Successful Scottish outing for Ulster Track riders
A small team of Ulster Track riders traveled to the Glasgow Velodrome on Saturday 5th March for a full day`s competition against their Scot`s counterparts at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome.
Given that our track season ended in September, and that those lucky enough to live in a country with an indoor Track are competing all winter, it was a nervous bunch of Ulster riders who took to the Track. It was the teams first time in a while competing on a track, never mind competing on an indoor track that was the competitions ‘home turf’.
The Ulster Coaches, Nicola McKiverigan and Anthony Mitchell need not have worried. The Ulster riders were straight in to the thick of the action, and went on to dominate the day’s proceedings!
The squad comprised; David Neill (Senior – Powerhouse); Declan Mulholland (U23 – Asea); Xeno Young (Junior – Powerhouse); Conor Halvey (Under 16 – Errigal CC) and Amanda Gallagher (Under 16 – Caldwell Cycles.). Triple Junior Track Champion Shenna McKiverigan (Powerhouse) was also down to compete, however despite travelling, illness on the day saw her DNS.
All Ulster riders finished on the podium at various times throughout the day, with Amanda Gallagher winning the Youth Girls `Course de Prime` event, and Conor Halvey likewise the Boys version.
Highlight of the day was the Keirin events, which saw Ulster riders each win their heats to progress through to the 6-rider final.
With three Ulster riders in a six-rider final, probability said that we should be on the Podium, and this proved correct as the Ulster trio dominated proceedings.
As the pacing motorcycle pulled off the Track Xeno Young made the running, with the danger man being former World Masters Champion Ivor Reid, who had watched our riders throughout.
As Young led the riders out going in to the final 250metre lap, he pulled up the track leaving the way clear for Mulholland to power his way through to a convincing win, closely followed by Neill who was impressive throughout the day with his commitment and effort, given that he has not raced indoors for almost three years.
The guys also dominated the Course de Prime, Points and Scratch events with numerous trips to the podium at the close of proceedings of what was a full days racing at a superb facility.