Gold medal-winning Saanich, B.C. teen ready to roll at B.C. provincial track championships

This weekend, the 2015 B.C. Track Provincials kick off in Victoria, B.C., at the Greater Victoria Velodrome Association. Top track riders from across the province will be contending for the championship jersey, with endurance, sprint, team sprint, team pursuit and match sprint competitions scheduled, as well as the keirin.

One Saanich, B.C. teen, Saanich News reported, is the talk of the track as pre-competition buzz gives way to race day excitement.

Fresh back from a double gold-winning performance at the Western Canada Summer Games in Wood Buffalo, Alta., Erin Attwell has more or less lived at the local velodrome, and her reportedly borderline-obsessive commitment shows. Along with those two gold medals, Attwell took bronze at the Western Canada Summer Games, as well as bronze overall and a fifth-place finish in cross-country competition. Barely 16 years old, Attwell’s prominence as the top road and track rider in her age group is already well established.

“She’s pretty dominant in her age group,” coach Lister Farrar told reporters of the Tripleshot Cycling rider. “We expect more success at the provincial track championships.”

The young cyclist, of course, will certainly face stiff competition as racing kicks off today on Vancouver Island. But coming from the Tripleshot youth team — the same team that produced Pan Am Games gold medalist Evan Carey, who took the medal in the individual team sprint — she’s had plenty of opportunity, both in training and competition, to strengthen her racing style at multiple levels. It’s also, Farrar said, made her willing to ride at any level, too.

“You don’t want to take anything for granted but [Attwell] should do well,” the Tripleshot coach said.

Racing at the B.C. provincial track championships starts this evening at 6:00 pm Pacific time, and a full schedule can be viewed here. [PDF]