September 4/15 12:41 pm - Pan Am Track Championships: Day 3

Posted by Editoress on 09/4/15
 

Canada Wins Two More Medals at Pan Am Track Champs

Sean MacKinnon earned his third medal in as many days on Friday at 2015 UCI Pan-American Championships in Chile; this time another silver medal coming in his last event of the Chilean trip, the Points Race.

"Tonight was yet another bonus down here at the Pan-American Track Champs. After our success in the Team Pursuit, then again in the Individual Pursuit, I am so pleased to finish off the racing on a high note," said MacKinnon.

He added, "Tonight's Points Race was very tactical and a tight race until the end. I could not have had the success I had without my teammate Aidan Caves, who helped me the whole way through keeping me in the right spot until the end."

MacKinnon won a silver medal on the first day of competition on Wednesday in the men's Team Pursuit. He then went on to pocket another silver medal in the Individual Pursuit on Thursday.

It was also another good day for the women's track endurance athletes, in the 3000m Individual Pursuit. Annie Foreman-Mackey qualified third with a personal best of 3:36.28 while teammate Kirsti Lay qualified fourth with a personal best of 3:39.14, setting up a Canada-Canada dual for the bronze medal. In the medal race, it was ultimately Foreman-Mackey who prevailed over Lay to claim the bronze medal with another solid ride of 3:36.742. American rider Jennifer Valente won the event with a superb time of 3:28.947.

"Overall a solid day for Team Canada at the track," said coach Craig Griffin. "I'm encouraged by the progress of both Annie and Kirsti in this discipline, but they still need to improve in a few specific areas to get down to world class times. However, these non-Olympic Pan American Championship events, which are not a focus for our group, are a great opportunity for experience and learning."

Foreman-Mackey was enthusiastic about the performance. "I'm really excited to have had a solid ride in the Individual Pursuit today. With a new personal best time and room for improvement, I can take away a lot from my rides. Though we, unfortunately, fell short of qualifying a Canadian to the gold medal final, it was fun to race with my teammate in the bronze medal final. I've learned a lot from competing at these championships and am eager to use this as a platform to keep building through the fall and winter season!"

Remi Pelletier-Roy completed three of the six omnium races today, taking the sixth place in the scratch, second place in the individual pursuit and eighth place in the elimination race. The three remaining events will take place Saturday.

In Sprint action, Canada's ladies qualified with the two fastest time of the day, with Kate O'Brien (11.060 seconds) taking the top position ahead of teammate Monique Sullivan, who posted a time of 11.120 seconds. Both O'Brien and Sullivan easily advanced to their respective semi-final race, and could potentially face each other in the gold medal race, setting the stage for a repeat of the Pan-American Games gold medal race. Two Canadians, Colombia, and Cuba advanced to the Top-4.

Saturday will also see the start of the women's Omnium, where Canadian Champion Allison Beveridge will line up against five-time World Champion Sara Hammer in the Scratch Race, Individual Pursuit, and Elimination events. Steph Roorda and Kirsti Lay will compete in the women's Points Race.

Canada now has ten medals at this important Rio 2016 Olympic Qualifying competition.

Report courtesy Cycling Canada

Results from the third day of track racing in Chile