Keira Will wins scratch race national title in sprint finish

Keira Will has added the elite women's scratch race national championship to her reigning omnium and Madison crowns on the sixth and final day of the 2025 AusCycling Track National Championships in Brisbane.

The 19-year-old from New South Wales won the bunch sprint finish that was a three-wide drag race out of the final corner between herself, silver medallist South Australian Odette Lynch and Claudia Marcks from the Australian Capital Territory, who ran out of legs to finish fifth.

South Australian Alli Anderson rounded out the podium in third, finishing in the wheels of Will and Lynch.

After a cagey 40 laps of Anna Meares Velodrome between the 15 starters it was Victoria who took the onus of a lead-out with four laps to race, firstly through Alana Hribar and then Alyssa Polites a lap later.

Marcks powered to the front on the penultimate lap and took the bell, followed closely by Lynch directly on her wheel and then Will.

The Canberran held Lynch on her hip right until the end of the final corner, but it was Will who capitalised the most to rocket to the scratch race win around the outside of both.

A jubilant Will fist-pumped in celebration after a less than ideal week that had only produced a points race bronze medal for the rising star before starting the scratch race.

"I'm obviously every excited with it, I came into this week a little bit sick so didn't have very high expectations and had to just take it day-by-day. This is a really good way to end on a high," Will said.

Will, who raced for the ARA Australian Cycling Team at last year's UCI Track World Championships and the UCI Track Nations Cup a fortnight ago, said today was a special day for not only her, but the entire New South Wales team due to the looming end of the New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) track cycling program.

"It's definitely a big day for New South Wales. I've been in the institute for a good number of years now and I know when I was younger it was always a goal to get in the New South Wales Institute (of Sport) and it's been really good," Will said.

"Training with these guys all the time, we've all become really close and really good friends, so it's really sad that it has to end like this.

"But these things happen and I'm super grateful for everything and I'm so grateful for Bec (Dicello).

"I can't express how much she's done for me and she's been my coach since 2018 and she's always been so supportive and just so incredible. I can't thank her enough for it."

Feature picture: Mackenzie Sweetnam