|
|
|
Last Updated: Jul 29th, 2008 - 21:29:23 |
ZIPP ALL-IRELAND NATIONAL TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS
By Hugh Byrne, CI Track Commission PRO
Jul 28, 2008,
|
Email this article
|
The first day of the National Track Championships at Sundrive Road saw a record number of riders ride the Pursuit in each of the categories at Senior, Junior, Ladies & Tandem. This did lead to a frustrating delay between the flying 200 and early rounds of the sprints and the quarter final stages of the Sprint but we did manage to get though the days program and were treated to some the best sprinting we have seen in Sundrive in recent years. We also had our Paralympians on show and all Beijing bound athletes were in peak condition and dominant in their fields looking splendid in their An Post kit. It was especially pleasing to see tandem pilot Joanna Hickey fully recovered from a collar bone break sustained in the Dunboyne 3 Day earlier this year and reunited with her stoker Catherine Walsh
The day started with the flying 200 qualifier which saw Michael Mulcahy (Cycling Pursuits) lay down a marker as fastest qualifier. The top 16 went through to a sudden death 2-up qualifier with your 200 time determining your seeding and opponent. No major surprises here but unfortunately Mulcahy had to dispatch one of his team-mates to progress and went on to come across another Cycling Pursuit rider in the quarters. There was great strength and depth from the Liam Collins stable, with most of their training done on a quiet stretch of road where they practice standing starts, accelerations and sprints. It's nearly unthinkable what they could achieve had they any sort of facility down in Limerick!
Next was the Pursuit Qualifiers with the experienced pursuiters Paul Healion (South Dublin CC) and Simon Coughlan (Donamon Dynamos) coming to the fore and qualifying for the Gold/Silver ride off. No surprises here but an impressive performance from Colm Cassidy (Usher) in his first ever effort at any type of track race saw him ride 3rd fastest to qualify for the bronze ride off. The final saw Healion ride even faster, notching up fast lap after fast lap increasing the pace on his penultimate and final laps. Colm caught his rider to take the bronze.
In the ladies race Louise Moriarty dominated the Pursuit qualification as expected . Heather Boyle (Ravens) just edged out Aideen Collard (Orwell Dundrum TC) to qualify for the Gold Silver ride off but Louise was just too strong. The fight for the bronze was an exciting affair with Jennifer O'Reilly (Ravens) turning on a serious challenge but Aideen stamped her authority on it over the closing laps to take the medal.
Then it was back to quarter final stages of the sprint when local favourites Keith Meghen and Brendan Whelan (Lucan) were pitted against each other much as was the case for the Cycling Pursuits riders. Both riders have had many battles in the League at Sundrive this season where they have consistently been our best sprinters and the ever-improving Brendan took the win 2-0 on this occasion. Brendan then overcame Colm Sevatopulo in his semi while Micheal had a tough match against William Connolly. Youth prevailed in the final with Mulcahy taking the gold. He was superb last season when he burst onto the track sprinting scene and at 19 years of age he is certainly one for the future too.
The Ladies sprint saw Aideen Collard beaten by Louise Moriarty in the final, while the two Ravens girls had ding-dong battle for bronze with Jennifer O'Reilly edging out team mate Heather Boyle 2-1.
Sundays program saw Stephen Barrett (Geoff Thomas RT) take the men's kilo title from another Cycling Pursuits rider Ivan Casey by just over 2/10ths of a second! Keith Meghen took bronze. As expected Louise took gold in the Ladies, while Jonny Beers just had the edge on Jonny Cole in the Junior 500. The Beijing bound Peelo/Delaney pairing continued on their clean sweep of Tandem Gold.
The final two events on the Sunday were the Men's & Ladies scratch races run over 35 and 25 laps respectively. Both races had plenty of action with Ailbhe Ivory stirring things up in the ladies race on lap 1, which triggered attacks & counters until Joanna Hickey got nearly half a lap clear when she attack just as pre race favourite Louise Moriarty was at the back. Louise was eventually forced to take matters into he own hand and chase Joanna down with the bunch in tow. Further attacks were treated with more diligence until eventually Louise broke clear on her own and held the bunch at bay for about 8 laps until the bunch eventually decided it might be more prudent to concentrate on the race for Silver & Bronze. Special mention to young rider Rachel Withers who rode so well in this race, never far from the front. She gave it a good go as she did in all events over the weekend and one to watch, as is Ailbhe Ivory, in future years
The men's race race had an even more frantic start with repeated attacks from Cycling Pursuits who had 4 riders in the race. This didn't quite get the desired result – in fact, it basically blitzed the field including the Cycling Pursuits contingent, and when a dangerous trio of Diarmuid Cronin (South Dublin CC) , William Connolly (Pezula) and John Lynch (Bray) got clear, the writing was on the wall.
These were soon joined by David Peelo, and Ciaran Steed - both from Muphy Surveyors - and this was bad news for anyone who didn't get into this break. A relentless chase continued which eventually took its toll, but three riders persisted and it nearly paid off when they made contact with 2 to go as the leaders started playing cagey. Before they got any chance to recover Ciaran Steed launched a blistering attack and held on to take his first win in two years…but quite an important one!
Glorious sunshine all weekend; now there's a first.
----------
ZIPP IRELAND National Track Championships:
Senior Men’s Sprint:
1, Michael Mulcahy (Cycling Pursuits)
2, Brendan Whelan (Stagg Lucan)
3, William Connolly (Pezula)
Ladies Sprint:
1, Louise Moriarty (UCD)
2, Aideen Collard (Orwell Dundrum TC)
3, Jennifer O'Reilly (Ravens CRT)
Junior Sprint:
1, Aaron Buggle (South Dublin CC)
2, Michael Duffy (Donamon Dynamos)
3, Jonny Beers (East Antrim)
Tandem Sprint:
1, Dave Peelo / Michael Delaney (Tandem Cycling Ireland)
2, John Lynch / Andy Fitzgerald (Tandem Cycling Ireland)
3, Joanna Hickey / Catherine Walsh (Tandem Cycling Ireland)
Senior Mens Pursuit (4k):
1, Paul Healion (South Dublin CC)
2, Simon Coughlan (Donamon Dynamos)
3, Colm Casssidy (Usher)
Ladies Pursuit (3k):
1, Louise Moriarty (UCD)
2, Heather Boyle (Ravens CRT)
3, Aideen Collard (Orwell Dundrum TC)
Junior Pursuit (3k):
1, Aaron Buggle (South Dublin CC)
2, Marcus Christie (Usher)
3, Michael Duffy (Donamon Dynamos)
Tandem Pursuit:
1, Dave Peelo / Michael Delaney (Tandem Cycling Ireland)
2, John Lynch / Andy Fitzgerald (Tandem Cycling Ireland)
3, Ger Ivory / Denis Toomey (Tandem Cycling Ireland)
Senior Men’s 1km TT:
1, Stephen Barrett (Geoff Thomas RT)
2, Ivan Casey (Cycling Pursuits)
3, Keith Meghan (Sundrive Track Club)
Ladies 500m TT:
1, Louise Moriarty (UCD)
2, Joanna Hickey (Usher)
3, Aideen Collard (Orwell Dundrum TC)
Junior 500m TT:
1, Jonny Beers (East Antrim)
2, Jonny Cole (Team Madigan)
Tandem 1km TT:
1, Dave Peelo / Michael Delaney (Tandem Cycling Ireland)
2, Joanna Hickey / Catherine Walsh (Tandem Cycling Ireland)
3, Ger Ivory / Denis Toomey (Tandem Cycling Ireland)
Men’s Senior Scratch (35 Laps):
1, Ciaran Steed (Murphy Surveyors)
2, William Connolly (Pezula)
3, Dave Peelo (Murphy Surveyors)
Ladies Scratch (25 Laps):
1, Louise Moriarty (UCD)
2, Joanna Hickey (Usher)
3, Aideen Collard (Orwell Dundrum TC)
Thanks to Hugh for a very comprehensive report. Results to follow soon.
|
|
|
|
