Medal Haul at North Island Road and Track Cycling Championships

With thanks to Tessa Jenkins

Our College Road Cycling and Track teams represented Saint Kentigern at the North Island and National Championships and received outstanding results. The Road team consisting of 35 riders, four coaches, one manager and an entourage of parents competed in the North Island Schools Cycling Champs in Cambridge and placed third overall, while the track team consisting of 10 riders and two coaches walked away with 13 medals in the New Zealand Schools National and North Island Schools Track Championships. Between the Cycling and Track events, the College received 17 medals. Well done!

Cycling: Our Year 7/8 A Boys team consisting of Ben Archer, Holly Bishop and Alex Bishop completed their 9km course in a great time and gained Silver. It was a great effort considering we only had three riders. The U16 Boys A team consisting of Coen Anderson, Jamie Cantell-Roberts, Joshua Gordon-Glassford and Luca Cutfield completed the 16km course, in which they gained a fantastic Bronze. Our U20 Girls A team consisting of Sophie Spencer, Ruby Spring, Olivia Rooney, Maddie Ballard and Zara Jancys, took home the Silver and were just six seconds off the winning Epsom Girls Grammar Team, and their best result in several years. 

The start of the road race saw slightly warmer conditions. The course was based around the Countryside of Cambridge, with a challenging 1km hill climb in the middle of it. Ruby Spring rode a very impressive race, was handy up the climbs and outclassed her entire U17 Girls field to take the Gold! 

Sunday saw freezing temperatures at Lake Karapiro Domain, ahead of the day’s criterium racing. Ben Archer followed up his outstanding performance in the road race with a Silver in the U14 Boys criterium, taking the lead with another rider half a lap before the final sprint. Dorothy Anderson sprinted herself to an impressive Bronze in the U14 Girls, with a tight finish contested. She rode smart and saved her energy for the final sprint. Our U15 Boys launched several attacks with Ethyn Brooks, Hunter Dalton, Finn Cogan and Jamie Cantell Roberts finding themselves at the front of the race, making it an exciting race to watch. In the end, Jamie launched his sprint into a hotly fought Bronze. Maddie Ballard showed her track skills in the U16 Girls, riding smart and hiding in the bunch until the final climb into the finish to earn herself a well-deserved Bronze. The U17 Girls was a very fast-paced criterium and saw Ruby Spring cross the finish line to take her Silver medal in style. We had several commendable performances in both the A grades and the B grades. 

Track: The first day of racing was the Scratch races, the first of three events in the overall Omnium format for the medals. Ruby Spring took home 2nd in the U17 Girls with an action-packed sprint and Jamie Cantell-Roberts 2nd, also in the U15 Boys in the hotly contested finish. 

The final day of our North Islands racing included Hunter Ballard getting up to 3rd in the 515 Scratch race, spinning his absolute heart out in a field of young and fiery boys of the U14 Boys. The next event of the day saw Finn Cogan take a 3rd in the A final of the U15 Boys 515 Scratch after flying off the start line in true BMX style. Ruby Spring had strong performances in both the heats and finals of the U17 Girls Keirin to claim yet another 2nd placing. 

The final evening of racing saw Ruby take the overall Silver medal for the North Island and also the National Championship Silver medal in the U17 Girls, taking her medal haul to 4/4 from the road racing. Hunter Ballard stamped his mark in the final event, Point a Lap and moved his way up into 2nd, with the North Islands U14 Boys Silver medal going his way and a very impressive Bronze on the National Championship podium.

Track Team: Hunter Ballard, Jamie Cantell- Roberts, Hunter Dalton, Finn Cogan, Noah Johnson, Ethyn Brooks, Maddie Ballard, Ben Stewart, Ruby Spring, Mitch Frazer