CBHS rider Pithie in hot form

Laurence Pithie (CBHS, right) and Mitchell Fitzsimons (Southland BHS) in action during the U17 boys sprint finals. Photo credit: Charlene Harvey

Rising Canterbury star and Christchurch Boys’ High School student Laurence Pithie enjoyed an outstanding few days at the Age Group National Track Cycling Championships in Invercargill over the weekend.

Around 170 riders nationwide flocked to the SIT Zero Fees Velodrome to battle it out for age group and Masters titles over three days.

Pithie was the first rider to break a New Zealand record in the U17 2000m Individual Pursuit. Pithie rode 2:15.674 in qualifying for the final, bettering the time of Tasman’s Finn Fisher-Black.

Pithie followed this up by winning the gold medal during the evening’s final.“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.

Pithie added two more gold medals to his tally on the second day of the Championships.

Pithie was fastest qualifier in the Under-17 boys sprint and continued his success throughout the elimination races before taking on local Southland rider Mitchell 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 win the 7.5km scratch race against a field of 18 riders. Pithie rode a smart race to secure, pacing himself, to win Pithie added another gold to his tally on Sunday when his Canterbury team won the under-17 sprint.  

Pithe first featured at a National level when he won the National U15 time trial in 2016.

Results (Age Grade)
Day One
Female:
Individual Pursuit, 2000m: 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.
 
Day Two
 
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.
 
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.
 
Day Three
 
Female:
Under-17 Sprint Qualifying: Jeanna Borthwick (Canterbury) 12.557, 1; Mya Anderson (WBOP) 12.567, 2; Erin Downie (Canterbury) 12.720, 3. Final, Gold: Borthwick beat Anderson 2-0; Bronze: Rhylee Akeroyd (Southland) beat Tyla Green (Southland) 2-0.
 
Under-17 Points: Rhylee Akeroyd (Southland) 12 points, 1; Erin Downie (Canterbury) 12, 2; Mya Anderson (Waikato BOP) 9, 3.
 
Under-15 Derby Final: Sophie de Vries (Auckland) 1, Jaz McLeod (Southland) 2, Bee Townsend (Auckland) 3.
 
Male:
Under-17 3000m Team Pursuit Qualifying: Canterbury Red 3:27.259, 1; Waikato BOP 3:28.395, 2; Southland 3:30.041, 3; Composite 3:34.559, 4. Final, Gold: Canterbury Red 3:22.263, 1; Waikato BOP 3:25492, 2. Bronze: Southland 3:27.879, 3; Composite 3:31.830, 4.
 
Under-17 500m Time Trial: Reuben Webster (WBOP) 34.530, 1; Laurence Pithie (Canterbury) 34.770, 2; Sabastian Lipp (Canterbury) 34.800, 3.
 
Under-17 Points: Laurence Pithie (Canterbury) 19 points, 1; Jack Carswell (Waikato BOP) 11, 2; Mitchel Fitzsimons (Southland) 6, 3.
 
Under-15 Derby Final: Jaxson Whyte (Mid South Canterbury) 1, Jonathan Fish (Mid South Canterbury) 2, Cody Harvey (Southland) 3.
 
Day Four

Female:
Under-17, Team Sprint, Gold medal: Canterbury 1 (Erin Downie, Jenna Borthwick) 37.750, 1; Southland 2 37.760, 2. Bronze: Waikato BOP 37.870, 3; Southland 1 38.290, 4.
 
Under-17 3000m Team Pursuit, Gold medal: Waikato BOP (Prudence Fowler, Summer Williams, Amy Gregan, Mya Anderson) 3:44.710, 1; Composite 3:50.030, 2; Bronze: Canterbury 3:49.740, 3.
 
Under-17 Madison: Waikato BOP (Prudence Fowler, Mya Anderson) 40 points, 1; Southland (Rhylee Akeroyd, Jenny Brown) 29, 2; Southland 2 (Tyla Green, Natalie Green) 27, 3.
 
Under-15 Points: Bee Townsend (Auckland) 11 points, 1; Jade Cameron (Southland) 10, 2; Hayley Paterson (Southland) 4, 3.
 
Male:
Under-17 Team Sprint Gold medal: Canterbury 1 (Laurence Pithie, Sabastian Lipp, Ezra Williams-Gillies) 49.492, 1; Waikato BOP 50.656, 2. Bronze: Southland 1, 50.866, 3; Composite 51.215, 4.
 
Under-15 Points: Jaxson Whyte (Mid South Canterbury) 14 points, 1; Ronan Shearing (Southland) 13, 2; Jonathan Fish (Mid South Canterbury) 8, 3.
 
Masters Team Sprint, C1-4, Gold medal: Southland 1 (James Jubb, Brett Roulston, Roger Nicholas) 50.716, 1; Auckland 51.423, 2. Bronze: Otago 51.236, 3; Wellington 51.814, 4.

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