Craigavon Watersports Centre
3 September 2011
| Ulster XC MTB Championships Craigavon Watersports Centre 3 September 2011 | |
| Saturday 3 September 2011 Craigavon Watersports Centre Craigavon Watersports Centre was the venue for the 2011 Ulster Cross-Country Mountain Bike Championships hosted by Apollo Cycling Team and held on Saturday 3 September 2011. Pre-entry had opened the week before and over 100 riders had registered for the day. In total 123 riders took part on a pleasant day with little wind and just a short shower in the later half of the day. The organisers were on site from around 7 am setting out the 3 mile course which took in a large part of the pre-built trails around the lakes. The Under 8s, 10s and 12s had a course which took in the hill close to the Watersports centre and provided a great sight for the parents and spectators who had gathered. The other categories took in a clockwise loop around the lake which has only a couple of short climbs on an otherwise flat and fast circuit. Racing got underway just after 11 am with the Under 8s race which had attracted 22 riders including 7 girls. They had to complete 4 laps of the mini course which had a short incline but it was the thick grass that made the going tough for the young riders. Leading from the whistle was Christopher Curry (Banbridge CC) who pulled out a good lead ahead of Fraser Harrower (Dromara CC) and Neil Kelso. Shea O'Kane (Phoenix CC) was fourth ahead of fellow Phoenix rider Ryan Stewart with Adam McCaughtry (Dromara CC) in fourth. First girl was Charley Dunlop (Banbridge CC) with Sophie Neill (Orchard Wheelers) finishing second in her first ever race, and Eva Gordon (Carn Wheelers) finishing third. Next up were the Under 10s who had to complete 7 laps of the mini circuit. Fifteen riders, 10 boys and 5 girls lined up for this race. Mark Buller (Banbridge CC) lead from the start keeping ahead of the chasing Drew Armstrong (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) and Jack Baird (Banbridge CC). Fourth was Ben Wilson (Dromara CC), Andrew Gordon (Carn Wheelers) was fifth and Callum Stewart (Phoenix CC) 6th. First girl was Niamh McKiverigan (Banbridge CC) with Kelly Wilson (Dromara CC) second and Ellie Kelso third. At 11:30 it was the turn of the Under 12s who had to complete 5 laps of the field which included 5 times up the main climb. The climb really spread out the field of 10 riders and showed off the talent of John Buller (Banbridge CC) who put in an impressive ride to take first place well ahead of the two Maxs. Max Anderson (Shelbourne Motors / Orchard Wheelers) finished ahead of Max Melville (Dromara CC). Kathryn Doyle (Carn Wheelers) was the first girl with second going to Rebekah Ogilby (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) and third was Emma Elder (Carn Wheelers). At noon the first of the races around the main course took place. First to the line were the Under 16s, 7 riders who had to complete 3 laps of the course. Matthew Teggart and Daniel Runciman, both from Banbridge Cycling Club, along with Aaron Donnelly (Newry Wheelers) came through on the first lap together before the gaps started to open up with Matthew taking the win over a minute ahead of Daniel who in turn had over a minute on Aaron. Next to start were the Senior 4 men and solo entry Kathryn Bell (Northern / Dave Kane) for the Senior 3 women. Kathryn and the 15 men started on the same whistle and they had to also complete 3 laps of the course. Darren Hughes (Harps CC) put on a strong display of riding to finish over a minute ahead of downhiller Jason Wilson (PlushMtb) with Ronnie Ogilby (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) taking third ahead of another PlushMtb rider, Robert Elliott. Stephen Law (Carn Wheelers) was 5th with Gavin Treanor 6th. Kathryn rode well to finish in just under one hour. Leaving one minute behind the Seniors were the ten Under 14s. Aaron Swan (TSC / BCC) took the win ahead of Ryan Orr (Orchard Wheelers) with Gareth Kerr (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) taking third. First girl was Shannon Buller who finished just ahead of Shenna McKiverigan (both from Banbridge CC). The racing then took a break so that the prize giving for the first set of races could be conducted. Racing then got back underway at 1:45 with the Elite men, Elite woman, Espoirs and Juniors and a solo Exports entry. These riders were all set off on the same whistle with the Elite men having to complete 7 laps, the Elite woman, Andrea Harrower (Dromara CC), the Espoirs and the Junior men completing 6 laps. Next to line up were the Veterans, 17 riders, who had to complete 5 laps of the course and they were followed one minute later by the Masters who also had 5 laps to complete. In the Elite men's race Gareth McKee (Banbridge CC) and Ray O'Shaughnessy (Cuchulainn) kept in close contact for the first two laps before Gareth started to pull away to open a gap that Ray could not close. Roger Aiken (Banbridge CC) was in third place for the first two laps before retiring which allowed South African born Marthinus Esmeyer (North Coast Leisure) to take third place. Matthew Blayney (North Down) was another retiree leaving Mark McKillop as the remaining rider to finish. For the Elite women's race Andrea Harrower completed her 6 laps in 1 hour 48 minutes. The Espoirs (Under 23s) race saw 5 entries and it was PlushMtb's Marc Potts who took the win just ahead of Graham Boyd (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) with brother William Boyd finishing third. In the Junior male race Matthew Adair had a comfortable lead over Stuart Ballantine (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) until he got a puncture and had to cruise back to the tech zone to change it. Stuart passed Matthew while he was changing wheels but Matthew wasn't long in catching Stuart again to take the win. There were two entries in the Junior female category but only one finisher Claire Oakley (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) when fellow club member Aimee Ogilby retired early. In the Veteran event there was some very close battles as riders came through the start/finish in tight bunches. It took until lap 3 before Paul McMenamin was able to get a gap over the chases Eamon McConvey (Xmtb McConvey Cycles) and Andrew Burns (Shelbourne Motors / Orchard Wheelers). David Neill (Shelbourne Motors / Orchard Wheelers) took fourth ahead of Andrew Wallace (Northern / Dave Kane) and William Mulligan (Banbridge CC). There were 8 entries in the Masters event which was dominated from start to finish by Carn Wheelers Cathal Doyle. Kevin Lynch (Newry Wheelers) was second ahead of Stephen Kelly (Dromara CC) and Clive Caldwell (Strabane/Clifford CC). Apollo had laid on a great spread of sandwiches and cakes which were available in the Watersports centre where there were showers and a café. Many thanks to the club for putting on a great championships. Off-road racing now switches to the cyclo-cross season which will have support races for youth and for mountain bikes. See www.ulstercyclocross.com for details. DROMARA CC RIDERS Andrea Harrower (Elite Women) 1st Brian Wilson (Veteran male) 9th Stephen Kelly (Masters male) 3rd John Shanks (Senior Men 4) 9th Nigel Collins (Senior Men 4) 13th Zak Hanna (Under 16s) 4th Jonathan Collins (Under 16s) 5th Max Melville (Under 12s) 3rd Ben Hanna (Under 12s) finished Ben Wilson (Under 10s) 4th Kelly Wilson (Under 10s) finished 2nd girl Sam Duncan (Under 10s) finished Sophie Kennedy (Under 10s) finished 5th girl Fraser Harrower (Under 8s) 2nd Adam Mc Caughtry (Under 8s) 6th Dean Grimley (Under 8s) 13th Cameron Smyth (Under 8s) 14th Christopher Duncan (Under 8s) finished Jack Gilpin (Under 8s) finished Kayla Grimley (Under 8s) finished 4th girl Brett Kelly (Under 8s) finished Sarah Wilson (Under 8s) finished 5th girl Commissaires: Martin Grimley and Ronnie Ogilby Full results here Report by Martin Grimley Photographs by Michael Armstrong, Marian Lamb (Cycling Ulster), Jenny Melville and Martin Grimley More photographs here Report on Cycling Ulster here |          |
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