Talented teen Toby Meek flew down his hometown course to claim the elite downhill honours at the Torpedo7 Mountain Bike Nationals at Coronet Peak in Queenstown today.

The 18-year-old showed a maturity beyond his years to beat off experienced rivals with two-time champion Sam Blenkinsop, 34, runner-up and Nelson’s Sam Gale third.

There were no surprises in the elite females with 21-year-old local star, Jess Blewitt, ranked seventh in the 2022 World Cup rankings, making it three elite titles in a row with a dominant display.

Meek, who rides for pro team MS Mondraker, came in to the championship in strong form after national series wins in Christchurch and Rotorua.

After topping the seeding run, he flew down the course in 2:50.87 to finish four seconds clear of Blenkinsop who just edged Nelson’s Sam Gale.

After some injury-hit times, the teenager is reaping the rewards of a healthy body but today was more about a healthy mind.

“I think the nerves got the better of me in the seeding run and I made a lot more mistakes than I normally do,” said Meek. “I still had a good time and seeded first. But I knew if I wanted a chance of winning, I had to simmer it back a little bit and focus on hitting everything really clean.

“You could see that in my race run. The top bit was super-quick and clean and all I could think of on the bottom bit was – don’t crash. I told myself to tone it back a bit because I had done the work at the top.

“I am just stoked. It was a well-executed plan that went pretty much exactly as I wanted it to go.”

The Queenstown rider will head to Europe in May for the World Cup circuit, fully fit after shoulder reconstruction and looking forward to the World Cup season.

“With that national result I am sure I will be over at Fort Williams for the Worlds which will be great.”

Blewitt, who won last year in Christchurch while still in rehab from significant injuries, and went on to finish seventh overall in the rankings although only competed in five events. The GT Factory rider was also top-10 at the world championships.

After a 3:16 seeding run, the Red Bull rider turned up the heat to clock an impressive 3:12.75 to claim elite victory by nearly eight seconds from world junior champion Jenna Hastings (Rotorua) with a further two seconds to Wanaka’s Kalani Muirhead.

There were some impressive performances by junior riders, with former BMX international and last year’s under-17 champion, Sacha Earnest from Auckland moving up to Under-19 category. She was

the second fastest female overall behind Blewitt, clocking 3:14.30 in a superb run, just fractionally ahead of second placed under-19 rider, Erice van Leuven from Lower Hutt.

Earlier North Canterbury’s Ben Oliver earned his first national elite jersey to take to Europe, but not the one he had originally eyed up.

Oliver bounced back from finishing third in the cross-country nationals on Saturday, to claim the first official short-track national championship at Queenstown’s Coronet Peak.

With short-track now officially recognised globally, with kiwi Sam Gaze claiming the first rainbow jersey last year, Cycling New Zealand and Mountain Bike New Zealand decided to add it to their national title mix.

Oliver managed to push clear of the field to win the men’s honours in 25m31s, to be 23 seconds clear of his brother Craig with yesterday’s national champion, Matthew Wilson third and leading under-23 rider.

It was a double in the women with Sammie Maxwell edging out Rotorua’s Ruby Ryan.

Results:

Downhill, Male:

Elite: Toby Meek (Queenstown) 2:50.87, 1; Sam Blenkinsop (Christchurch) 2:54.31, 2; Sam Gale (Nelson) 2:54.89, 3.

Junior: Luke Wayman (Christchurch) 2:56.24, 1; Joe Millington (Rotorua) 2:57.73, 2; Isaac Holman (Lincoln) 2:58.55, 3.

Under-17: Oli Clark (Kaikoura) 2:55.15, 1; Tyler Waite (Clive) 2:55.96, 2; Rory Meek (Queenstown) 2:57.70, 3.

Under 15: Lewis Laird (Queenstown) 3:02.57, 1; Camden Rutherfurd (New Plymouth) 3:04.05, 2; Matthew McFarlane (Cambridge) 3:16.91, 3.

Female:

Elite: Jess Blewitt (Queenstown) 3:12.75, 1; Jenna Hastings (Rotorua) 3:20.13, 2; Kalani Muirhead (Wanaka) 3:22.00, 3;

Junior: Sacha Earnest (Auckland) 3:14.30, 1; Erice van Leuven (Lower Hutt) 3:14.48, 2; Poppy Lane (Mt Maunganui) 3:31.13, 3.

Under-17: Bellah Birchall (Rotorua) 3:19.84, 1; Eliana Hulsebosch (Tauranga) 3:29.49, 2; Roisin McGuinness (Christchurch) 3:32.35, 3.

Under-15: Addison Rutherfurd (New Plymouth) 3:38.48, 1; Capella Martin (Martinborough) 3:39.61, 2; Millie Waite (Clive)3:46.36, 3.

Short-track cross-country:

Elite & U23 Male: Ben Oliver 25.31, 1; Craig Oliver at 23s, 2; Matthew Wilson (U23) at 40s, 3; Anton Cooper at 41s, 4; Ethan Rose (U23) at 1:22, 5; Jacob Turner (U23) at 2:12, 6.

Under-19: Eddie Adams 28:15, 1; Finn Wilson at 33s, 2; Lachlan McNabb at 45s, 3.

Elite & U23 Female: Sammie Maxwell (U23) 22:01, 1; Ruby Ryan (U23) at 2s, 2; Mia Cameron (U23) at 2:27, 3.

Under-19: Maria Laurie 25:02, 1; Olivia Tilby-Adams 2, Alexandra Clark 3.