Day one of the Vantage Age Group Track National Championships in Invercargill saw seven New Zealand records and two New Zealand Championship records broken.

Around 170 riders from around the country have come to the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome to battle it out for age group and Masters titles over the next three days.

Rising Canterbury star Laurence Pithie was the first to break a New Zealand record in the U17 2000m Individual Pursuit with a time of 2:15.674 in qualifying, to better the mark of Tasman’s Finn Fisher-Black. Pithie then followed this up in winning the gold medal during the evening’s final.

Laurence Pithie in action breaking the record in the U17 boys Individual Pursuit. Photo: Charlene Harvey

“It was a pretty tough ride this morning, and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to back it up tonight but I managed to do 0.5 sec of my morning time so I’m pretty pleased with that,” said Pithie.

There’s sure to be some more great riding from Pithie over the next few days as he’s entered in all events, including the scratch race and sprints today followed by points and team events over the weekend.

A number of records were also broken in the Masters races with Mandy Gumbley, Jeanie Blakemore, Graeme Litt, and Russell Ownsworth breaking their own records across Individual Pursuit and Time Trial.

Shane Melrose of Otago also broke the 1000m Time Trial record with a time of 1:09.353 in the Masters Men 1 while Tasman’s Roger Bates broke the Masters Men 9 500m Time Trial record with a time of 44.040.

Penny Pawson of Auckland also took the record of Southland’s Erin Criglington in the Masters Women 3 2000m Individual Pursuit with a time of 2:34.740.

Racing continues today with more Individual Pursuits and Time Trials as well as the sprint and scratch races.

For more information check out www.tracknationals.nz

Day 1 results:

Female, Individual Pursuit, 2000m:

Masters 6: Shona McGrath (Canterbury) 3:01.084, 1 (NZ Record). Masters 5: Mandy Gumbley (Auckland) 1:26.689, 1; Robyn de Haas (WBOP) 3:03.871, 2. Masters 3: Penny Pawson (Auckland) 2:34.819, 1 (NZ Record); Erin Criglington (Southland) 2:39.035, 2; Nicola Stevens (Southland) 2:44.387, 3; Sonya Barton (Southland) 2:52.708, 4. Masters 2: Jeannie Blakemore (Canterbury)( 2:37.341, 1; Leanne Dalley (Southland) 2:39.022, 2; Sandra Gatenby (WBOP) 2:48.550, 3; Claire Sherrington (WBOP) 2:51.163, 4. Masters 1: Geertien Venter (Southland) 2:45.400, 1.

Under-17: Prudence Fowler (WBOP) 2:33.395, 1; Ella Wyllie (Auckland) 2:35.689, 2; Jeanna Borthwick (Canterbury) 2:34.783, 3; Erin Downie (Canterbury) 2:36.019, 4.

500m Time Trial, Under 15: Sophie de Vries (Auckland) 38.648, 1; Jaz McLeod (Southland) 40.226, 2; Alana Breen (Southland) 40.360, 3.

Male, Individual Pursuit 2000m: Under 17: Laurence Pithie (Canterbury) 2:16.152, 1; Max Williams (ECNI) 2:20.043, 2; Jack Carswell (WBOP) 2:21.621, 3; Reuben Webster (WBOP) 2:22.674, 4.

500m Time Trial, Under 15: Liam Cruickshank (Southland) 41.106, 1; Jack Gillingham (WBOP) 41.130, 2; Jesse Willis (Southland) 41.387, 3.

Scratch Race, Masters 3-4: Andy Parker (Auckland) 1, Steve Woods (Canterbury) 2, Neil Familton (Southland) 3; Masters 2: Russell Ownsworth (Canterbury) 1, Tim Carswell (WBOP) 2, Mark Hopkinson (Auckland) 3. Masters 1: Justin Stott (Otago) 1, Joe Bebbington (Canterbury) 2, Rinze Schuurmans (Canterbury) 3.

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