Canadian records broken at nationals on Milton velodrome
Junior and under-23 national records were broken over the weekend as Canada's young track stars shone on the Milton velodrome
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Canadian records were broken over the weekend (April 1 to 3) on the Milton velodrome as the promising young athletes that make up the under-17 and junior ranks competed for national jerseys. Riders from throughout the country gathered at the Mattamy National Cycling Centre in Milton, Ont. for the national junior and under-23 championships. Many riders put in strong performances demonstrating the development of Canada’s track program in recent years.
On day one of competition three Canadian records were set. The team sprint saw records set in both junior women’s and men’s categories. The British Columbia duo of Erin Atwell and Maggie Coles-Lyster broke the record in qualifying and then again in the gold medal final with a time of 36.339 seconds. The first of many championship titles for Coles-Lyster. The junior men’s sprint team Ontario composed of Adam Lefebvre, Lucas Taylor and Nick Wammes broke the national record in their final.
In the men’s team pursuit team Ontario made up of of Giuseppe Carone, Justin Correa, Sydney Flageole-Bray, Dawson MacDonald broke the record in qualifying and again in the gold medal final setting the mark at 3:25.239 for the Canadian under-17 record in the event.
Competition resumed on Saturday April 2, with the individual pursuit, sprint and points races. The individual pursuit was especially important to the junior men and women since the results would be a major factor in determining which athletes would be selected for the world championship team. Maggie Coles-Lyster took the gold medal in the juniors women’s individual pursuit  beating out Erin Attwell and Laurie Jussaume. All three medalists beat the world championships qualifying time. In the men’s junior individual pursuit, the three medalists also were over the worlds qualifying time with Felix Pelletier winning the gold medal followed by John Willcox and Cameron Fitzmaurice.
Following that Coles-Lyster took a dominating win the the women’s junior points race winning three of the six intermediate sprints. In the men’s race there was a crash and it was Cameron Fitzmaurice who won the title. In the junior women’s sprint competition it was Coles-Lyster who again won a fourth title on the day. Defending junior men’s champion Stefan Ritter retained his title.
The championships concluded on Sunday April 3 with the time trial events, the scratch, keirin and elimination races.
Sarah Van Dam added a second title to her collection in the under-17 women’s 500 m time trial. Riley Pickrell also added to his medal collection in the same event with a new Canadian record of 33.694 seconds. Finally Erin Atwell bested Maggie Coles-Lyster with a new Canadian record of 37.035 seconds in the women’s junior 500 m event. In the junior men’s 1000 m time trial, sprint champion Stefan Ritter set a very fast time of 1:04.168.
In the scratch race Sarah Van Dam won the under-17 women’s race while Dawson McDonald took the under-17 men’s title. Cameron Fitzmaurice took another championship title in the junior men’s race. Maggie Coles-Lyster won the junior women’s scratch race and then followed that up with her sixth national title of the championships in the keirin. Stefan Ritter collected his third title in the men’s junior keirin.
For a full list of results keep on eye on cyclingcanada.ca
