Whangarei's Simone Ackermann finished tenth in the Oceania Triathlon junior championships on Sunday in the Gold Coast to further push her case for selection into the New Zealand team.
Ackermann finished less than two and a half minutes behind the leading Kiwi athlete, Rebecca Kingsford, who was fifth overall in a
time of 1:05.59.
Her time indicates she is closing the gap between her and the top under-19 athletes, and that, her coach Ian Babe said, is an indication of how fast she is improving on the bike leg - her toughest challenge of the three disciplines.
The race was won by Brisbane's Courtney Dutton with a time of 1:04.09, followed home by compatriots Holly Aitken and Jaimi Chisholm.
After Kingsford, New Zealand's Teresa Adam and Sophie Corbridge were seventh and ninth respectively, with Mairangi Bay's Maddie Dillon, the next to finish in 15th place - over two and half minutes behind Ackermann.
With selection up for grabs for the four-person junior team to the world championships - to held on the same Gold Coast course in September - Ackermann is now right on the cusp of selection.
New Zealand junior champion, Jos Hoetjes continued his outstanding season following his bronze at the recent Australian Youth Olympics by winning the junior men's event while Kiwis Rebecca Spence and Ryan Sissons won their respective U-23 races.
