Brunswick Cycling Club

The Club Track Championships for 2009 have been run and won. As per tradition, the club’s track champions are determined by points awarded for placings in three events (Brunswick CC’s version of the omnium!), the three events being the sprint, time trial and scratch race. All events took place at DISC. Originally it was planned to hold the senior championships on one night (Tuesday 31st March) and juniors the following Tuesday (7th April).

Time was against us for the senior championships, having run junior racing earlier in the evening, so it was decided that the sprint finals and scratch races would be held over and completed on the following Tuesday and the junior championship would start earlier (it was school holidays after all!!). All in all some great racing was seen and congratulations to all the divisional champions, place getters and competitors. As mentioned in the results, a big thank you to the volunteers who co-ordinated and officiated the championships, in particular Alf Walker (organising and running the championships), Nathan Fraser (setting up the timing equipment and judging), Geoff Shuffell and Lisa Hocking.

All results for the juniors and seniors session #1, session #2 and final standings are available in the results section of the website, but here is a brief run down of the action for the various divisions.

Women U19

We had two competitors, Jessica Morgan and Zara Comte.

Jessica won all three events to become the club champion, but it was in the last, the scratch race, that these two young ladies put on a very close race. Zara decided to make Jessica work hard for the win taking off prior to the bell (even Dave ‘the pink wiggle’ (and Jessica’s dad), spurred Zara on – not sure what Jessica thought of this!) and it wasn’t until the final metres that Jessica got her wheel to the front and took the win.

Men U19

Four competitors took to the track, Charlie Ronaldson took out the sprint and time trial overcoming Tom Scott in both events to take a commanding lead and seal the championships. Luca Giacomin took out the scratch race in dominant manner by breaking away and finishing solo and securing the bronze. Tom Scott’s consistent run of seconds was rewarded with the silver overall.

Men Masters 1&2 Combined

Ten masters took to the track and whilst former elite champion Chris Ray was dominant in all the events thanks to his sprinting prowess and was duly crowned 2009 MMAS1/2 club champion the real surprise was the performance of Jeff “Jay” Doughey who has only been riding the track for a few weeks and put in some impressive riding in the sprint and TT.

The scratch race proved a bit more daunting for Jay. but his performances earned him a silver medal. Chris Hickey’s placings in all events saw him claim the bronze medal.

Men Masters 3&4 Combined

Eleven masters in this category fronted the officials. Ian Nolan proved the dominant sprinter, but he was given a strong challenge in the sprint final by Phil Bushell. Phil tried every trick in the book – stalling, baulking, but Ian’s speed was unassailable. Ian won both the sprint and TT to claim the overall title. In the scratch race the pace was on from the gun (the lap times were only bettered by the elite riders – Masters 1&2 would have nearly been lapped!!!!!) and after a few laps Anthony Grech and Walter Dapcich were away and that’s the way it stayed with Walter Dapcich claiming the race and securing the overall silver and Phil with podium results in all three events claiming the overall bronze.

Men Masters 5+ Combined

Six men took to the DISC boards and little separated the top three. Robert DeBernardi claimed the TT and scratch race and Alan Comte the sprint. This sprint final was the only one of the whole championships that needed to go to a third round decider. Robert took the first heat by leading out and holding Alan off however Alan learnt from this and was determined to lead the following two heats to see him holding off Robert narrowly off in rounds 2 and 3 of the gold medal final. In the end Robert’s victories in the TT and Scratch were enough to take the championship gold (backing up from 2008), with Alan the silver and Tim Feltham the bronze by claiming points in every event.

Masters Women

Nonie Carr, Brunswick’s masters world champion, dominated all the events to become 2009 club champion. The fight for the minor placings was close with Claire Campbell claiming points in every event to get the Silver by one point from new Brunswick member Rebecca Williamson who walks away with the bronze.

An honorable mention goes to new member Sophie Patten who has only been racing for a couple of weeks but was competitive in all events.

Elite Men

2008 champion Oliver Phillips continued his run to claim the title in 2009, but he didn’t get all his way. Whilst he claimed both the sprint and TT events, Stuart Grimsey, the 2008 elite club road champion, pipped Oli in the scratch race to claim the silver overall. Special mention to Ben Ladner who placed in all the events to claim the bronze, but it was his ride in the scratch race which showed his fighting qualities – nearing the end of the race he was dropped by Oli and Stuart, but he fought to get back on, then with nothing to lose attacked but couldn’t hold off the charge and was overtaken at the bell.

Boys U11

Riley Hart proved the dominant rider claiming all events and the overall championship. Riley has had an outstanding year and this caps off a tremendous track season. The minor placings were taken by Nathan Bof (silver) and Nicolaj Thomas (bronze). All the boys, who still have many years of junior development, displayed some great riding and will no doubt be riders to watch in the future.

Girls U13

Two girls, Greta Curran and Faith Holloway, fought out the championships with Greta triumphant. Again, these girls are riders girls to watch in the future.

Boys U13

Paddy Martin claimed all three events to be crowned club champion for 2009. D.Cairns a consistent second in all events walks away with the silver medal and Isaac Pane claimed the bronze medal.

Girls U15

This division saw our two state representatives Vanessa Bof and Madeleine Cardillo square off for the title of club champion. Vanessa ended up winning the sprint and scratch race with Madeleine taking the TT. Vanessa claims the title and Madeleine the silver. Madeleine will no doubt want to reverse the order in the road championships later this year.

Boys U15

Liam Hood who was a reserve for the Victorian Track team this year dominated the championships winning all three event and claiming the title of club champion. Bryce Holloway rode consistently claiming points in all events to receive the silver medal with Christian Molina and James Pane tied for the bronze.

Girls U17

Ebony Clarke dominated the division, winning all three events and claiming the club champion title. Kimberley Morgan gave Ebony a run in the sprint and ended up finishing second in all events, claiming the silver medal. Matilda Wilson claimed third overall. Great to see the girls riding, especially Kimberley who only started riding at DISC this season and Matilda who has only been riding for a short time.

Boys U17

2008 club track champion and 2009 state track representative Shaun O’Callaghan won all events in a dominant display. In the flying 200m qualifying Shaun set the second fastest time of the championships, a terrific effort. Josh Vicino claimed the silver medal by claiming second placing in all three events and we had a three way tie for the bronze with Thomas Dapcich (sprint), Brendan Hood (TT) and Eddie Barrett (scratch) each collecting points in the captioned events.

Once again, congratulations to all the club champions and congratulations to all for their participation. Keep your eye on this website for details of the presentation night, to be held later in the year in conjunction with the road championship presentations.

All photos courtesy Janine Comte.

This entry was posted by W. Dapcich on Monday, April 13th, 2009 at 9:35 pm and is filed under Reports, Track.