CYCLING - Perfect day for school champs

Cyclists took advantage of a rare clear autumn day to turn out for the Northland secondary schools championships on Sunday.
The young speedsters arrived from Mangawhai, Whangarei and Kerikeri to race at Jordan Valley, Hikurangi, drawing the largest field of junior cyclists for years, Bike Northland organiser Shaughan Anderson said.
Competitors competed in three age groups: U15, U17 and U19 but the male and female fields were combined to take the line as one year class - which made for interesting racing and alliances during the road race.
The time trial was almost completely exposed to the wind but fortunately it was a tail wind almost all the way to the finish line.
Riders with a good aero position and a smart race plan profited the most over the almost flat 6.3km course.
The fastest time for the day was laid down by U17 male champion Mathew Zenovich, who recorded a best time of 8 minutes 43 seconds. Following not far behind Zenovich was Sam Frizelle and interestingly, Nayda Worthy, the first U19 female, was third.
All three ride for Marsden Wheelers and they showed the benefit of training and technical assistance from club membership and the astute advice of Jonathon and Ruth Jarman, who have run coaching clinics all summer. Georgia Walker won the U17 female and Olivia Wadman the U15 female.
The standout performance in the younger grades was U15 male Ben Johnstone, whose time of 9.47 was almost a minute faster than his next rival and would have placed him third in the senior race. Jordan Valley's rolling hills provided an interesting yet challenging road race course. The U15s rode one lap while the older grades covered two laps or 27.5km.
Right from the start the senior race was dominated by Zenovich and Frizelle. After covering around a quarter of the distance Zenovich's power saw him open a small gap over Frizelle who did his best to hold on. The pair were followed by a group, who were marshalled by Worthy to work and lap it out. Her efforts saw her group achieve creditable results but Zenovich prevailed with an outstanding time of 46.04.
The U15s male and female results also followed the form indicated by the riders in their time trials.
Wadman was again the fastest as was Johnstone. Johnstone's time was almost 40 seconds faster than his Marsden Wheeler colleague Douglas Wright and although this was a significant margin, Wright held his rival to a smaller margin.
He'd given away almost a minute over the shorter time trial yet had given up less time in the road race over twice the distance.
The day concluded much as it had started, with quiet Northland roads, on a beautiful day.
However, Northland had her road cycling champions confirmed. Anderson said the riders were of a high standard, able to compete successfully anywhere in the country despite a relative shortage of competitors.
Results:
U19 Female Champion: Nadya Worthy 10:18 TT, 52:24 Road, 1:02:42 Combined.
U17 Female Champion: Georgia Walker 10:54 TT, 56:40 Road, 1:07:34 Combined.
U17 Male Champion: Mathew Zenovich 08:43 TT 46:40 Road, 0:54:47 Combined.
U15 Female Champion: Olivia Wadman 10:42 TT 27:55 Road , 0:38:37 Combined.
U15 Male Champion: Ben Johnstone 09:47 TT 25:50 Road, 0:35:3 Combined