Cycling: Hansen, Dawkins in record-breaking form

Natasha Hansen was one record-breaker on the second day of the national champs. Photo / Dianne Manson

The records continued to tumble on the second day of the national track cycling championships in Cambridge.

Natasha Hansen (Southland) broke the New Zealand record in qualifying for the women's individual sprint, to add to the national record she set on the way to winning the 500m time trial at the Avantidrome.

Later, Southland star Eddie Dawkins set a New Zealand championship record in the men's sprint qualifying, one of two riders under the magical 10-second barrier.

Hansen clocked 10.893s for the flying 200m which was 0.1s inside the previous national record set by Stephanie McKenzie at last year's championships in Cambridge. Such was Hansen's dominance that she was more than half a second faster than her nearest rival with McKenzie second fastest in 11.562s and Katie Schofield third in 11.582s.

The men turned up the heat in the sprint qualifying, with promising Southland sprinter Ben Stewart, a member of the Cycling New Zealand high performance squad, setting the standard with a personal best 10.208s midway through qualifying.

It was eclipsed by Ethan Mitchell with a best 10.069s, then lowered by world championship time trial medallist Matt Archibald to 10.020s.

The big boys came out to play when Dawkins blitzed this with his 9.901s record while defending champion and sprint teammate Sam Webster was just 1/100ths of a second behind, in a personal best on this sized track. Dawkins time was 15/100th of a second inside the previous championship record established by Webster two years ago.

In under-19 action Manawatu's double junior world champion Campbell Stewart takes on Waikato-BOP's Jared Gray in the final of the individual pursuit in the men, while Nicole Shields comes up against Ellesse Andrews in an all-Southland final in the women.