Bathurst's Tyler Puzicha, Kalinda Robinson excel at Oceania Track Championships

Backing up just a matter of days after the Track National Championships at Brisbane's Anna Meares Velodrome, the Bathurst pair came home with five medals between them in the Oceania event against the best that Australia and New Zealand had to offer.

Puzicha claimed a gold double in the under 19s division, scoring individual success in the time trial and getting to the top of the podium again in the team sprint.

On top of that she was second in the sprint and finished fifth in the keirin.

Puzicha said the combined nationals and Oceania experience was a great way to round out her junior track career.

"It was a big two weeks, and very tough having to back up for an international competition straight after nationals. It was very exciting though having some great racing against some tough competitors," she said.

"Just being up there with the team again after COVID was a good experience. It's nice to be back into it.

"Team sprint is a great event because you need that teamwork and everyone in the team needs to be able to do their bit. It's awesome when you get the result from that work.

"I'm happy with how the sprint went. I think it's some of the best racing I've done, especially considering that we haven't been able to race much. Then for my 500m I was very stroked with that because I wasn't expecting much from that.

"This was my last time in juniors so next year will be exciting because I'm with the big dogs essentially. It will be exciting to see what I can do against them."

Robinson took the step up to the elite category this season, pitting her against open age competitors for the first time.

The Bathurst rider relished the challenge and came away with a pair of bronze medals - one in the team sprint and the other in the keirin.

Along with that she reached the quarter-finals of the sprint and was fifth in the time trial.

Robinson said the jump up to the elite class was an exciting experience, and earning an individual podium at that level came as a pleasant shock.

"That was my first time in elites. We had nationals the week before and then what was pretty much the same competition with the addition of New Zealand, and with them there that was tough," she said.

"It was really nice to get the bronze in the keirin, especially. That was definitely a surprise, and I'd had a tough heat for it so just to make the final was a big deal. Getting the medal was great, I didn't expect that at all.

"Going into elites was definitely nerve-wreaking but it was a great experience to get that exposure to the high class of racing."

Bathurst's Eliza Bennett also raced at Oceanias, with her best result being a fifth in the team sprint.

Bennett and Robinson had joined up for the team sprint at nationals the previous week.

Racing with Selina Ho, the trio finished just 0.33 seconds away from a gold medal as they finished with the runner-up time.

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