St George scorches track at Arima Velodrome

On her way into local cycling history books, St George shaved almost two seconds off Jodi Goodridge’s three-year local track record (39.780s) when she blasted to a hat-trick of titles in 37.946s. In the process, the 2015 Pan American Junior champion became the first female cyclist to dip below the 39 second mark in this event. She beat to the line fellow Pan American Junior Team Sprint gold medallist Keiana Lester (Bike Smith), who bagged silver, and Rigtech Sonics’ Teneil Campbell, who placed third.

Speaking to St George after her hectic racing weekend, she expressed pleasure with her current run of form and heaped praise on coach Anthony Sellier for his commitment and dedication towards her development as a professional cyclist.

“Keep fighting even when you feel like giving up because nothing good comes easy. When you’re under pressure, remember that’s how diamonds are made. To my coach, I know it isn’t easy dealing with female athletes and I’d like to thank him for always believing in me,” said a smiling St George yesterday. Goodridge, however, maintained her dominance of the 500m event by whipping the field in the Elite Women category.

The Arima Wheelers representative clocked a victorious time of 39.314, followed by club — mates Aziza Browne (39.864) and Cheyenne Awai (43.828). Meanwhile, Campbell also etched her name into the record books when she set a new Junior Women 2km Individual Pursuit track record with a time of 2:46.617. She rode at a pace of 43.213km/h.

Meanwhile, Team DPS’ Quincy Alexander and Justin Roberts captured the 1-2 finish in the Elite Men 1km Time Trial. Alexander, who bagged silvers in the Elite Sprint and Keirin events behind eventual winner Njisane Phillip, clocked 1:06.469 while teammate Roberts trailed in 1:08.103. Rounding off the top-five finishers were PSL’s Azikiwe Kellar (1:08.868) and Rigtech’s Keron Bramble (1:10.118) and Barry Luces (1:16.243) respectively.

Team DPS also found the top of the rostrum in the Junior Men 3km Individual Pursuit when he blasted to victory in 4:01.762. Holding on to silver was Rigtech’s Nicholas Paul (4:06.713).

Additionally, freshly crowned 2015 Men Elite National Omnium champion Varun Maharajh (Rigtech Sonics) bagged his second gold of the annual tourney when he ousted club-mate and training partner Akil Campbell in the Elite Men 4km Individual Pursuit.

Together, the pair dominated all endurance events this year, with Campbell also taking the silver medal position in the Omnium.

Placing third in the 4km Individual Pursuit was Gavyn Nreo (Team DPS), who defeated Heatwave’s James Hadeed in the bronze medal ride-off.

And Nicholas Paul concluded Rigtech Sonics’ haul of medals as he triumphed in the Junior Men 1km Time Trial.

Paul got the better of runner-up David Orr (Bike Smith) and Myles Burnette (Rigtech).

This year’s National Championships was officially sanctioned by the International Cycling Union (UCI). Events such as the Sprint, Keirin, Scratch, Team Sprint and Team Pursuit saw several local cyclists gain precious UCI points towards their Pan American, World Cup, World Championships and Olympic qualification campaigns.