Mallory Park Heats and Finals round up
With places up for grabs for the World Championships in September, all eyes were on Mallory Park as Senior athletes raced for Super Series points as well as qualification. They were joined on the start line by Youth and Junior athletes who had heats on the Saturday and Finals on the Sunday, for their third Super Series event of the season.
Senior Races
In the Senior races, Brandon Pye and Eve Whitaker took the wins and with them, the guaranteed entries to the Under 23 World Championships in Pontevedra later this year. Athletes competed over a 1km swim, a 30km bike ride, followed by a 7.5km run.
A strong run from World class programme athlete Brandon Pye saw him take the win in the Open category by just over 30 seconds from Daniel Van Aardt in second with Solomon Okrafo-Smart in third. In the Female category, three athletes broke away on the bike and it was Eve Whitaker who took the win ahead of Beth Cook with Isabella Hayes in third.
Junior Races
The Juniors raced over a Heats and Finals format with heats on the Saturday before the finals on the Sunday. In the heats on the Saturday, athletes competed over a 350m swim, 7.5km bike course followed by a 2km run. For the finals on the Sunday the distances increased to a 400m swim, a 9.5km bike with a final 2.5km run to decide the winners.
In the Open category, Lucas Gorrill came home in first place, the fastest run leg in his race taking him away from Niclas Olley who came home in second place, with Reuben Wadey five seconds further back in third.
In the Female category, Florence Salmon held off a hard charging Hollie Lewis to take the win, a strong performance on the bike setting her up for the win. Lauren Mitchell was just a few seconds further back in third.
Youth A and B races
It was Heats and Finals for the athletes in the youth categories as well with the heats on Saturday consisting of a 350m swim, a 5.5km bike ride and a 5km run. Like the Junior races, distances increased for the finals on Sunday with athletes racing over a 400m swim, a 7.5km bike ride with a 2km run to the finish.
Tom Mythen was first across the line in the Open Youth B race. After an incredibly close fought battle with Ben Allen, Tom took the win by just one second with Jamie Lonergan slightly further back in third place.
In the Female Youth B category, Emma Graham-Brown took the win by over 30 seconds from Sophie Mitchell in second place, with Molly Smithers a further 12 seconds back in third.
In the Open Youth A race Ollie Squire was the winner, a strong final run taking him away from Ross Allan who was second. Macsen Watts rounded off the podium in third place.
In a very close fought race in the Female Youth A category, a superb swim from Summer Smith set her up to take the win by just one second from Ellie Birchall, with Sophie Richmond slightly further back in third.
Overall Rankings
After three events in the senior super series with three to go, it’s all to play for. The Senior Female category sees Eve Whitaker and Bethany Cook on top with a win and a second place apiece giving them both 1540 points. Daniel Van Aardt tops the rankings in the Senior Open category with 1373 points, just 31 points ahead of Michael Gar and Brandon Pye.
After four races in the junior category, Hollie Lewis leads the way for the female athletes with 4813 points, while Lucas Gorrill is top with a maximum 5000 points after two wins this season in the Junior Open category.
Emma Graham-Brown tops the table with a perfect 5000 score in the Youth B Female rankings, while Tom Mythen is top of the equivalent Open table, after winning all three races he has entered this year.
Finally in the Youth A categories, Kitty Scott leads the way in the Female standings with Ollie Squire leading the way in the Open category. Both have the maximum 5000 points as it stands.
You can see all the rankings here