s were the first to do the much harder loop course of 23klms. Due to distance restrictions they had a neutral section before the race started. The hills took its toll on the Rocky girls, even so Danielle finished in 4th place and Xanthe in 6th. Great efforts considering the hills on the course. The under 15 and Under 17 women found the hills a little hard as well with Lara Tucker finishing 6th, Sarah Casey 6th and Brooke Tucker unable to finish. Under 15 boys had two laps with the first 7 klms under neutral conditions to meet their distance requirements. Sebastian Berwick from Balmoral broke as soon as the neutral period finished. Unfortunately both Rockhampton riders were caught behind a crash with Bailey Goltz damaging a wheel and having to chase back on after falling. Reid Newell missed the break with being caught up beside the crash. After one lap with Berwick out the front and Matthew Graham from sunshine coast out there chasing him down Newell decided to go it on his own and try and bridge the gap. Newell finished in a solid 3rd 1 minute ahead of the main field. Not a bad effort on a borrowed bike after damaging his in the crash in the Time Trial. Goltz finished 5th in the main field. The Para Cyclists John Wood and Fred De Costa finished three laps of the course to claim their gold medal. Day 2 saw the criteriums at Albert Bishop Park in Nundah. The course is fast and relatively smooth so racing was expected to be aggressive. The under 9s didn’t let us down with the pace on from the start. Caden Ruff finished with another silver medal to Dylan Devine from the Gold Coast. Ellyssa Ruff and Kayla Brady finished 2nd and 3rd respectively in the Under 11 Girls. Under 13 girls saw a complete change of pace. Each of the riders were watching the others. The stronger riders were well marked with Danielle Ruff doing a great job of covering attacks by the Balmoral riders. It came down to a sprint finish with two Balmoral riders taking the first two placings Danielle and Xanthe were fighting it out with one of the remaining Balmoral riders for 3rd place. In the End Xanthe took the 3rd with only a tyre in it. A very similar story with the Under 15 Women pace was on and off but they were all busy watching each other. Lara Tucker put in an exceptional sprint to just get beaten on the line and take silver. Her sister Brooke also took silver only just being beaten in the Under 17 Women. The under 15 Men saw a lot more pace than the girls with several serious attacks and fast pace for most of the race. Even with the regular attacks mos t of the field stayed together and it came to a fast bunch sprint with the first riders to attack from 1 to go. Seb Berwick took the win with Bailey Goltz in second, Lachlan Mathers 9th and Reid Newell 14th. Great effort from all the rocky riders. Reid and Bailey were both selected in the state team for Nationals in Wagga Wagga in September.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 05:29:43 +0000
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