Kiwi pursuit quartet sets the track on fire

Photo: Barry Harcourt

Golden girls: The New Zealand elite women's pursuit team of Rushlee Buchanan, Kaytee Boyd and Lauren Ellis set a national record last night in winning the final of the 3000m team pursuit in Invercargill.

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THE BEIJING Olympic medal-winning pursuit team set the track alight with a brilliant performance on the final night on the track at the Oceania Championships in Invercargill last night.

The quartet of Wes Gough, Sam Bewley, Marc Ryan and Jesse Sergent smashed the New Zealand record on the way to winning the men's 4000m team pursuit at the ILT Velodrome. They clocked 3min 58.689sec, which was more than a second faster than they achieved at the track at the national championships before the world championships earlier this year.

The women were not left behind – despite a new combination missing world individual pursuit champion Alison Shanks – also establishing a national record in winning the final of the 3000m team pursuit. The trio of Kaytee Boyd, Lauren Ellis and newcomer Rushlee Buchanan clocked 3min 26.658sec to beat off the New Zealand N2 combination.

"It's great. I'm really pleased with the men's performance because the guys are still feeling the effects of the Tour of Southland," said BikeNZ national track coach, Tim Carswell.

"We targeted 3:58 tonight and also wanted them to go under the three minute mark for 3km and they achieved both.

"I'm pleased that they managed to hold on well in the final lap.

It's the third fastest time that any New Zealand team pursuit has recorded, with only their two rides at the Beijing Olympics faster.

The women's trio's mark was the fastest time recorded in New Zealand and just over two seconds outside their silver medal-winning performance at the world championships. "It's a very positive result with a new line-up and the first time we've lined up at an international event without Alison Shanks," said BikeNZ women's track coach Dayle Cheatley.