08.25.10 -Young Sprinters Show Their Guns

First day of Track Nationals results in new Sprint Champions

(Bromont, QB – August 24, 2010) Athletes from across Canada were welcomed by the sun on the first day of the 2010 Track National Championships in Bromont Quebec. The U17 riders raced in the Canadian version of an Omnium with the 500 meters and sprint tournament on the first day of competition.

Less than 0.2 seconds separated the U17 male riders in the first Omnium event. Marc Antoine Noel (Equipe de Quebec) had the fastest time of 36.622 over 500 meters and Justin Mallet (Atlantic Cycling Centre) was second in 36.725 with Alberta rider Eric Johnstone in third. Noel maintained his lead in the Omnium by out-sprinting Adrian George of Team Ontario, with Mallet out-sprinting Lambert Gatineau of Equipe de Quebec.

The U17 women started with Equipe de Quebec sweeping the top three spots with Laurence Paquette, Marie-Eve Poisson, and Anne-Marie Jean. In the sprint tournament, Paquette maintained her lead by winning the sprints in a fiercely contested battle with Ottawa Bike Club racer Bailin Xie. Poisson finished the sprints in third with Jean in 4th.

The Junior riders spent most of the day sprinting with some impressive heats. After watching the U17 men perform track stands, the juniors followed suit with some impressive bike handling skills, strong tactics, and exciting races. Training partners from Ontario, Daniel McKenzie-Picot and Kris Ovsenek each won one round in the semi-finals with Ovsenek winning the third ride and advancing to the Gold medal final to face off with BC rider Scott Mulder. After winning silver last year, Mulder had his eye on the top step of the podium and that is where he finished with Ovsenek in second and McKenzie-Picot winning two heats against Joakim Albert for third.

The Junior Women’s final also showed strong racing between World Championship teammates Florence Laplante-Lamarche from Ontario and Allison Beveridge from Alberta. The Albertan fought hard, but Laplante-Lamarche, who was also second last year, walked away with the Gold. Audrey Labrie from Quebec won the bronze.

Tomorrow the U17’s complete the Omnium, while Juniors and Elite Endurance riders contest a variety of events, including Tara Whitten who will be racing in the World Champion stripes in the Points Race.