April 24/12 16:44 pm - Junior Pan-Am Championships: Track Day 2 report and results UPDATED

Posted by Editoress on 04/24/12
 

Day 2 of the Pan-Am Track Championships was a day of highs and lows for Team Canada in Guatemala.

The opening event was the men's sprint competition.  3 Canadians were entered in the event, Vincent DeHaitre, Adrian George and Eric MacDonald.  All 3 had personal best performances with DeHaitre stopping the clock in a time of 10.74 seconds, good for 4th in qualifying.  MacDonald and George were just outside the qualifying time of the quickest 12 riders in times of 11.4 for MacDonald and 11.5 for George.

In the sprint tournament the fastest 12 riders were separated by less than 4 tenths of a second.  In round one DeHaitre was held against the rail and could not get out to show his speed and had to go through the rep.... he dispatched his 2 opponents easily and was back in the hunt for Quarter final action.  He was up against a Columbian rider who seemed to be an experienced sprinter.  DeHaitre was smart in the first heat and won from the front, a position that seemed to be the best on this concrete track at altitude.  The Columbian, was the aggressor in heat #2 and the 2 riders split the first 2 heats 1-1.  In the decider, the advantage went back and forth 3 times and ultimately the Columbian advanced to Wednesday's semi finals.  Vincent took the 5-8 heat with a run from the front and held off his opponents and took home 5th, a very result for the young Canadian sprinter.

The Men's Team Pursuit was next event on the day and the boys had great preparation leading into the event.  The team of Adian Caves, Adam Reddy, Eric Johnstone  and Will Simonds had laid out a plan to attack the Canadian record for Juniors and were on schedule for the first 1/2 of the race.  In the second half of the race, the strain of the pace was etched on the faces of the team.  In the last kilo, the split times were starting to fluctuate and the pace slowed.  The finishing time of 4:38 was just behind the Canadian Record and placed the kids 6th overall on the day.

Women's team Sprint was next up with Audrey Labrie & Kristen Sears taking to the start line.  The race was one of the best of the day for the Canadians as the girls came home in a personal best knocking 1.5 seconds off of their training times.  5th place just missing out on a medal ride, 48.74 seconds.

The women's individual pursuit was the last event on the day, Ariane Bonhomme and Sarah Mason represented the country very well setting again personal best performances in the 2km race against the clock.  Official final finishing positions are still up in the air and will be decided later on Wednesday.

Ariane Bonhomme stopped the clock in 2:36.1 good enough for 4th, Sarah Mason was 5th on the day in a time of 2:38.1.

Wednesday is another huge day for the Canadian team, Women's Team Pursuit, Women's Sprint, Men's Points race, Women's Points race.

Report courtesy Rob Good, Team Canada

Results from the second day of the Junior Pan-Am Track Championships in Guatemala