Borthwick and Carswell dominate 2019 Age Group Track Cycling Nationals

Jenna Borthwick. PHOTO: Geoff Dickinson/Cycling NZ.

Jenna Borthwick (St Margaret’s College) and Jack Carswell (St Peter’s, Cambridge) have ensured their week at the Vantage Age Group Track Championships was one to remember, picking up a further five national under 17 titles between them on the final day of competition in Cambridge.
 
Around 220 riders from around the country assembled at the Avantidrome to contest youth and masters age group titles over four days of competition, ending Sunday.
 
Canterbury 16-year-old Borthwick topped off an incredible competition by securing a further three titles on the final day, adding to the three won earlier in the week.
 
She and fellow Cantabrians Mikaela Grant, Charlotte Spurway and Amelia Sykes went into the Under-17 team pursuit final as underdogs, three and a half seconds slower in qualifying than the quartet from Southland.
 
In one of the races of the evening, Southland led the charge through the 1000m and 2000m marks, but the gritty Cantabrians produced a stunning final 1000m that saw them sneak past Southland by 0.75 seconds, an astonishing 7.4 seconds faster than their qualifying time.
 
Borthwick and Sykes then paired up in the team sprint, setting a new national record of 36.947s in qualifying, then going on to win gold in the evening session.
 
In her final outing of the competition, Borthwick was joined by Spurway in the Madison where the pairing worked in tandem to gain a lap on the field and secure maximum sprint points to blow away the competition.
 
“It was great to ride and race with my Canterbury teammates. I loved the team events, especially the Madison, and it’s been a really successful nationals for me,” said Borthwick.
 
Waikato-Bay of Plenty’s Jack Carswell also had a fantastic final day, picking up a new national record in the team sprint with Hamish Coltman and Zakk Patterson, before teaming up again with Patterson to take control in the under-17 Madison. The Waikato Bay of Plenty duo were in the mix for the entire 10km race, but took control at the halfway point by gaining a lap and going on to take maximum points in the final two sprints to hold off the Canterbury pairing.
 
In the under-15 grade, Seana Gray picked up gold in the points race, and teamed up with Mackenzie Barnett in the team sprint to make it a clean sweep of all under 15 girls events this week. It was an all Waikato Bay of Plenty affair in the under 15 boys grade as well with the pairing of Hamish Banks and Maui Morrison taking gold in the team sprint, before Banks went on to win the points race.
 
Carswell, Banks and Gray’s winning ways helped the Waikato Bay of Plenty Centre to top of the points standings, with the centre awarded the combined points shield for elite and age group track cycling.
 
Earlier, nine New Zealand and two Championship records fell on day one of the event.
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Jenna Borthwick and Jack Carswell set the pace early on day one, breaking New Zealand records in the U17 2000m Individual Pursuit. In qualifying, Borthwick bettered the previous mark set by current Junior World Team Pursuit silver medallist McKenzie Milne, while Carswell sneaked past Laurence Pithie’s record by 0.147 seconds. Borthwick and Carswell both lowered their morning times to win gold in the evening finals, putting their fellow riders on notice for the rest of the week’s competition.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all, it was pretty amazing,” Borthwick said. “As a sprinter, this wasn’t an event I was targeting, I thought I’d just have a go and see how I went.”

Borthwick now holds a rare double: the under 17 flying 200m record and the 2000m individual pursuit, a feat which she describes as overwhelming, but one that makes her “pretty happy”.

Carswell went into the final looking to ride more consistently than he had in the morning.

“I was definitely hoping to get near the New Zealand record today as I put a lot of training in during the past few months. I didn’t stick to my schedule in the first race and that showed in my time, but I did a bit better in the final and it definitely worked out how I hoped it would, so I’m really happy.”

Carswell shook off being pipped for a podium finish in the scratch race to take two gold medals on the third day.

rode a smart points race, earning maximum points from three of four sprints, to hold off a fast finishing Kaio Lart for his third national title after collecting his second in the team pursuit as part of the Waikato Bay of Plenty White team earlier in the session.

The team of Carswell, Hamish Coltman, Matthew Davis, Zakk Patterson and Jaxson Russell threatened the national record but ultimately fell short, posting at time of 2:23.531 after overlapping the team from Southland. 
 
In the under 17 girls racing, Canterbury’s Jenna Borthwick was again a stand out, lowering her own national record, clocking 11.932, the first time an under 17 female has broken the 12 second mark. Borthwick showed her class to win match sprints from both in front and behind, her complete dominance and marking her as one to watch.
 
Prudence Fowler (Waikato BOP) and Kaio Lart (Tasman) took the other two under 17 titles on day three, in the points race and 500m time trial respectively.
 
Fowler was part of a three-women breakaway with Jessica Spencer (Southland) and Charlotte Spurway (Canterbury) that formed a third of the way into the race and stayed until the end, with Fowler producing a sublime 100m effort, coming around the outside to best her opponents for the national title.
 
Lart was impressive in the 500m time trial, just missing out on the national record set in 2012 by Quinn Karwowski by 0.038 seconds. This is his second national title this week.

Jack Overweel (West Coast NI) and Seana Gray (Waikato BOP) were the pick of the under 15 riders, showcasing outstanding sprinting ability to take the boys and girls derby races. Gray has had an impressive week so far, already taking gold in the 500m time trial and scratch race.

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