NISS Road and Track Cycling Championships
During the Term 2 holidays, the Auckland Grammar School Cycling squad were in Lake Karapiro and Cambridge competing in the North Island Secondary Schools Road and Track Cycling Championships.
On Saturday 9 July, the day started early with the North Island Schools Team Time Trial races, a 16km race around Lake Karapiro, with junior and senior riders racing in their respective age categories.
All five Grammar junior teams raced well with the A Team taking silver with a time of 24mins 9sec behind first placed Westlake Boys High School, with St Kentigern College in third. In the Senior grade, the Senior A team (Form 5 student Z. F. Wyllie, Form 6 student D. Morton and students F. A. Malpass, and Form 7 students A. J. Norwell, O. D. Scarlett and 2022 captain E. W. Pawson) took gold convincingly with a winning time of 21 mins 30 secs, just one minute ahead of the Senior B team who were second and 17 seconds ahead of Westlake Boys in third place.
On Saturday afternoon the Road Race event, which is a peloton race, was raced in age groups.
The Under 17 Boys’ race takes place over a distance of 54.8km. Z. F. Wyllie won gold with a winning time of 1 hour 35 mins 59 secs with D. Morton taking silver.
The Under 20 Boys’ race, using the same 54.8km course, included experienced riders from around the North Island. Winning gold with a time of 1 hour 28 mins 41 secs was E. W. Pawson, with A. J. Norwell just one second behind to take silver.
On Sunday 10 July, Criterium races were held on a circuit loop and the distances were dependent on grades.
In the Under 15 Boys B Grade race, Form 4 student J. Kwon took a convincing gold in the 6.4km distance with the time of 9 mins 59 secs, with Form 3 student E. D. Corbett taking bronze only 25 seconds behind.
The Under 16 Boys B Grade was an 8km loop, which saw Form 5 student M. Zhang take second place, just two seconds behind the winner.
The Under 17 Boys A Grade race had six strong Grammar riders helping each other. Tactics were vital for this race to ensure our riders were dominantly placed within the peloton on the 11.2km course. The team’s tactics were precise and well executed resulting in a trifecta win. Form 5 student L. R. Bhimy won gold with a time of 15 mins 58 secs, ahead of D. Morton who won silver and Z. F. Wyllie taking bronze.
In the Under 20 Boys B grade race, Form 6 student M. E. Vincent fought hard to take a well-deserved bronze. The Under 20 Boys A grade race was over a distance of 14.4km with the team racing tactically, enabling E. W. Pawson to take the win with a time of 19 mins 46 secs.
Once the points were calculated at the end of racing on Sunday, it was evident that Auckland Grammar School dominated the North Island races, with the squad winning the overall Top Boys’ School trophy with a total of 118 points, 46 points ahead of Westlake Boys High School in second and St Kentigern College in third with 68 points.
On Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 July, 11 students from the squad continued racing in various track events at the velodrome in Cambridge at the North Island Secondary Schools Track Championships. The School Grammar kept the medals flowing with the following wins:
From 5 student L. R. Bhimy was named the Under 17 Boys Track Omnium North Island Champion
In the Under 20 Boys Team Pursuit Finals,. two Grammar teams were on the podium:
- First: L. R. Bhimy, A. J. Norwell, E. W. Pawson, Z. F. Wyllie
- Third: F. H. Maddison, F. A. Malpass, B. C. Pawson, C. D. Scarlett
In the Under 20 Boys Team Sprint Finals, our team were second (B. C. Pawson, A. J. Norwell, E. W. Pawson).
In both the Under 17 Boys 4000m and the Under 20 Boys 5000m Scratch races, Grammar students were first, second and third:
Under 17:
- Gold: L. R. Bhimy
- Silver: B. C. Pawson
- Bronze: Z. F. Wyllie
Under 20:
- Gold: F. A. Malpass
- Silver: A. J. Norwell
- Bronze: E. W. Pawson
In the Under 16 Boys Keirin B Final, Form 4 student R. Y Turnbull was second
In the Under 17 Boys Keirin A Final, L. R. Bhimy was third
In the Under 20 Boys Keirin A Final, E. W. Pawson was first and A. J. Norwell second
In the Under 16 Boys 4000m Tempo Points race, R. Y. Turnbull was third
In the Under 17 Boys 5000m Tempo Points race , L. R. Bhimy was second and Z. F. Wyllie was third
The Under 20 Boys 7500m Tempo Points race was another trifecta win for Grammar:
- Gold: A. J. Norwell
- Silver: E. W. Pawson
- Bronze: F. A. Malpass
In the Under 20 Boys Track Omnium, A. J. Norwell won gold as well as the title of Most Outstanding Male Cyclist with E. W. Pawson taking silver and F. A. Malpass took bronze.
Auckland Grammar School was awarded the Top Boys School award with a total of 76 points, ahead of 14 other North Island schools.
Congratulations to the wider Cycling squad and to Master in Charge Ms Debbie Watson for her guidance and support.