Local cyclists have ridden away with a haul of medals from the South Australian State Junior Track Championships.
Seven local riders from the Mount Gambier Cycling Club and Limestone Coast Sporting Academy travelled to Adelaide to compete in the championships hosted at the Superdrome Gepps Cross.
Across three days the riders competed in various events that included individual and team pursuits, time trials, points and scratch races.
The track event is the highlight of the junior track racing calendar for the state, giving young riders from every region the opportunity to test their skills against their peers in a competitive yet all inclusive event.
Locals Jamison Buckley and Molly Opperman have competed in events at this level before, the remaining five riders Maiah Arbery, Jesse Tull, Xavier Farmillo, Charlie Jenkin and Ethan McKenny were competing for the first time.
What made their efforts even more impressive were that those five riders have only been in the sport for less than six months.
Despite being in the sport for a short time there were no signs of nerves from each rider, as they mixed it with the best.
The three-day event was a mixture of emotion and endurance and as a result of the steely reserve shown by the local riders many personal bests were set and 26 medals won.
Jamison Buckley collected a swag of trophies, with four gold, two silver and a bronze in the under 17 competition.
He took gold in the individual pursuit, team pursuit, team sprint and scratch race, silver in the points race and sprint, and bronze in the time trial.
Jesse Tull competed in the under 17 class, bringing home silver in the team sprint and a bronze in the team pursuit.
Charlie Jenkin also competed in under 17s and claimed a silver in the team sprint and a bronze in the team pursuit.
Ethan McKenny raced in the under 15 age group and won silver in the team sprint and bronze in the team pursuit.
Under 15 competitor Maiah Arbery brought home five gold medals in the individual pursuit, points race, time trial, scratch race and sprint, as well as a bronze for the combined women’s team sprint.
Molly Opperman also brought home five gold medals, winning the under 13 time trial, individual pursuit, scratch race, points race and sprint.
She also competed in the under 17 teams sprint winning bronze, followed by silver in the under 17 teams pursuit.
The riders were grateful to the coaching staff, AusCycling SA, the Limestone Coast Sporting Academy and the Mount Gambier Cycling Club for their support in staging, preparation and the logistics in travelling to the event.
Some local riders will now compete in the Auscycling Junior Track Series in Melbourne in the coming weeks, which opens the field of competition to riders from around the country.
