8 Mar 2009

Pursuit team seeks new record

7:23 am on 8 March 2009

The New Zealand men's pursuit team has smashed the national record during a special attempt on the final day of the national track championships in Invercargill.

The team's building up mode for the UCI World Championships in Poland at the end of the month beat the old record of 4:08.890 easily, clocking 3:59.593.

The pursuit team weren't the only ones in record-breaking form, with Canterbury's Natasha Hansen breaking the New Zealand Flying 200-metre record.

The 19-year-old also won the women's keirin ahead of team-mate Penny Day, who hit back in the women's eight kilometre scratch final to take the title ahead of Otago's Katri Laike and Southland's Sequoia Cooper.

World Omnium champion Hayden Godfrey took out the men's 15-kilometre scratch final with Jason Christie claiming silver and Shem Rodger the bronze.

Southland's Eddie Dawkins won his third title this week, taking the men's keirin.