By William Hamilton
IT was another weekend to remember for Kilkeel High School student Poppy Hamilton.
First up was the Paddy Doran TracK Race in Dublin. Poppy went into the event carrying great form and she continued to improve, getting another PB in the f200 race, a time which is now getting ever closer to the national record held by current World Tour rider Lara Gillespie.
This is something Poppy will be hoping to break and she has a further 18 months to do it before she moves into the junior category.
After the f200 was the scratch race, in which she consolidated her position. A short time later was the kilo race, an event that Poppy has the ability to dominate, and boy did she do it, by winning comfortably.
Finally, it was the points race, which is always fast and frantic. Poppy didn’t disappoint, scoring points throughout the race to finally finish third overall on the day, another great podium performance.
On Sunday, it was back to Dublin for a stage race, this time on the road. It started with a time trial. Poppy set another PB for the course to finish third and set herself up for the rest of the stages.
The time trial was followed by an elimination race, both were run off at a fast pace and at times Poppy was put under pressure but she stood the test and proved her form, finishing the day third overall again.
A really solid weekend for Poppy, in what is an important build up phase, as she is chasing selection for the School Games which is coming up at the end of August.
