We kicked off the night with a 200m track record breaking attempt by Matthew Rotherham, a world-level sprinter from Bolton, England. The track record, held by Olympic sprinter Marty Nothstein, was a 10.583. It still stands, as Rotherham narrowly missed it by 0.2 seconds, riding a blazing fast 10.780. He will be at the track this coaching an elite sprint clinic.

A few more sprinters made an appearance at pursuit night; the Men’s 50+ 2km TT began with John Bott (Igo Fasnow Racing) and Scott Whiteman (George Garner Cyclery Track Team) throwing down for their first three laps to get their kilo time, before the true 2km pursuits started. Dean Peterson (Zipp Masters Team), the Men’s 50+ Indiana State Champion, took the gold with an impressive time of 2:28.65, followed by John Balmer (Century Road Club of America) in second with a time of 2:34.84 and John Lazard (Texas Roadhouse Cycling) with a 2:39.31. Like many of the riders who competed last night, Peterson, Balmer, and Lazard all in the final stages of prep for Masters Nationals in a few weeks.

In the women’s categories, Jane Vanni-Noone (Zone-6 Cycling) rode a 2km for a time of 2:52.27, earning the State Championship in the Women’s 35+ 2km, and then rode a second pursuit in the Women’s 3km for a time of 4:43.80 to win third place. The overall champion of the Women’s 3km was Elizabeth Engwis (Scarlet Fire p/b Matthew’s Bikes) with a time of 4:30.63, followed closely by Kristen Coleman (Scarlet Fire p/b Matthew’s Bikes) with a 4:32.49 for second place.

In the Junior Men 10-14, Gavin Franklin came out and rode a steady 1:51.52 to earn the State Championship in the 1km pursuit. In the Men’s 15-18 3km pursuit, Seth Worthington took the gold with a time of 3:52.57, and Ethan Franklin came in second place with a 4:50.52.

In the Men’s 30-49 3km pursuit, Kyle Perry (Texas Roadhouse Cycling) rode a 3.37.43 to win the state championship. Sliding into second with a time of 3:42.78 was David Morse (Above and Beyond Cancer), with Eric Knackmuhs (Scholars Inn Bakehouse Team Tortuga) taking the bronze with a 3:46.32.

Perry, Morse, and Knackmuhs each rode again in the Men’s 19+ 4km to win the gold, silver, and bronze in a second category with times of 4:51.11, 5:03.65, and 5:15.28 respectively. The rest of the riders in that category were very closely matched, making for some exciting heats.

A big thank you to all the riders who came out to ride one of the most mentally challenging events on the track! There was a great spectrum of experience on the fields, and it’s great to have so many new riders coming out as well as seasoned racers coming back. See you next week for the sprint tournament!