Cycling: Still much at stake after podium finish

The final race of the National Cross Country Mountain Bike Cup series was held recently in Napier.

The Waiariki Institute of Technology Sports Academy was well represented by its Red Stag MTB Squad with Carl Jones finishing third in a tight, hard-fought battle with Dirk Peters and Mikey Northcott. Just seconds separated the three.

In the women's elite race rising MTB star Karen Hanlen was charging out in front of the field leaving Waiariki Red Stag riders Katie O'Neill and Samara Sheppard to battle it out for the minor placings, Samara eventually beating Katie into the second spot. All riders will be looking to improve with the Oceania's being held this week at Rotorua's own Redwood Forest.

There is a great deal at stake for these riders in Olympic year and it will be well worth the trip down to the forest for a watch.

Also in action recently were Olympic qualifiers Mike Dawson and Luuka Jones at the Oceania Canoe Slalom Championships held in Penrith, Australia.

Dawson had spent the better part of a month in Australia in preparation for the men's K1 with more than 90 paddlers in the field and only a handful of the top 50 paddlers in the world not there to compete.

Two good qualification rounds saw Dawson in sixth spot going into the semifinals.

The semifinal run time was good enough to place him in fifth place, however a small mistake into the first upstream left Dawson with a 50 second time penalty having been deemed to have missed the gate ruling him out of finals contention.

Despite this, Mike was philosophical about the performance in that his time was world class; the run was smooth and easily repeatable. The men's event was eventually won by Italian Daniele Molmenti - with Australian Lucien Delfour picking up the Oceania Title.

Women's K1 paddler Luuka Jones having also spent the last of couple of weeks in Penrith in preparation was looking forward to testing herself on the Sydney Olympic Course in another quality international field. Being not quite where she wants to be with her form she was placed twenty first and twenty third respectively after her qualification runs.

Her semifinal run time would have been good enough to place her inside the top 10, however, like Dawson, scored a 50 second time penalty with a missed gate.

The competition has identified some areas to work on and Jones feels she has learnt a great deal to help 'sharpen the pencil' for London. Monday marks the formal kick off date for the Waiariki Academy of Sport for 2012. The squad will be holding its traditional Induction Day with a trip out to the Kaituna River and rafting with Rotorua Rafts. Sam Sutton Waiariki's own double World Extreme Kayak Champion will be running proceedings in what promises to be a fantastic introduction to the year.

We look forward to welcoming our new athletes to the programme and keeping you all up to date with their happenings.