Hope Island triathlete Calvin Quirk came of age in one amazing bike lap at Runaway Bay yesterday to clinch a heart-stopping victory in Triathlon Australia’s 2013 Super Sprint Weekend at the Sports Super Centre – the opening round of the Scody Junior Series.
Quirk charged to a barnstorming victory with a win in the final Super Sprint Grand Final (worth double points) to take the crown by just half-a-point and claim the overall Junior Pointscore from Brisbane pair 19-year-old Max Neumann and 16-year-old Matthew Hauser.
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But after six events and it was Gold Coaster Quirk who took the coveted crown with a total of 138.75 points from Neumann (138.25) and Hauser (100.50).
The women’s title went to Western Australia’s two-time Australian champion Jaz Hedgeland on 175 points from Queensland pair Sophie Malowiecki (140.5) and Brittany Dutton (122.5).
But fortune favors the brave in the Grand Final race and it was Quirk who made the move on the bike to clinch a stunning win in front of four legends of the sport – Olympians Peter Robertson, Brad Kahlefeldt, Miles Stewart and his National Talent Academy (NTA) coach Craig Walton all eyeing off the stars of the future.
Giving away up to two years in age, experience and strength, 17-year-old Quirk, made an instant decision to break away from the second chase group on the bike and “go it alone” in hot pursuit of the lead group – time trialing for a lap-and-a-half to catch the front runners.
The National Talent Academy athlete knew what he had to do if he had any chance of clinching the title after three non-stop days of competition which attracted 200 of the most promising triathletes from around Australia to the annual Super Sprint Race Weekend.
Victorian Ben Anderson had opened up a lead off the 400 metre pool swim and Quirk was left to play catch up in the hustle and bustle of the pack and missed the lead group.
“I didn’t come out of the swim as well as I wanted and got left behind so when we got out on the bike course I knew I had to make a move,” said Quirk.
“I just had to go for it and I have been doing a lot of time trial work on the bike with coach Craig Walton recently and I was able to put it in to practice.
“I knew I just had to ride as hard as I could and I was always confident I could catch up to the group – it was a decision I knew I had to make.”
Quirk steered his bike into T2 and weaved his way towards the front at the end of the first of six laps of the running track in an eye-catching victory.
“It was very impressive performance by Calvin and a case of putting into practice what you do in training and that’s what this kind of racing is all about,” said Walton.
“We have been working a lot on the bike and it was good to see Calvin make the move when he did and it paid off. He’s got a strong run leg and he loves to race.”
In the end it was Quirk, with a stunning run leg who won the Grand Final in 25 minutes 47 from Neumann (25:59) and former Wagga product Caleb Noble (VIC) in 26:15, who was fifth overall.
Hauser’s performance to finish third overall re-inforced his potential after winning the Youth category last year.
Jaz Hedgeland benefits from move to Dan Atkins
Jaz Hedgeland showed her move to National Talent Academy coach Dan Atkins has had an immediate impact after 10 weeks to win her first ever Super Sprint Race Weekend title although shed knew she had to keep the pressure on with Sophie Malowiecki breathing down her neck.
“This is the one race I really wanted to win,” said Hedgeland, who’s kid sister Kira Hedgeland finished a respectable fourth In the GF and fifth overall.
“Last year I was fifth and the year before I got second, so coming into this my last one as a Junior all I wanted to do was win.
“After The ITU World Championships in London (Hedgeland was fourth) this year I moved to Dan Atkins, he is also the WA and SA NTA coach.
“It’s a whole different program which I’ve been doing for about 10 weeks now and really loving it.”
And she showed all the confidence of a youngster very much on the move.
“I think the run was going to be the key in the Grand Final but I really wanted to get out of the swim first, give myself time to relax, get on to the bike, work out the dynamics on that first lap of the bike, find out what was happening, then recover as much as I could and hit the run hard,” said Hedgeland.
“I wanted to see where I was sitting and I wanted to finish with a win. Last year in the swim I was trailing a little bit but coming out first today, that gave me a little confidence booster and I my run as well, I’ve been working on my technique so I hope that showed.”
And on her kid sister, Kira, last year’s Youth category winner?
“To race against Kira, not only as a competitor, but someone who understands me better than anyone else, (she’s my) training buddy and somebody who is there to encourage me,” said Hedgeland.
“It’s really great…it could be seen (that we are really) competitive, but we work together to make both of us lift.”
Hedgeland said she had a goal for 2013 (to win the ITU World Championship) and she’s holding on to that goal for 2014.
“So we’ll see what happens…….,” said Hedgeland.
It is the perfect start of a season that Hedgeland plans to take her to the podium at next year’s ITU World Championships in Edmonton after she was fourth in London this year.
Meanwhile the Youth category saw Hedgeland’s WA team mate Jessica Claxton take the gold medal from Laura May (NSW) and Ellie Hoitink (ACT) while the men’s youth medallists were Caleb Agostino-Morrow (NSW), Jace Grant (QLD) and Braelan Renton (QLD).
Newcastle’s Agostino-Morrow, coached by Peter Mauro, was the stand out competitor across all five races in the Youth category – winning four of the five races and finishing second in the other, beaten by a fraction of a second.
The Kotara High School student and National Schools Junior Triathlon Champion amassed 152.5 points to beat pint-sized Grant (97.5) and Renton (94).
Claxton proved that consistency would pay dividends in the Youth girls category in a hotly contested weekend of racing with NSW Laura May, with the WA athlete taking the gold with 115 points from may (110) and Hoitink (84.50).
She was never worse than fifth (in the swim and run) and was third on the bike but put it all together to win the Ultra Sprint Triathlon before finishing second in the Super Sprint.
The next round of the Scody Junior Series will be see the cream of the crop line up in Penrith on January 6 followed by the Australian Junior Championships in Brighton (VIC) on February 23 and the final round in Devonport on March 1.
Images courtesy of Keith Hedgeland
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