Newcomer bags silver, two bronzes

• Published date: 12 April 2024
• Author: CYCLING Paul Williams
• Publication title: Horowhenua Chronicle

The 15-year-old Horowhenua College student put her name down to participate in a school ride on a bike she had borrowed and “I haven’t really hopped off since.”

“I borrowed a bike from school that day and eventually got a bike of my own,” she said.

Collins joined the Levin Cycling Club and since then, through hard work and talent, has become one of the best track riders for her age group in New Zealand, winning medals at the recent Track National Championships held at the Grassroots Trust Velodrome in Cambridge.

She scored bronze in the 500m time trial, silver in the 750m sprint final, and bronze in the team sprint final (500m) when teaming up with Pyper Newton.

The sprint medals came as a surprise to Collins as she had been specifically training for endurance events, where she finished 5th overall in the 7.5km points race, and competed in every endurance event of six days of competition.

...