Tyler Puzicha, 12, has returned to Bathurst with three gold medals around her neck following a dominant performance at the recent Junior Track Nationals at Dunc Gray Velodrome.

If claiming three gold medals against the nation’s best junior riders wasn’t enough, Puzicha also set new Australian under 15s records in the 200m flying lap qualifier (12.689 seconds) for the sprint and the 500m time trial (37.24) on her way to winning both events.

Puzicha got on top of the podium once more thanks to her impressive ride in the keirin and narrowly missed on making it four gold medals when she scored a runner-up finish in the scratch.

Those results gave Puzicha a clean sweep of the three girls under 15s sprint events.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Puzicha’s efforts at nationals? The Bathurst rider did it all as a bottom-age rider in the under 15s age group.

That’s a remarkable achievement for a rider who wasn’t even expecting to make it into the state team.

“It was pretty exciting. I didn’t expect it,” Puzicha said of her nationals medals.

“It was great [to get the flying lap record] but I knew it wasn’t over yet after the 200m, with the sprint still to come … and it was great to win that with a team mate [Kalinda Robinson] on the podium.

“I cried when I broke both the records.”

Puzicha’s father, Michael, couldn’t be prouder of what his daughter has achieved on the boards.

“She went down there without any big goals. She just wanted to make the state team. What she came away with just unreal,” he said.

“The records were the big moments. When she did the 500m time trial I could see she was pretty emotional after she saw that she had broken the record.

“I had a bit of a tear in my eye and was emotional myself. I was absolutely ecstatic.

“To come away with three Australian titles in her first year of 15s is absolutely special.”

Puzicha narrowly missed out on being named the overall champion of champions at nationals.

The efforts of Puzicha went a long way towards helping NSW secure the Ray Godkin Shield, awarded to the champion state at the Junior Track Nationals.

Following her efforts on the track, Puzicha is currently enjoying a month away from competitive cycling but she is still keeping active in that time – preparing to play in Bathurst’s under 13s representative netball and soccer sides.