International Conference on Course Planning, Sprint Orienteering

The IOF Foot Orienteering Commission is inviting interested course setters to the International Conference on Course Planning for Sprint Orienteering that will take place in conjunction with the World Orienteering Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Sprint Orienteering has been on the WOC programme since 2001 in Finland and has exhibited many different styles of course planning during its development. The conference will focus on the challenge to make a good course given the very different circumstances inevitable during the preparation of World Class Events.
The Foot Orienteering Commission wants to invite course planners and others with interest in course planning from all around the world to discuss and share information about the latest philosophies of course planning in a relaxed and informal atmosphere. The new Guidelines of “Course Planning World Class Events” will also be presented.
Program
Tuesday, 17th July 2012 at 19:00–22:00 h. The Conference will take place in Lausanne in the Alpha Palmiers Hotel (WOC hotel).
Sprint maps with courses and notes from the course planner or runners are welcome for the discussion in the workshops. Maps and your proposal should be sent in advance to the following address:
IOF Foot Orienteering Commission, Göran Andersson (goran.andersson@rf.se), before 30th June 2012.
If you are suggesting presentations, please specify both the title of the presentation, the presenter, and a brief synopsis of the presentation.
Timetable
19.00-19.15 Registration
19.15-19.30 Conference opening (Konrad Becker, Foot Orienteering Commission Chair)
19.30-21.00 Presentation, Course Planning Sprint (Göran Andersson SWE, David May GBR, WOC2012 Sprint course planner Philippe Ballif SUI)
21.00-21.15 Coffee Break
21.15-21.45 Workshops
21.45-22.00 Discussions and closing of the conference
Registration and Fees
The participation fee is 10 Euros (12 Swiss Francs), which will be paid on site.
Registration deadline is Friday 30th June 2012. Registrations should be sent by e-mail to the IOF Foot Orienteering Commission responsible: konrad.becker@bluewin.ch

Trail Orienteering for Foot Orienteers

TRAIL ORIENTEERING (Trail O) provides a major challenge for all experienced orienteers, helping them improve their map reading skills.
Many orienteers in this country regard Trail Orienteering as something devised for competitors with a disability. While it is true that this form of Orienteering is very well suited for people with a disability, Trail O is far more than that. It provides as much of a challenge to able-bodied orienteers and, most importantly, allows able-bodied and handicapped participants to compete on equal terms. Not many other sports can make that claim.
The JUNE 2012 edition of The Australian Orienteer carries a detailed explanation of Trail O, showing how it can challenge even the most experienced orienteer. Read about it on pages 22 – 26 when the June 2012 edition arrives in your post box.
IOFTechIntroC6-5(no dots) IOFTechIntroC6-5Desc control 5(lo)

Simon Uppill
Simon Uppill

Aislinn
Aislinn

The Australian team to contest the 2012 World Orienteering Championships at Lausanne, Switzerland, from July 14th-20th, is as follows:

 

Women:

Bridget Anderson      (Qld/SA) – sprint

Susanne Casanova  (NT/SA) – sprint, middle

Rachel Effeney         (Qld)      – sprint, long, relay

Aislinn Prendergast  (Vic)       – middle, long, relay

Vanessa Round        (SA)       – middle, long, relay

 

Men:

David Brickhill-Jones  (based in Finland) – sprint, relay

Julian Dent  (NSW, based in Sweden) – sprint, middle, long, relay

– may drop one of these, in which case Bryan Keely is the reserve.

Bryan Keely       (Vic)    – long

Murray Scown    (ACT) – middle

Simon Uppill       (SA)   – sprint, middle, relay

 

Coaches are Wendy Read (Queensland) and Tom Quayle (Sweden).

 

Orienteering Australia congratulates all these athletes!

There are four newcomers to the team (Bridget Anderson, Susanne Casanova, Bryan Keely, Murray Scown). David Brickhill-Jones rejoins the team after running for the UK in past years. The unavailability of a number of previous Australian representatives has led to this team being a mix of youth and experience, in which all athletes have demonstrated potential and commitment to performing well in their chosen disciplines.

 

Selectors for the women’s team were: Kay Haarsma, Rob Lewis, Tom Quayle and Wendy Read. Selectors for the men’s team were those above plus Jenny Casanova.

 

Jenny Casanova –  Chair of Senior Selectors

 

The Australian Bushrangers’ team to contest the Test Match series against the NZ Pinestars near Wellington from June 2nd-4th is as follows:

Men                                                    Women

Aaron Breed  (VIC)                            Katelyn Effeney (QLD

Oliver Crosato (QLD)                         Rachel Effeney (QLD)

Kasimir Gregory (NSW)                     Mary Fleming    (VIC)

Brodie Nankervis (TAS)                     Heather Muir    (QLD)

Rob Preston (VIC)

James Robertson (VIC)

 

Rob Lewis (VIC) is team coach.

Kasimir Gregory
Kasimir Gregory

Newcastle NOL races & European Champs middle event news.

Orienteering NSW provided three outstanding events over the “Coalfield’s Classic” weekend at Newcastle that were appreciated by elite and age groupers alike. Initially there was a sprint in the complex Newcastle university campus, then a middle distance event with numerous short legs on the re-mapped Pelaw Main area, and finally the long at Astley’sTower.

Best NOL performer was Canberra Cockatoo Matt Crane who took out the trifecta in elite men.  SA’s Simon Uppill took out second places in both the sprint and middle, while Bendigo’s Bryan Keely impressed with a strong 3rd in the 18 kilometre long behind Crane and NZ’er James Bradshaw.

Olle Poland
Olle Poland

Cockatoo Ollie Poland won both the sprint and middle but Tassie’s Brodie Nankervis defeated Ollie narrowly in the 14km junior elite long course. NSW’s Alex Massey took third in the sprint while Oscar McNulty (WA) was very consistent in the bush events with 2nd in the middle and 3rd in the long.  Ashley Nankervis won a close battle for third in the middle.

Vanessa Round (SA) had a dominant run in winning the 11.6km women’s long in her last Australian race for the forseeable future, as she leaves to live in Switzerland next week.  Her 87 minute run was seven minutes better than 2nd place Aislinn Prendergast but then Lizzie Ingham, Grace Crane, Rachel Effeney and Jasmine Neve were all grouped together within ninety seconds.  Rachel Effeney (Qld) again emerged as the sprint champ with Grace Crane over a minute in arrears.  New Zealander Lizzie Ingham, had a narrow win over Vanessa Round in the middle.

Lillian Burrill won a close sprint by three seconds from fellow Queenslander Heather Muir in the junior women.  However Heather Muir and NSW’s Michele Dawson were one-two in both the middle and long with Lillian third in those.

Overall there were many excellent runs and pleasing depth in the open elite fields, while the juniors generally had exciting competitions and handled the ultra long courses really well.

Maps and courses are available on Route Gadjet at the NSWOA site.

Selectors will determine the World Championship team, which will compete in Switzerland in July, over the coming week.  They also will finalise the events to be run by the World University team.

Meanwhile Julian Dent and Ian Lawford are competing in the European Championshipsduring the next week.  In the middle qualifying Julian was 24th (out of 42) with his time of 28.20 compared to the winner’s 25.22 being a minute short of qualifying for the final.  JWOC team member Ian Lawford, running “up” in the elites was 35th in his heat in a time of 31.33.

Middle distance control site
Middle distance control site

MTBO WORLD CHAMPS TEAM ANNOUNCED

RickyT]The MTBO Australian team for the World Championships in Hungary in August is:

 

Elite Men: 

Steve Cusworth (VIC)

Oscar Phillips (TAS)

Alex Randall (Vic) – subject to fitness

Ricky Thackray (WA)

 

Elite Women:

Melanie Simpson (NSW)

 

Junior Men:

Chris Firman (QLD)
Marc Gluskie (TAS)
Tom Goddard (TAS)
Heath Jamieson (VIC)

Karl Withers (QLD)

 

Alex Randall is recovering from a broken collarbone incurred a week before the trials.

Oscar Phillips has “graduated” from the junior mtbo team last year to the WOC team.  Melanie Simpson (4th WOC) and Steve Cusworth (5th WOC) are both extremely fit and capable of breaking into the top 10 this year. Ricky Thackray, winner of the elite national series in 2011, will be making his World Championship debut.

Heath2012 - CopyAlso new to the team are juniors Heath Jamieson and Karl Withers.  Chris and Marc will be competing at their 3rd JWOC, while it is the second for Tom Goddard.

Coach is WA’s Ian Dalton and co-managers are Peter and Carolyn Cusworth from Victoria.

Note: Any Aussies heading over to the World Masters MTBO Championships in Hungary at the same time may be able to take advantage of the travel and race insurance package taken out by our team.  For more details contact Kay Haarsma.

Selectors were:  Ian Dalton, Paul Darvodelsky,  Kay Haarsma, Carolyn Jackson.

Steve Cusworth takes trifecta in Victorian MTBO titles.

The Victorian Long Distance MTBO Championships were held at Saligari Safari near Newstead.  This featured another new map with several opportunities to ride across farm paddocks adding to the route choice dilemmas. Rideability varied greatly from very eroded single tracks to fast 4WD roads and even about one kilometre of bitumen.

The men’s elite saw Steven Cusworth take out the trifecta of titles this weekend. Steven was one of the few who used a second paddock route choice late on the course.  WA’s Ricky Thackray utilised his enduro fitness to good avail to hold off Victorian elder statesman Jim Russell for second.  Jim has been training hard on the bike in lieu of running recently.

Melanie Simpson had a resounding 15 minute win in women’s elite but only 2 minutes separated Thor Egerton, Carolyn Jackson and Caitlin Wade in 2nd-4th.

It’s the last we will see of Melanie and Thor for the foreseeable future, as completely co-incidently both have won jobs in the same hospital in Trondheim, Norway! Jon Sutcliffe’s mapping skills will also be lost to Norway too.

Melanie was doing the same course as the men’s 20 and was amazed how quickly they rode.  However Melanie and Heath Jamieson both lost 5-6 minutes by taking a longer route choice from 5-6.  Chris Firman rode brilliantly to take the win in M20, ahead of Tom Goddard who was forced to run and coast the final downhill legs with a broken derailleur. Marc Gluskie had another strong ride for third. Emerging Queensland rider Karl Withers suffered a flat three quarters the way around and changed his tube.

It was heartening to see the improvement in the entire junior field over the last year.  Also it was great to see a large contingent from Braemar College, including their teacher, competing in the long.

Many thanks to all the course setters, mappers, controllers and numerous volunteers from Eureka and Nillumbik Emus who did so much work to give all riders three tremendous events.  Also to Judy, Peter and Shayne Hill who assisted the MTBO camp in so many vital ways. Photos are of Paulo jun Alvear Fujii and Steve Cusworth courtesy of Rob Jamieson.

The National Series continues on in Queensland and Taree.

The WOC and JWOC MTBO teams are being finalised and should be published by the end of the week.

Men’s Elite – 37.6 km

1 1:45:35 Steven Cusworth (VIC)
2 1:57:26 Ricky Thackray  (WA)
3 1.57.50 Jim Russell     (VIC)
4 1.58.44 Oscar Phillips  (TAS)

 

Men’s 20 Elite – 31.3 km

1  1:24:59 Chris Firman  (QLD)
2  1:30:51 Tom Goddard   (TAS)
3  1:32:18 Marc Gluskie  (TAS)
4  1.39.30 Heath Jamieson (VIC)
5  1.42.32 Angus Robinson (VIC)

 

Women’s 21 Elite – 31.3 km

1 1:43:48 Melanie Simpson (NSW)
2 1:58:06 Thorlene Egerton (QLD)
3 1:59:33 Carolyn Jackson  (VIC)
4 2:00:52 Caitlin Wade     (VIC)

 

Boy’s U14  Declan Dickson (VIC)

Men’s 40   Richard Eisner (VIC)

Men’s 50   Robert Prentice (NSW)

Men’s 60   Greg Bacon  (NSW

Men’s 70   Graham Fowler (NSW)

Men’s 80   Graeme Cadman (VIC)

 

Girl’s U16  Lucy Fleming  (VIC)

Women’s 40  Jeannie Douglass (ACT)

Women’s 50  Peta Whitford (VIC)

Women’s 60  Kathy Liley (VIC)

Women’s 70  Dale Ann Gordon (VIC)

Women’s 80  Joyce Rowlands (VIC)

Full ResultsSplits and Routegadget

Vacancy: High Performance Operations Manager

Orienteering Australia is seeking to recruit a part-time High Performance Operations Manager who will coordinate and support the effective operations of the Orienteering Australia High Performance Program. The Manager will work with OA Director, High Performance Grant Bluett, High Performance Manager Kay Haarsma, the High Performance Management team, Australian University Sport and event managers for the national foot and mountain bike league series. Hours are variable but average 8 hours per week.

The contact person for more information is Grant Bluett at grant.bluett at gmail dot com and applications close on 4 May 2012. Applications should be sent to the OA Executive Officer (orienteering@netspeed.com.au) and should include relevant experience in orienteering, sport administration and organisation of team travel, management skills and other attributes you will bring to the position, plus contact details for 2 referees.

Tasks of the HP Operations Manager include:

Support people in HP positions by assisting in or completing duties to:
i. ensure appropriate arrangements (accommodation, training, support, equipment, uniforms etc) are made for Australian teams competing in international competitions.

ii. liaise with and set up annual training and competition opportunities with New Zealand and other countries as appropriate (in conjunction with, or separate to test matches).

iii. help coordinate training camps within Australia.

iv. update and distribute team / squad contracts and team feedback forms and compile a summary of the latter.

Administer the conduct of the National Foot O League and National MTB-O series: 
i. call for applications by member states to conduct events as a part of the National League.
ii. liaise with National League event organisers to ensure a balanced program of formats.

iii. provide feedback to organisers.
iv. maintain and update rules and regulations in consultation with the OA Board (where appropriate), athletes and team managers.

Liaise with State/Territories Academies/Institutes of Sport and/or other relevant Sports Science and Sports Medicine (SSSM) service providers (eg universities, private providers etc) to promote the sport of orienteering, engage with them to present orienteering as a professional sport, and identify development opportunities for the athletes (International training opportunities, performance analysis, recovery, nutrition etc). Ensure this engagement and opportunities are communicated back to the relevant stakeholders within the OA high performance system (eg athletes, coaches, Manager High Performance, Director High Performance).

Facilitate orienteering at the University levethrough:

i) Liaise with the Australian University Sports High Performance Manager regarding participation in World University Orienteering Championships, selection criteria and management.

ii) Publicise and co-ordinate the running of an Australian University Orienteering Championships concurrent with the Australian 3 Days Championships at Easter.

iii) Coordinate applications for national squad / team members to either a) enter a university elite athlete scheme or b) seek additional university entry points as an elite athlete.

UNIVERSITY WORLDS TEAM announced

Men

Aaron Breed (VIC)

Oliver Crosato (Q)

Bryan Keely (VIC)

Oliver Mitchell (Q)

Matt Parton (NSW)

Murray Scown (ACT)

LaurenPWT

Women

Bridget Anderson (QLD)

Ilka Barr (VIC)

Rachel Effeney (QLD)

Lauren Gillis (SA)

Laurina Neumann (QLD)

Aislinn Prendergast (VIC)

 

The Championships will be held in Alicante, Spain, from the 2-6 July

 

There were a large number of nominations making the final selection difficult.

Josh Blatchford (NSW) and Belinda Lawford (ACT) would have been selected but for recent injuries.

Photo: Lauren on way to winning 2012  SA trail running championships.

 

From selection panel: Jenny Casanova, Blair Trewin, Kay Haarsma.

Shepherd, Effeney take out latest National League round

Dave Shepherd and Rachel Effeney are the leaders of the SILVA National Orienteering League after winning the final race of the Queensland series, a long mass-start race start of Brisbane, today.

Both wins were by comfortable margins of about five minutes. Effeney was in doubt going into the weekend with a heel injury which kept her out of the final day of Easter, but followed up her Saturday win with another triumph today to give her maximum points for the fourth time this season. It was a much closer contest behind her, with the next four separated by only just over a minute. Aislinn Prendergast won a sprint finish against Anna Sheldon for second, while Susanne Casanova did likewise against Jasmine Neve for fourth.

Whilst Shepherd’s win was predictable there was unpredictability behind it, in the form of a career-best result on home ground for Oliver Mitchell, who came through the field on the third loop to take second place, ahead of Murray Scown and Lachlan Hallett. Another local to achieve a personal-best result was Oliver Crosato in sixth.

Oliver Poland continued his good season with a comfortable win over Brodie Nankervis and Todd Neve in the junior men’s, while Heather Muir took out W17-20E ahead of Jacqui Doyle and Michele Dawson.

Shepherd leads the National League by 39 points, although Simon Uppill and Matt Crane have races in hand and will have chances to improve their position in the second half of the season. Effeney took the lead for the first time to be five points ahead of Prendergast, but her four wins should place her in good stead once competitors have enough scores to be dropping their worst ones.

The Canberra Cockatoos continue to run away with the men’s team competition, but a good contest is developing for the women, with the Queensland Cyclones – aiming for their first title – four points ahead of defending champions Victorian Nuggets.