Crystle Denbee won a gold and three silvers in the masters ladies grade. Photo / Supplied
Crystle Denbee won a gold and three silvers in the masters ladies grade. Photo / Supplied
Whanganui speed skaters excelled at the New Zealand Banked Track Speed Skating National Championships in Hamilton.
Held over Waitangi weekend in 30C-plus heat, with heavy Covid restrictions, a limited field of 42 skaters from throughout New Zealand battled for medals over four national distances on Saturday, in the 200m dualtime trial, 1000m, 10km points and 500m sprint.
Whanganui skaters were represented in five of the 12 grades, winning the aggregate prize for overall champion in four grades.
Cadet girl Tazia Parker won two golds and two silvers, Chase Morpeth (junior, under-19 men grade) won five golds, senior Andrew Jones took four golds and a silver, and Masters men grade Paul Cleeve won four golds. Crystle Denbee (Masters ladies grade) won a gold medal and three silver medals. Junior Drew Brennan came away with four silvers and a bronze medal and Jerome Allen (Masters men grade) won two silvers and two bronzes.
A large number of national records fell at the event. Significantly, Chase Morpeth's new national record time of 19.566s in the 200m dual time trial bettered Andrew Jones's senior men's gold medal-winning time of 19.588s and fell just .019s short of the current senior men's national record time of 19.561s. Morpeth has another year as a junior.
Other significant performances at the event included Nathan Bedford (Palmerston North) taking out the cadet boys' grade and Blenheim's Erin Green winning the junior ladies grade. The South Canterbury club brought eight skaters to the event, with their best results coming from Brayden Teague in the juvenile boys' grade and Lauren Crawford in the juvenile girls' grade.
Racing was curtailed by rain on Sunday, with just one race completed, the men's 12 and over open 10km elimination race. This was a precarious affair, with 14 starters on the slippery track, shortened by three laps in the rain and won by Morpeth ahead of Jones and Brennan.
The NZ Speed Skating Road Nationals are scheduled for Easter in Timaru after having been postponed from early January due to Covid.
