River City Speed Skating Tour a teaser ahead of the nationals in Whanganui next month
The cream of New Zealand's skaters were eager to perform at the 11th annual St John's Club River City Speed Skating in Whanganui at the weekend with the national championship just a month away at the same venues.
The Premier Men had a blend of senior and junior skaters. Whanganui's Andrew Jones started his campaign with a convincing win in the 200m time trial but soon had to relinquish the yellow jersey to Hadley Beach, from Dunedin.
Jones kept in touch with a strong finish to win the 5k at Mitre 10 and secured second-place prize money behind Beach in the final standings.
Timaru's Keaton Swindels took out the long track time trial at Mitre 10 and finished third on points. The diminutive figure of 14-year-old Chase Morpeth, Whanganui, was the standout of the younger skaters, with a runaway win in the 3000m at Jubilee Stadium leaving NZ's best senior skaters in his wake. He was also second to Beach in the 400m in a lunge by a wheel to finish a creditable fourth overall on points.
Whanganui's Drew Brennan, also 14, was another junior to finish ahead of some of the senior men. He was fifth on points. The special stage was won by Mt Wellington's Josh Wood.
A strong field of Premier Ladies had NZ's best on show.
The division was dominated by South Island skaters with Timaru's Charlie Neven taking top honours. Holly Ward (Nelson) was second and Blenheim's Erin Green third.
The special stage was won by Hutt Valley's Georgia Hurley.
World-class competitors dominated the Masters grades with the 2017 World Marathon winner Brett MacCormack too strong for the field, winning all the longer events with ease but local Paul Cleeve was quick enough to win the sprint events and secure second on tour points. Manawatū's Andy McDonnell was third and local Johnmen Zhang fourth.
In the special stage, which was raced on quads, local club stalwart Gary Clark was too good for the field in the old race format.
The Masters Ladies was won by Krystine Davies, who was also crowned World Marathon Champion in 2017 and was unbeatable in the longer events but it was her daughter Melissa White, who was fast enough to win the sprints and secure second behind her mum on overall points. Fast-improving Crystal Denbee was third. White also won the quad race special stage.
The Cadet grades featured a lot of newcomers to the sport.
The Cadet Ladies grade was won by 13-year-old Michaela MacDonald from Nelson after a lot of close finishes with local Tazia Parker, aged 12.
Parker had the last word, winning the 1500m at Jubilee and finished second on points overall. Third was Paige Horn, from Blenheim.
Manawatu's Nathan Bedford was too strong for the Cadet boys field, winning all but one of the stages. Local 11-year-old Micky Zhang, clearly the fastest on the slick Jubilee floor, won the 400m and was second in all other stages to finish second on points. Third was another Whanganui newcomer, 10-year-old Austin Clifford and fourth was Brydon Wason (Whanganui). Clifford also won the special stage clockwise 500m.
Kyla Beveridge from Timaru dominated the Juvenile girls' division, winning every stage with ease. This was the only grade without local starters.
Timaru's Callum Sandri had the Juvenile boys' grade all wrapped up, winning every stage from Benoit Musely from Nelson and Storm Woolley from Manawatū. Mathew Clifford, another Whanganui newcomer, skated well to finish 4th.
The Primary Boys and Girls were mixed together and 7-year-old local Eden Wason won the time trial to start her tour with the yellow jersey. The boys got the better of her over the longer distances and she finished third on points and the first girl.
The Whanganui Club is looking forward to hosting the New Zealand Inline Speed Skating Championships starting at Kōwhai Park on December 29-30 and at Jubilee Stadium from December 31 to January 2. The 42km marathon will be at Manfield raceway in Feilding on January 3.
Whanganui Chronicle 3/12/20
