Jos Hoetjes blitzing the race
Australian Courtney Dutton and New Zealand’s Jos Hoetjes put in
commanding performances to take out the ITU Junior Oceania
Championships today on the Gold Coast.
The win handed Dutton the final spot on the Australian female junior team to
contest the World Championships on the Gold Coast in September along with
team mates Holly Aitken and Emma Jackson.
New Zealand junior champion, Hoetjes continued his outstanding season
following his bronze at the recent Australian Youth Olympics and victories in
local races in New Zealand to also add the Oceania title to his resume.
New Zealand’s Teresa Adam lead out of the water by 30 seconds from the
next group containing Aitken, Jackson and Dutton. After the first lap of the
bike they were all together on the flat and fast 20km cycle which was also
technical in some sections.
The heat was a telling factor today and it took its toll on the field.
Dutton has been a consistent performer this season, featuring in the silver
medal winning team at the Australian Youth Olympics. Dutton handled the
pressure and conditions like a seasoned professional despite having to run
down the Australian Youth Olympics gold medallist Aitken over the 5km to
secure victory. Another emerging talent Victorian Jaimi Chisholm recorded
one of her best results finishing third.
“I’m overwhelmed with that result, after missing the world’s team last year it
really motivated me to get back
“My plan was to come out in with the leaders in the swim, ride as hard as I
could and hang on in the run for as long as I could.
“I’m so happy with this result, especially when Holly made a break in the run,
I didn’t panic just worked my way back through,” said Dutton.
Although off the pace today Emma Jackson’s eighth place was enough to
secure her the Australian Junior Triathlon Series after four races, relegating
Aitken to second and Dutton third.
The swim did little to separate the men, a group of 41 athletes formed on the
bike, at times riding six abreast proving challenging on the technical end of
the course.
“I just sat back on the bike and relaxed a bit, trying to save something for
the run, it was pretty hot out there,” said Hoetjes after the race.
Hoetjes emerged from the large pack on the bike and positioned himself
nicely among the front runners that included Australian Youth Olympics silver
medallist Sam Appleton and his training partner Aron Royle.
“I kept telling myself to keep my stride short and relax,” said Hoetjes.
The mantra worked perfectly, Hoetjes pulling away in the end to win
comfortably from Royle and Appleton, this pair have been waging their own
battle this season. Royle turned the tables on Appleton today and ironically
this secured him equal second on the final Australian Junior Triathlon Series
point score, Victoria’s Jamie Huggett won the series by one point.
Today’s Gold Coast Triathlon – Luke Harrop Memorial also included 2500
athletes competing over the Sprint (750m swim, 20km cycle, 5km run)
trying to secure a spot on the Australian team to compete at the 2009 Gold
Coast ITU Triathlon World Championships. Nerang’s Risa Saito made the
most of the perfect early conditions to record the fastest time of the day,
coming home in 1hr, 3min, 53secs. The fastest male home was Paul
Wiedersehn in 58min,24secs.
Others chose to tackle the Enticer (300m swim, 10km cycle, 2km run) while
hundreds of kids took up the challenge in the Superkidz Tri.
Gold Coast Junior ITU Oceania Championships Results
ITU Junior Elites
Male
1. Jos Hoetjes Christchurch 58:21
2. Aaron Royle Newcastle 58:53
3. Sam Appleton Warrimoo 58:59
4. Jamie Huggett Ballarat 59:11
5. Ryan Bailie Bunbury 59:18
Female
1 Courtney Dutton Bridgeman Downs 1:04:09
2. Holly Aitken East Kew 1:04:38
3. Jaimi Chisholm Mt Martha 1:05:23
4. Ashleigh Gentle Robina 1:05:45
5. Rebecca Kingsford Tirau 1:05:59
BLK1 Article: USM TRIATHLON BLK1 Photographer: EYES WIDE OPEN IMAGES
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