Scott completes medal treble

A pre-start shot of some happy Gisborne campers before taking on the National Triathlon Sprint Championships at Kinloch on Sunday are (from left) Carl Cairns, Terry Scott, Ruby Cave, Jackie Clapperton and Shane Clapperton. Scott was third in the men’s 45 to 49 years age group. Picture supplied

GISBORNE triathlete Terry Scott now has a National Triathlon Sprint Championships medal of each colour.

Scott, who turned 48 this week, won bronze in the 45 to 49 years age group at the nationals in Kinloch, near Taupo, on Sunday.

After only deciding to compete at the last minute, Scott completed the 750 metres swim, 20-kilometre cycle and 5km run in 1 hour 13 minutes 8 seconds.

He was 1½min behind winnner Brendon Vesty of Hastings.

It was the third year running Scott had finished in the medals in that age group — he won the division in 2016 and was second last year.

He joked that he was “going the opposite way” results-wise but was still pleased with his performance in a quality field and having come back from shoulder surgery and calf muscle issues.

“It was a bit of a tougher race this year . . . there were more big names on the list,” said Scott, who relied more on his natural fitness over the shorter distance as training had been miminal.

His performance also qualified him for the world sprint tri championships on Australia’s Gold Coast in September.

The first 12 in each age group qualified as long as their time was within 20 percent of the winner of their respective division.

Eastland Toyota parts manager Scott is yet to decide if he will go, but would prefer to compete in the standard distance, rather than sprint, if he was to make the trip.

A keen group of Gisborne triathletes, including all five members of the Ney family, raced at Kinloch.

Josiah Ney provided the highlight of the contingent in placing second overall out of 672 competitors and second in the 16 to 19yrs men’s division in 1hr 2mins 13secs. He was 1min 37secs behind winner Dylan McCullough of Auckland.

Ney’s parents Patrick and Kate also competed, along with his brothers Caleb and Matt.

Shane Clapperton was ninth in the men’s 50 to 54yrs age group and qualified for the worlds while Ruby Cave was seventh in the women’s 20 to 24yrs division.