POCKET ROCKET: Young Wanganui skater Caitlin Fergusson attacked everything in the St John's Club Rivercity Speed Skating Tour at the weekend. PHOTO/SUPPLIED CAITILIN-FERGUSSON.JPG
POCKET ROCKET: Young Wanganui skater Caitlin Fergusson attacked everything in the St John's Club Rivercity Speed Skating Tour at the weekend. PHOTO/SUPPLIED CAITILIN-FERGUSSON.JPG
Difficult weather conditions failed to dampen performances throughout the grades at the fifth annual St John's Club Rivercity Speed Skate Tour in Wanganui at the weekend.
In the Masters Grade Hamilton's Scott Moody and Manawatu's Andy McDonell traded wins for first and second overall respectively until Wanganui's Krystine Davies turnedup at the last two rounds and scored two strong second places to Moody. Hamilton's Marcus Fellows was third and Wanganui's Ian McKenzie fourth overall.
The Men's B Grade was won by Valley Inline's James Wilmhurst with five stage wins but Manawatu's Sam Porch kept the points close by picking up one win and then never finishing below second.
Hadley Beach won two stages for a very strong third place from Hamilton's Campbell McRobbie.
Several of the longer races were combined with the Womens B grade and this resulted in fierce racing all the through the pack.
Wanganui's Monique Cleeve put her power game into effect to take six stage wins in the Women's B Grade and the title, but Eugenia Lee had the speed taking both time trial wins for second overall.
Tiny Renee Teers mixed her usual cocktail of gutsy performances and painful crashes to take third overall against the bigger skaters and turned in an outstanding performance at Mitre 10 Mega for third behind only Cleeve and the top male skater in the 900m race. Georgia Reynolds had a strong second in the points race at Kowhai Park in placing fourth overall ahead of C J Dillon.
Some of the best racing was in the mixed Juvenile Grade (under 12) where Wanganui's Caitlin Fergusson was a young woman on a mission.
She attacked everything on the tour, from the warm-ups, where she could be found tucked into the senior men's pack behind Josh Whyte, to the racing where this previously tentative skater refused to yield an inch of track to her competition.
She took the title with six stage wins and some dominant displays over all distances.
Runner-up Chase Morpeth was initially stunned by the Fergusson attack but regrouped to win the 900m at Mitre 10 Mega and then win the best race of the Tour holding out Fergusson and a fast finishing Ocean Woolley, in the 1500m at Jubilee Stadium, with only a wheel width between the three of them. Woolley was third overall in a close contest with youngster Jackson Fellows who was skating up a grade from his Primary age group.
Primary racing was a contest between Wanganui newcomer Drew Brennan whose five wins indicate a promising future and Trent James who took two stage wins for second overall.
Josh Valentine turned up for the last four stages and rained on Brennan and James' parade winning the 800m at Mitre 10 Mega. Lacy Fellows celebrated her 7th birthday with third overall.
