QUEENSLANDERS TAKE SPRINT TITLES
QUEENSLANDERS Max Neumann and Kelly-Ann Perkins were crowned national sprint champions at the Gold Coast Triathlon Luke Harrop Memorial yesterday.
Irishman Constantine Doherty took line honours in the men’s race.
Neumann was high on confidence after a win at the Mooloolaba triathlon a few weeks ago, and his second placing yesterday saw him take out the Australian Championships.
“It was an early start so I didn’t have too much time to think about the race,” he said. “It’s been a good couple of weeks and I couldn’t be happier with how it is all going.”
More than 70 elite men took to the starting line before charging into the seaway for their 750m swim leg, followed by a 20km bike leg and 5km run.
A mid-course crash affected a few competitors, with some not being able to complete the bike leg.
The elite women’s OTU Continental Cup and Australian Championships were also hotly contested with Danielle De Francesco (Queensland) leading out of the swim. Joanna Miller rode strongly in the bike leg but was overtaken at the last minute by Perkins, who finished in a time of 58:53 despite breaking her leg two years ago.
“I was in the top 10 in Mooloolaba (8th) and 11th at New Plymouth so to get the Australian title here is another good result that I’m happy with,” said Perkins.
“I had a fairly good race, came out towards the front of the swim, the group came together on the bike so it was always going to come down to a run race.”