Keith Jones may be a relative newcomer to the sport of track cycling, but he performed like a polished veteran last weekend, scooping a pair of medals – including one gold – at the Canadian Track Cycling Championships in Burnaby.

The 18-year-old cyclist, normally a road cyclist who has only been riding on tracks for about eight months, was part of B.C.’s four-rider squad that placed first in the junior division’s team pursuit event, and followed that by picking up a bronze medal in the three-rider team sprint competition.

“It was definitely impressive. Keith just has so much natural talent,” said Cycling BC teammate Jamie Shankland, who also works alongside Jones at Peninsula Cycles.

The soft-spoken Jones said he was surprised to even be competing at a national competition only eight months into the sport, but was not shocked to see his team finish on the podium.

“I wasn’t really thinking I’d be here already – it’s definitely been a lot (of success) in a short amount of time, but I knew we had a really good team here,” he said.

Shankland, 26, also medalled at the Burnaby velodrome, taking a silver medal in the elite division’s kilo (1,000 metres) event. He finished just three-tenths of a second – about eight inches – behind the winner.

“It’s nice to see all the work pay off, but it’s also tough to lose such a close race,” Shankland said.

Shankland’s medal was also significant considering he only returned to riding last spring, after spending eight months sidelined with multiple injuries suffered when his bike collided with a car on a training ride last year.

Still, the veteran rider – who’s been racing on tracks for more than three years – was thrilled to see both himself and his protege bring home some hardware.

It was Shankland who got Jones involved in track racing less than a year ago.

“I started dragging him out to the track just because I wanted someone to train with,” Shankland laughed.

“And to watch his performance at Canadian championships was just phenomenal.

“Now I’m basically just his chauffeur.”

In Burnaby, both Shankland and Jones also competed in the keirin event – a two-kilometre sprint, in which riders are paced by a motorcycle for the first 1,400 metres, before being set free for the final 600.

“That’s when all hell breaks loose,” said Shankland, who finished ninth in the elite division.

In the junior race, Jones was seventh.

Jones, who also raced at Canadian Road Cycling Championships earlier this summer in Quebec, said the transition to the track has been relatively smooth – just a lot of hard work.

“It’s one of those things you just have to train really hard for. I’ve sacrificed a lot the last few months so I could train and be ready,” the Earl Marriott grad said.

“And when you get out there, you just go as hard as you can.”

Jones said he plans on taking a few weeks off to relax before he resumes training. The next big race for both Shankland and Jones is the Burnaby Six Day, taking place from Dec. 29 to Jan. 3.