May 15, 2010 (Aguascalientes, Mexico) – The Canadian sprinters were off to a strong start after the 200 meter qualifying round at the Pan American Championships in Aguascalientes. Travis Smith set the fastest time of the day in 10.018, Joseph Veloce was third in 10.147, and Stephane Cossette was tenth in 10.299. Travis and Joseph moved through the sprint rounds with Joseph finishing in 6th place. Travis will race today in the Semi Finals.

Monique Sullivan had moved through to the semi finals in the sprint winning all of her rounds to get there. She lost to the Cuban rider Lisandra Guerra in the semis and faced off against the Venezuelan Daniela Larreal for the Bronze medal but finished in fourth. She will race in the Keirin on the last day of competition.

Mark MacDonald, who has been quite ill in Mexico, and Daniele Defranceschi raced the Madison; however the pair were outnumbered and overworked by the South Americans and ended the day early.

Steph Roorda and Remi Pelletier-Roy raced in the new Omnium format. After the first event, the flying 250 meter lap, they were sitting in 5th and 2nd respectively. The points race was next on the schedule where Steph gained 33 points for another 5th place finish and Remi gained 21 points to finish 8th. The third event was the newly introduced and tactical Elimination Race.  Remi once again finished 8th and is now sitting in 6th place overall. Steph showed her racing smarts by winning the race and is now tied for second place with the Colombian Maria Luisa Calle at 11 points. American Sarah Hammer, who has set 3 World Records this week, leads the Omnium with 4 points. The two Canadians will complete the final three events, Individual Pursuit, Scratch Race, and Time Trial on the last day of competition.

Canadian’s racing on May 15th are:
– Women’s Omnium: Steph Roorda
– Men’s Omnium: Remi Pelletier-Roy
– Men’s Sprint: Travis Smith
– Women’s Keirin: Monique Sullivan

Results

Women’s Sprint Final

For Gold
Race 1
1. Lisandra Guerra (Cuba) 00:11.2
2. Diana Garcia (Colombia)
Race 2
1. Lisandra Guerra (Cuba) 00:11.8
2. Diana Garcia (Colombia)

For Bronze
Race 1
1. Daniela Larreal (Venezuela) 00:11.5
2. Monique Sullivan (Canada)
Race 2
1. Daniela Larreal (Venezuela) 00:11.2
2. Monique Sullivan (Canada)

Men’s Madison

1. Colombia (Carlos Ospina, Weimar Roldan) 16 pts
2. Dominican Republic (Rafael German, Augusto Sanchez) 11 (-1 lap)
3. Argentina (Marcos Crespo, Martin Ercila) 22 (-2 laps)
4. Mexico (Luis Fernando Macias, Ignacio Sarabia) 19
5. Venezuela (Maximo Rojas, Yosvangs Rojas) 18
6. Chile (Antonio Cabrera, Gonzalo Gonzalez) 12
7. Guatemala (Jhonny Morales, Manuel Rodas) 1
DNF Canada (Daniele Defranceschi, Mark MacDonald)
DNF Ecuador (Carlos Guishpe, Luis Garcia)
DNF Costa Rica (Oscarelli Salazar, Pablo Loria)