2012 Jr Track Nationals Report by Chazmichael Morales
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Lehigh Valley, PA – My name is Chazmichael Morales, and I represented Team Cycle Veloce at 2012 JR Track Nationals, in Lehigh Valley, PA.
I entered the JRM15-16 Omnium, which included 4 events. The first being the 16 km points race which I placed 7th. The 200m TT qualifier which lead to the match sprints, I took 1st. The 8 km Scratch Race, placed 3rd. The 500m TT, placed 2nd. This gave me a second place overall in the Omnium. The difference between first & second was a point.
When I began the qualifying heats, it was not much of a struggle to advance to the finals. But when finals came around, it was on another level to stay with the field. One of the biggest things I learned from nationals was you should never expect a race to play out how you plan it to, because it will always change, people will breakaway before sprints, and laps will be taken. The most important thing to do is to ride off of instinct and mark the riders who are in contention with the jersey. When it came down to the final day which was the 500 meter time trial, I knew that I had to get first if I wanted to win overall. I just missed the jersey by 3 one-hundredths of a second when James Mellen beats my time with a 36.1 second time trial! I was a bit disappointed at first, and then I realized that I just placed second at Jr. Nationals and realized the importance of embracing the second spot on the podium. I was the only 15 year old in the top 5. I had beaten second place by 5 points, and barely missed the jersey. In the end, Track Nationals taught me one thing, which is realizing that I can do anything if I put my mind to it!!!!!
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