Canterbury’s Laurence Pithie added two more gold medals to his tally on the second day of the Vantage Age Group Track National Championships at Invercargill.

The championships at the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome have attracted nearly 170 riders competing in age group and Masters competitions throughout the four-day event.

Pithie was fastest in the Under-17 boys sprint qualifying in the morning in 11.290s and continued his success throughout the elimination races before taking on local Southland rider Mitchel Fitzsimmons in the finals. The Cantabrian proved too strong to win in two straight rides in the best of three final.

The Canterbury rider also managed to make time during the long sprint competition to also win the 7.5km scratch race against a field of 18 riders where he rode a smart race to secure his third gold medal of the championships.

Pithie competes in the Points race today and the team events on Sunday.

Cambridge’s up-and-coming rider Mya Anderson claimed the under-17 female scratch title with the under-15 scratch honours going to Auckland’s Bee Townsend in the girls and Jaxson Whyte of Mid-South Canterbury in the boys, doubling up after his win in the 500m Time Trial yesterday.

The Masters women took on the 500m Time Trial where Southland dominated the results with multi-world champion Erin Criglington, Ruth Whelan and Geertien Venter all securing their age categories with Waikato’s Julie Graddon securing her title in category 5 while Shona McGrath of Canterbury took the category 6 win.

Racing continues today with sprints, keirins, derby and points with team events and Madison on Sunday.

Results, Day 2:

Male:

Under-17 sprint qualifying: Laurence Pithie (Canterbury) 11.280, 1; Mitchel Fitzsimons (Southland) 11.307, 2; Reuben Webster (WBOP) 11.587, 3. Final, Gold Medal: Pithie beat Fitzsimons 2-0. Bronze Medal: Webster be Michael Richmond (WCNI) 2-0.

Scratch Race: Under-17: Laurence Pithie (Canterbury) 1; Max Williams (ECNI) 2, Jack Carswell (WBOP) 3. Under-15: Jaxson Whyte (Mid South Canterbury) 1, Cody Harvey (Southland) 2, Maxson Russell (WBOP) 3.

Female:

500m time trial: Under-17: Jenna Borthwick (Canterbury) 37.970, 1; Mya Anderson (WBOP) 38.250, 2; Rhylee Akeroyd (Southland) 38.440. 3. Masters 6: Shona McGrath (Canterbury) 45.567, 1. Masters 5: Julie Graddon (WBOP) 41.457, 1; Mandy Gumbley (Auckland) 42.428, 2; Robyn de Haas (WBOP) 44.940, 3. Masters 3: Erin Criglington (Southland) 38.897, 1; Nicola Stevens (Southland) 40.850, 2; Rachael Sardelich (WBOP) 42.486, 3. Masters 2: Ruth Whelan (Southland) 39.228, 1; Leanne Dalley (Southland) 40.046, 2; Sandra Gatenby (WBOP) 42.274, 3. Masters 1: Greertien Venter (Southland) 39.877, 1.

Scratch Race: Under-17: Mya Anderson (WBOP) 1, Erin Downie (Canterbury) 2, Rhylee Akeroyd (Southland) 3. Under-15: Bee Townsend (Auckland) 1, Jaz McLeod (Southland) 2, Aimee Sardelich (WBOP) 3.

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