Western Australian Jaz Hedgeland and Queenslander Matt Hauser have been crowned the SCODY Australian Junior Series winners after capping off brilliant seasons with stunning victories in the final round of the Nationwide Series, the OTU Oceania Championships in Devonport on the weekend.

For Hedgeland it was another show of class in a dominant third successive Scody Junior Series – a remarkable achievement; while Triathlon Australia officials believe first year junior Hauser is the youngest ever winner of the Series – a year after he won the Youth Series.

As the Series unfolded so did the interest build, in the women’s race the emergence of Jaz Hedgeland and her 15-year-old kid sister Kira and in the boys Series, who was going to put their hand up in the helter skelter run to the finish?

The overall winners were decided over four rounds – Gold Coast, Penrith, Brighton and Devonport with athletes allowed their best three scores – and the Brighton and Devonport rounds both worth double points.

Brighton also doubled as the Australian Championship and Devonport as the OTU Oceania Championships and the stars of tomorrow didn’t disappoint from the humidity of the race weekend at the Super Centre on the Gold Coast in December to the fiery heat of Penrith in January to the perfect conditions at Brighton Beach and similar conditions in the surf and the hills of Devonport’s Cradle Coast.

The competitors came from every State in Australia and threw everything at the Series that will provide the Australian selectors  with a guide to the team to represent Australia at the ITU World Championships in Edmonton in August-September.

Jaz Hedgeland was a clear winner on 55 points in the women’s field from 15-year-old sister Kira (42), Sophie Malowiecki (QLD) 35, Brittany Dutton (QLD) and Mikayla Falconer (WA) 29.

While in the boys Series, winner Matt Hauser, just 15, scooped the pool – gaining selection on the Australian team for the Youth Olympics in China later in the year as well as keeping his older opponents on their toes in the other rounds as well.

He was the only one in the boys field to score points in every round and in the end it was Hauser on top of the ladder on 45 points followed by fellow Queenslanders Daniel Coleman (39), Matt Roberts (34), Calvin Quirk (27) and Max Newman (24)

Triathlon Australia’s National Manager, Athlete Development Craig Redman was delighted with the standard of racing.

“I can’t remember a 15-year-old winning the Series and Matt’s performance is a reward for his consistency throughout the season while Jaz Hedgeland again showed why she has been Australia’s number one junior triathlete for the last three years,” said Redman.

“And it was the most consistent athletes who shone through especially Jaz Hedgeland who showed her sheer class and Hauser’s potential as a first year junior is enormous.

“Overall it has been a fantastic year which started out with some outstanding racing at Runaway Bay, the Oceania Olympic qualifier at Penrith, the Australian Junior Championships at Elwood and the brutally tough and challenging Oceania Championships at Devonport.

“The standard and dedication of our athletes throughout the Series has been first class and I’m sure they will all benefit greatly from the experiences.”

The much sought after Trans Tasman Teams Challenge saw Western Australia (Jaz Hedgeland, Kira Hedgeland Mikayla Falconer) win the girls title from New Zealand and Queensland and New Zealand with Tayler Reid, Jay Wallwork, Fynn Thompson and Kyle Smith taking out the men’s from WA and VIC/TAS.

2014 AUSTRALIAN JUNIOR TRIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS – Brighton VIC (Race 3 – SCODY Australian Junior Triathlon Series)

JUNIOR WOMEN (Top 5)

1^st Jaz HEDGELAND         WA
2^nd Kira HEDGELAND       WA
3^rd Mikala FALCONER      WA
4^th Kirsty DEACON           VIC
5^th Sophie MALOWIECKI QLD

JUNIOR MEN (Top 5)

1^st Jake BIRTWHISTLE      TAS
2^nd Dan COLEMAN           QLD
3^rd Calvin QUIRK              QLD
4^th Matt HAUSER             QLD
5^th Matt ROBERTS            QLD

FULL RESULTS HERE:

2014 OTU OCEANIA JUNIOR TRIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS – Devonport TAS (Race 4 – SCODY Australian Junior Triathlon Series)

JUNIOR WOMEN (Top 5)

1^st Jaz HEDGELAND          WA
2^nd Kira HEDGELAND       WA
3^rd Nicole VAN DER KAAY NZL
4^th Sophie MALOWIECKI QLD
5^th Brittany DUTTON       QLD

FULL RESULTS HERE

JUNIOR MEN (Top 5)

1^st Matt HAUSER               QLD
2^nd Tayler REID                NZL
3^rd Matt ROBERTS            QLD
4^th Dan COLEMAN            QLD
5^th Jay WALLWORK          NZL

Teams Event

JUNIOR WOMEN (3 per team)

1^st Western Australia   10points
2^nd New Zealand              20points
3^rd Queensland                22points
4^th NSW/WA/QLD            34points
5^th Victoria                      38points

JUNIOR MEN (4 per team)

1^st New Zealand           30points
2^nd Western Australia     71points
3^rd VIC/TAS 2                78points
4^th Queensland 2            81points
5^th South Australia          89points

Images courtesy of Keith Hedgeland