Medals aplenty! Illawarra junior cyclists dominates podium at Your Local Academy Games in Wagga Wagga
Cows, snakes and bees! What the Illawarra Academy of Sport cyclists had to contend with at the 2023 Your Local Academy Games. Meet the young stars who took to the podium.
Illawarra Star
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The Illawarra Academy of Sport has returned triumphant from the 2023 Your Local Academy Games with six medals in cycling.
Two golds, three silvers and a bronze medal contributed to the Illawarra team finishing in second place overall.
The achievement was made all the more impressive as the only team to beat them was the Southern Sport Academy who had the home field advantage.
Assistant Coach of the IAS Cycling program, Lynne Vaughan, saw the results as a great achievement for the Illawarra Cycling Squad.
“It’s a great tester to see where everyone is at coming out of the track season ahead of the road season,” Vaughan said.
“It was a nice opportunity, especially as we are urban-based riders from Wollongong and Nowra, to ride on quiet country roads with little traffic and the wide open sky.”
“There were obstacles we aren’t used to such as cattle on the road, snakes crossing the road in front of riders and a swarm of bees, all little things out of the ordinary that make racing an adventure”
The annual event was hosted by the Wagga Wagga Cycling Club in conjunction with the Gwen French Memorial Tour, marking the beginning of the 2023 road season and giving young riders a good opportunity to test their legs over two days of competitive racing.
Wagga Wagga will be hosting the Junior State Road Championship later in the year as well, so the weekend was a good opportunity for the Illawarra athletes to familiarise themselves with the venue.
The competition format had riders competing in four events - on Saturday a 10/15km time trial and a 35/70 km road race depending on age, as well as a criterium at the new state of the art Pomingalarna venue on the Sunday.
On top of this was a sealed handicap on the criterium course in which the riders leave at 10 second intervals and time trialled for their best time solo, in what some people say is the true test for any cyclist.
Here are your Illawarra medallists from the weekend:
Cameron Harrison – Gold, U19 men
Harrison dominated the time trial event, clearing his nearest competitor by over 40 seconds with a show of strength and a time of 20:47:53.
He didn’t lose this much time over the road and criterium races making him the overall Champion.
Lucy Allen – Gold, U15 women
Allen was in red hot form coming into the Your Local Academy Games off the back of a medal at the National Track Championships.
She was also dominant in her time trial event, clearing her nearest competitor by well over a minute with a time of 17:26:71.
She also took first place in both the road race and criterium showing a dominant display of strength which bodes well for the year ahead.
Harry Ludman – Silver, U19 men
It was an Illawarra one-two in the U19s, with Ludman finishing second to Harrison as the south coast team dominated the field.
A second-place finish to Harrison in the time trial and two third place finishes in the road race and criterium was enough to see Ludman to silver overall.
Tom I’Ons – Silver, U17 men
Consistent podium finishes across his time trials and road races was enough to see Tom I’Ons to silver.
Committed to road racing, Tom is often seen racing at the local Illawarra Cycling Club events, showing wisdom beyond his years as he impresses many older riders with his tactics and strengths.
Hugo Alcock – Silver, U15 men
A terrific result for the talented young Alcock brother in his first year of U15s competition.
Hugo was right up among the leading pack in the time trial, in which his third placed finish was over a minute faster than fourth place.
Charles Alcock – Bronze, U17 men
Another talented Alcock in the Illawarra ranks, Charles is a very committed cyclist and one to watch for the future.
The U17 field was the strongest on the weekend, so to emerge from the pack with a bronze medal is a terrific achievement.
Noah Brown, Jude Williams and team captain Hugh Vaughan finished outside the medals but were still integral to the success of the Illawarra side over the weekend.
A number of the Illawarra riders backed up the event last weekend with the Goulburn Junior Tour in torrential condition, very different to the picture-perfect weather they enjoyed at the Your Local Academy Games.
Next up on the calendar for Illawarra cyclists is the Canberra Junior Tour, historically a very challenging event on the hilly roads on the outskirts of Canberra.
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