Author: craigf

The recent MTB Orienteering World Championships in Portugal saw Australia’s contingent of 5 riders have great success.

Victoria’s Carolyn Jackson won gold in all three distances, sprint, middle & long in W50. Peter Cusworth (M60) was 2nd in sprint, 3rd in long and 8th in middle.

Thor Egerton (W40) was 2nd in sprint and took the bronze in the other two events. Jon Sutcliffe (M40) & Carolyn Cusworth (W50) also participated well.

This week-end in Canberra sees the last round of the MTB Orienteering National Series events being held in the fantastic trails of Sparrow Hill & Kowen Forest. There will be the Australian (and ACT) sprint championship & the ACT middle championships on the Saturday followed by the ACT long championships on the Sunday. MTBO statistician Blake Gordon will be on hand to do the final maths so that the national series trophies can be presented on the Sunday.

In men’s elite the WA pair of Ricky Thackray & Ian Dalton are making the trip across, with local Seb Dunne and NSW’s Steven Todkill amongst a strong field that will challenge them. Women’s elite is a three way match up. The M20 class sees Victorian Tim Jackson being confronted by ACT brother’s Ian & Paul de Jongh. Paul is very fast normally but could be a little tired after riding outstandingly well for 3rd in the U23 class at the Solo World MTB 24 hour event last weekend.

Carolyn Jackson, having just won three gold medals at the Masters, will be challenged by ACT riders Jasmine Sunley and Danielle Winslow. Jasmine has just made the transition from the juniors while Danielle is a former WOC foot O orienteer and outstanding adventure racer who is getting back into competition after the birth of her first child.

Full details of the following MTBO positions (and WOC & JWOC foot O positions) will be uploaded tomorrow.

Australian MTB Orienteering Coach.

Time Period: October 2013 to September 2015.

Job Requirements:

Primary role:

Coach of the combined WMTBOC & JWMTBOC team, with a management role within Australia.

Remuneration: The position is voluntary in its nature. Negotiated funding is available to support squad & team activities and coach expenses within Australia. All expenses will be met for travel to WOC.

2014 Mountain Bike Orienteering World Championships Australian Team Manager.

Time Period: For 2014 World Championships.

Role:

Co-ordinate the day to day arrangements of the Australian team (WMTBOC & JMTBOC team members) whilst they are overseas, both at the pre-champs training camp and at WMTBOC itself. This specifically involves food, accommodation and travel needs.

Assist the coach through being present at the finish of all WMTBOC competitions, so as to meet the immediate needs of the riders.

Manage the team budget on a daily basis and maintain financial records of items spent whilst overseas and forward these on in orderly fashion to the coach, at the conclusion of the WMTBOC carnival.

Assist with publicity for the team via the OA website, Facebook and any blogs, in conjunction with the Coach.

Remuneration: The position is voluntary in its nature. All overseas based expenses at the training camp and during WMTBOC will be met. This covers accommodation, food and car travel.

In 2014 OA High Performance is establishing a new Talent Development Structure comprising three levels of Squads at the national level. This is part of the development of clearly defined Athlete Pathways for Orienteering based on the AIS  FTEM framework.

The application forms for all current and future elites who are intending to compete at NOL standard and above in 2014 have been sent to all athletes who completed an Athlete Profile for 2013.

Anyone who did not receive a copy of the application form and is interested in being part of these HP Squads in 2014 can do so by accessing the form at

 https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QAOTyvaX42j2uRCXdTqciEWLVOmGGqavl38eUgwM-mw/viewform

Or   email  nickdent7@gmail.com

The application forms need to be returned by the end of October. Included in these application forms is an indication of the athletes desire to attend either of the training camps in Tasmania and Canberra in January 2014.

Entries for the final MTBO national series round on Oct 18-19 in Canberra close THIS Friday via Eventor.  With the Australian Sprint title and the ACT middle and long titles being held in the intricate track networks of Sparrow Hill and Kowen Forest, there is plenty of fun to be had.

The World Masters MTBO Championships are being held in Portugal this weekend (October 10-12^th) with over 160 competitors entered including 5 Australians.   In conjunction with the Masters an elite World Cup is also being conducted.   The events are being held in the south-west area of Portugal, at Grândola, 130km south of Lisbon.

Carolyn Jackson, who medalled in the 2012 Championships should do well in W50, and fellow Victorian Carolyn Cusworth also will be racing this class.  Peter Cusworth also should be in contention in M60.   Ex-pat Aussies Jonathon Sutcliffe (M40) and Thor Egerton (W40) are journeying down from Norway for the event.

On the website you’ll be able to follow MTBO WCup’13 and WMMTBOC’13 events with live results, live TV coverage, GPS Tracking, Live Blog, text commentary, pictures, video, and route choices: www.wmmtboc2013.fpo.pt.

This weekend the MTB Solo 24hr World Championships are being held around an 18km circuit on Mt Stromlo, Canberra.  Orienteers should recognise the following participants: Patrick Kluth, Kay Haarsma, Paul de Jongh; Scott Smith and Daryl Smith.

Jackeroo Cooler Arm folding chair (grey)

Handkerchief (small white)

Pair white socks

Bridgestone bag

Control description holders (4)

Silva headbands (2)

Baseplate compass

Canberra Centenary bag (black)

Towel (white)

Cap –Colombia (grey/black)

Stuff sack (Kathmandu) red

Folding chair packets (2) – Blue, Bottle green

Jacket (grey)

Plastic water bottle (2) – White, Blue

Baby’s bottle (Avent/Philips brand)

Gaiters (Protech) dark blue

Bandana (Canteen)

Shorts (Pink, blue & grey)

If you wish to claim any of these items please email John & Ann Scown at scown@light.net.au

Any items not claimed by cob Sun 27 Oct 2013 will be disposed of thoughtfully.

The Canberra Cockatoos dominated the 2013 SILVA National Orienteering League, winning three out of four team titles and three individual titles.

The closest team competition was the senior women’s. The Cockatoos and defending champions, the Victorian Nuggets, went into the season’s final race level. The Nuggets had a four-minute lead going into the final leg and were still in front at the spectator control, but, as with last year, the title came down to the last few controls of the last race. Jo Allison slipped through for the Cockatoos when Kathryn Preston made a late mistake, and while Preston did her best to come back over the last few controls she fell 50 metres short. A good final week saw the Tassie Foresters in third place.

The Cockatoos senior men led by only a point going into the season’s final week, but always looked to have something in hand, with the return of Dave Shepherd from injury adding depth to an already strong team. The Nuggets still had a mathematical chance of winning before the last race of the season, but beating the Cockatoos by two places was always going to be a tall order, and never came close to happening. The NSW Stingers were third.

The Cockatoos were even more dominant in the junior men’s competition, securing victory long before the season’s end. The one break to their monopoly came in the junior women’s class, where the Nuggets held off a fast-finishing Stingers team by two points, Tasmania’s relay win preventing the Stingers from getting the points they needed to overhaul their opponents.

The Cockatoos also won three individual titles. Despite missing the first two rounds, Lizzie Ingham’s eight successive wins made sure she had a comfortable lead over Grace Crane in the senior women’s event, while Matt Crane had a similarly easy victory by winning seven races in a season where no-one else won more than one.

Heather Muir was not as dominant as the two senior winners, but a season of consistent performances – three wins and seven seconds – was enough to see her emerge from a closely-bunched junior women’s field and secure the one non-Cockatoos individual title with a round to space. The one class which came down to the final day was the junior men’s, a contest between Cockatoos and JWOC teammates Ian Lawford and Oliver Poland which was settled by Lawford’s win in the Australian Middle Distance Championships.