Author: craigf

Queensland conducted two exciting and technical urban sprints today at Kelvin Grove and the University of Queensland.   These totalled 6 kilometres for the elite men and 5 for the women, with the seniors and juniors both doing the same courses.   The second race incorporated a chasing start based on the morning’s first course results thus putting pressure on runners to maintain or improve their positions.

Two of the recently selected JWOC team members, Oscar McNulty (WA) and Ian Lawford (ACT) chose to race amongst the seniors, for added competition.  Oscar, renowned for his past good sprinting results, again showed everyone a clean pair of heels to win overall.  Second place could have done with a photo-finish camera, with Dave Shepherd getting the judges verdict by a nose ahead of Bryan Keely.  Junior Ollie Poland was just another second further back.

Sprint superstar Rachel Effeney, sidelined by a foot injury on the last day of Easter, was back to her brilliant best winning both races with ease and having a two and a half minute win overall.  Second was taken by the wily Victorian veteran Natasha Key, who certainly has a good turn of speed.  Queenslanders Heather Muir and Lillian Burrill took the quinella in the junior women, recording times that would have put them midfield in the seniors.

M17-20E                                                              Stage 1                 Stage 2                 Time

1              Oliver Poland                     A            1              15.16     2              19.10     34.26

2              Brodie Nankervis             T             3              17.50     1              18.50     36.40

3              Ashley Nankervis             T             6              18.15     3              20.09     38.24

4              Todd Neve                          V            5              17.58     5              20.38     38.36

5              Kasimir GREGORY            N            4              17.51     6              20.48     38.39

6              Chris Firman                       Q            7              18.45     7              21.10     39.55

M21E                                                                     Stage 1                 Stage 2                 Time

1              Oscar McNulty                 W            1              15.27     2              18.25     33.52

2              David Shepherd                A             3              16.06     1              18.18     34.24

3              Bryan Keely                       V             2              15.57     3              18.28     34.25

4              Bruce Arthur                     V             4              16.19     5              19.20     35.39

5              Oliver Mitchell                  Q             7              16.41     7              19.27     36.08

6              Murray Scown                  A             9              17.35     4              19.08     36.43

7              Ian Lawford                       A             6              16.36     9              20.26     37.02

W17-20E                                                              Stage 1                 Stage 2                 Time

1              Heather Muir                     Q            1              17.13     1              19.52     37.05

2              Lilian Burrill                         Q            3              20.07     2              20.29     40.36

3              Michele Dawson              N            2              20.00     4              22.03     42.03

4              Jacqui Doyle                       A            4              20.25     3              21.53     42.18

5              Amy Buckerfield               T             6              20.29     5              23.11     43.40

6              Nicola Blatchford              N            5              20.27     7              23.45     44.12

W21E                                                                     Stage 1                 Stage 2                 Time

1              Rachel Effeney                  Q            1              14.48     1              17.00     31.48

2              Natasha Key                       V            2              15.56     3              18.16     34.12

3              Bridget Anderson            Q            4              16.27     2              18.08     34.35

4              Jasmine Neve                    V            3              16.21     7              19.06     35.27

5              Laurina Neumann            Q            6              17.07     6              19.00     36.07

6              Vanessa Round                 S             7              17.43     5              18.40     36.23

Progress points in SILVA NOL competition after stage 7:

Senior men: S Uppill (SA) 186, D Shepherd 174, M Crane  149;

Junior men: I Lawford (CC) 174, O McNulty 166, B Nankervis 163.

Senior women: G Crane (TF) 173, V Round 161, A Prendergast 146;

Junior men: L Burrill (QC) 188, M Dawson 174, H Muir 173.

Progress state team competition points after stage 7:

MEN: Senior: Canberra Cockatoos 61, Victorian Nuggets 47, NSW Stingers 38,

Junior: Canberra Cockatoos 48, Tasmanian Foresters 44, Victorian Nuggets 43.

WOMEN: Senior: Queensland Cyclones, Victorian Nuggets 49, Southern Arrows 44; Junior: Queensland Cyclones 61, Tasmanian Foresters 49, NSW Stingers 32.

Full results available in OA results area.

Ugly Gully Orienteering Club from Queensland had a narrow win over Tasmania’s Australopers and the Melbourne Forest Racers to be Australian champion club for 2012 at the Easter Carnival. Club President Anna Sheldon said the club’s victory was especially satisfying as many club members had worked hard in helping to organise the Easter carnival.

The top 10 clubs were:

1 Ugly Gully QLD 51 pts, 2 Australopers TAS 49, 3 Melbourne Forest Racers VIC 32, 4 Garingal Orienteers NSW 28, 5 Bayside Kangaross VIC 28, 6 Yarra Valley VIC 24, 7 Wellington Ranges TAS 23, 8 Bushflyers ACT 21, 9 Parawanga Orienteering Club ACT 21, 10 Red Roos ACT 18.

Newly elected Orienteering Australia President Blair Trewin undertook his first public duty at the Annual Dinner last Sunday at Dalveen north of Stanthorpe when he presented the OA major annual awards.
Silva Athlete of the Year was Grace Crane from Tasmania for her outstanding performances at the 2011 World Orienteering Championships when she finished 24^th in the sprint final and 27^thin the middle distance final and was 7^th fastest in her relay leg.

The Silva Award for Services to Orienteering went to Grace’s father Bert Elson, President of the Australopers Club, who has had a long history of outstanding contributions to orienteering in Australia at the national, state and club levels.

The David Hogg Award for Event Management went to Tasmania’s John and Valerie Brammall who have organised hundreds of events over the years since they began orienteering in 1986 with the Esk Valley Club. John and Valerie’s first major event was the Veteran World Cup in 1989 when John took on the job of Event Director. He is an IOF Event Advisor and he and Valerie have had important roles as Event Organisers, Controllers and Planners at many national carnivals and events since 1989.

Grant McDonald, outstanding coach of the ACT Blue Lightning Squad for many years and in recent years the Canberra Cockatoos, was awarded the Silva Award for Services to Coaching.

For the second year in succession M55 star Geoff Lawford of Victoria was the Silva Orienteer of the Year, derived from age-sex adjusted points in the national orienteering carnivals during 2011.

The Australian team to contest the Junior World Orienteering Championships has been announced. The team is:

Men: Kasimir Gregory (NSW), Ian Lawford (ACT), Oscar McNulty (WA), Alex Massey (NSW), Brodie Nankervis (Tas), Oliver Poland (ACT). Reserve: Aaron Breed (Vic).

Women: Amy Buckerfield (Tas), Lilian Burrill (Qld), Michele Dawson (NSW), Heather Muir (Qld).

The Championships will take place in Slovakia in the second week of July.

Congratulations to all of those selected.

Another fine warm day greeted competitors for Day 3 of the Australian 3 Days Championships in Queensland. It was make or break day for some competitors eyeing the prize of Australian 3 Day Champion, while for many others improving on results from previous days was the goal.

A number of competitors had an exceptional weekend, winning all three days. A big congratulations to Ross Brighouse (M65A), Neil Schafer (M85A), Gyula Karolyi (M35-44AS), Rob Lewis (M45-54AS), Winnie Oakhill (W14A), Marina Iskhakova (W21A), Anna Hyslop (W35A), Jenny Bourne (W50A), Carol Brownlie (W60A) and Toy Martin (W65A).

On the other hand, there were a number of classes which were very tight at the pointy end of the field. Jock Davis (NSW) overtook Eddie Wymer (Vic) for a 2½ minute win in M45A. Anita Scherrer (ACT) gained a minute on Nicola Dalheim (Vic) in W45A, but fell 26 seconds short of the overall win. It was also close in W45-54AS, where Philippa Lohmeyer-Collins (Vic) took a 28 second win over Vicki Wilmott (NSW).

There were no changes in the overall lead in the elite classes today. In the men’s elite class, David Shepherd (ACT) took the win today, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Simon Uppill (SA) for the overall win. Bryan Keely (Vic) took the overall third place, and a great run by Murray Scown (ACT) moved him up to fourth overall. Oliver Poland (ACT) had a third straight win in the junior elites, handing him a well deserved overall win. Ian Lawford and Oscar McNulty rounded out the top 3 overall.

The women’s elite class was won by Grace Crane (Tas) with Susanne Casanova (SA) about 5 minutes behind in the overall placings. Tracy Marsh (NSW) had her best run of the weekend with a second place today, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Vanessa Round (SA) for the overall third place. Michele Dawson (NSW) had her first win of the weekend in the junior elites, but Lilian Burrill (Qld) had set up enough of a lead over the rest of the field to take the overall win. Amy Buckerfield (Tas) and Heather Muir (Qld) came second and third respectively. The sledge competition was won by Justin Woolford of Tasmania.

The Australian 3 Days also incorporates a number of other competitions on various days. The Family Relays on Friday were won by the team of Matthew Crane, Grace Crane and Jan Hardy, with second place going to the Uppill/Anderson team and third to the Wymer team. In the Australian University Championships held on Sunday, Bryan Keely of Latrobe University and Rachel Effeney of the University of Queensland took the individual honours, with the University of Queensland team the overall champions. The Champion Club Trophy went to Ugly Gully of Queensland.

Congratulations to all competitors in the Australian 3 Days! The Easter 2012 Carnival continues with midweek events at Cascades and Harding’s Paddock, before moving to Brisbane for sprint and long events next weekend.

Day 2 of Easter, with the long course being run, is often the decisive day and it appears to be that way for some classes.  Stand out performer was Simon Uppill (SA) who will take a good lead into Day 3 in men’s elite.  He was pushed all the way today by Bendigo’s Bryan Keely.  While Simon took the lead mid-race Bryan was closing the gap towards the end but Simon took a 1 minute victory with Dave Shepherd (ACT) a further 4 minutes back.  Another Bendigo runner, Evan Barr ran impressively for fourth.  Matt Crane (ACT) was forced to pull out half way around with injury. Simon has a 6 minute lead overall from Bryan Keely with Dave Shepherd lurking just 26 seconds further back.

Queenslander Rachel Effeney (85 mins) ran brilliantly today, leading from leg 4 onwards to finish 4 minutes up on Grace Crane (ACT), with Susanne Casanova (SA) again showing great form to be in third. Vanessa Round (SA), after being in second place mid course lost a massive 10 minutes on one leg to finish 10^thwith 99 minutes.  Grace has a 4 minute buffer overall on Susanne with Vanessa retaining 3^rd place a further 2 minutes back.

Ollie Poland (ACT) again stamped his class on M20E with a 5 minute win over Max Neumann (Qld) and Kasimir Gregory (NSW) back another 2 minutes.  Both Max and Oscar had 4 not so good legs which cost them time. Overall though Ollie has a 15 minute lead over WA’s Oscar McNulty with Ian Lawford (ACT) within a minute of him.

W20E saw a close race at the pointy end today. Heather Muir (Qld) produced her best run of the carnival to take a narrow 35 second win over another local Lillian Burrill with Amy Buckerfield (Tas) just another 3 minutes back.  Overall Lillian takes a huge 12 minute lead into the final day from Jacqui Doyle (Qld) and Amy another minute further back.

Full results are available on the QOA website and the AO results section.

Today saw over 600 runners competing in Day 1 of the Australian 3 Day Championships in a granite area extending over both sides of the Queensland-NSW border. With long grass covering much of the area between the rocks, competitors found it both physically and technically tough. Those who paid careful attention to the map and didn’t let themselves get pushed around by the terrain performed well today.

The lead changed a few times early in the men’s elite race, before a mistake from Simon Uppill (SA) gave Matthew Crane (ACT) the lead at control 7 which he held to the end finishing 78 seconds ahead. Simon finished in second, followed by David Shepherd (ACT). The junior elite race was led from start to finish by Oliver Poland (ACT) who finished almost 2 minutes ahead of Brodie Nankervis (Tas) and Ian Lawford (ACT).

Similarly Vanessa Round (SA) held the lead in the women’s elite race from the beginning, showing her strength in the physical terrain to win by almost 2 minutes. Bridget Anderson (Qld) and Susanne Casanova (SA) were rewarded for their consistent runs with second and third places respectively.

Jacqui Doyle and Lilian Burrill (Qld) traded places for the lead in the junior elite class, with Jacqui taking the win by 21 seconds. Michele Dawson of NSW was third.

The Prologue Races and Family Relays were held today at Wilmot’s Waterholes, an area of scattered granite just north of Stanthorpe. Courses were set with many short legs and changes of direction to keep competitors on their toes.

The Elite classes were first into the bush, with Simon Uppill of the Southern Arrows getting his weekend off to a good start by winning the men’s elite class ahead of Canberra Cockatoos David Shepherd and Matthew Crane. The Junior Elite class was won by Oscar McNulty of the Western Nomads who continued his great start to 2012, although Ian Lawford of the Canberra Cockatoos was very close behind. Brodie Nankervis (Tas) took out third place.

Grace Crane (Tas) and Vanessa Round (SA) had a close battle in the women’s elite class, with Grace taking the win by 5 seconds. Queensland Cyclones Rachel Effeney and Laurina Neumann finished in third and fourth. The largest winning margin of the day was in the junior elite class, where Lillian Burrill (Qld) had a great run. Lillian hails from Warwick so with her home terrain advantage she may be hard to beat this weekend. She was followed by Michele Dawson of the NSW Stingers and Mary Fleming of the Victorian Nuggets.

In the Public Prologue, runners either competed in a short, medium or long course. Incredible running speed was shown by some young Victorian runners in the short course, with 11 year old Aston Key taking first place over 10 year old Kylian Wymer. The medium course was won by Jenny Bourne of Victoria, who just edged out Queenslanders John Baker and Neil Simpson. The long course was also very close with Eddie Wymer of  Victoria winning by 3 seconds over Mark Nemeth of Queensland.

Results and splits are now available and routegadget will soon be available.

Tomorrow will see competitors return to an adjacent area for Day 1 of the Australian 3 Days Championships.

The Prologue Races and Family Relays were held today at Wilmot’s Waterholes, an area of scattered granite just north of Stanthorpe. Courses were set with many short legs and changes of direction to keep competitors on their toes.

The Elite classes were first into the bush, with Simon Uppill (15.09)of the Southern Arrows getting his weekend off to a good start by winning the men’s elite class ahead of Canberra Cockatoos David Shepherd and Matthew Crane, with first year elite Josh Blatchford a close 4th. The Junior Elite class was won by Oscar McNulty (15.57)of the Western Nomads who continued his great start to 2012, although Ian Lawford of the Canberra Cockatoos was just 7 seconds behind. Brodie Nankervis (Tas) took out third place.

Grace Crane (Tas) and Vanessa Round (SA) had a close battle in the women’s elite class, with Grace taking the win by 5 seconds in a time of 15.10.. Queensland Cyclones Rachel Effeney and Laurina Neumann finished in third and fourth. The largest winning margin of the day was in the junior elite class, where Lillian Burrill (Qld) had a great run in 18.24. Lillian hails from Warwick so with her home terrain advantage she may be hard to beat this weekend. She was followed by Michele Dawson of the NSW Stingers and Mary Fleming of the Victorian Nuggets. The respective juniors and seniors both ran the same courses, so results are comparable.

In the Public Prologue, runners either competed in a short, medium or long course. Incredible running speed was shown by some young Victorian runners in the short course, with 11 year old Aston Key taking first place over 10 year old Kylian Wymer. The medium course was won by Jenny Bourne of Victoria, who just edged out Queenslanders John Baker and Neil Simpson. The long course was also very close with Eddie Wymer of Victoria winning by 3 seconds over Mark Nemeth of Queensland.

Tomorrow will see competitors return to an adjacent area for Day 1 of the Australian 3 Days Championships. These Easter races are final selection trials for the Jwoc team going to Slovakia, the World University Champs team bound for Spain (also comprising a team of 6 & 6) and the Bushranger team heading for New Zealand in June

Results and splits (Winsplits) are now available and routegadget will available soon.

Orienteering Australia President Bill Jones is not seeking re-election at this Sunday’s Annual General Meeting in Stanthorpe. Victoria’s Blair Trewin is standing for election as President and the ACT’s Bruce Bowen for election as Director, Finance. Robin Uppill is standing again as Director, Technical and the Board is seeking expressions of interest for the vacant Director, Development position.

Mountain bike orienteering legend Blake Gordon is not standing again as Chair of the national Mountain Bike Orienteering Committee, a position he has filled with great distinction and enthusiasm for many years.

In the High Performance area, newly married Rob Preston has resigned as Manager of High Performance Operations to take up a full time job in another field. The part-time position of Manager, High Performance Operations will be advertised shortly; interested people should contact Grant Bluett, OA Director, High Performance (email grant.bluett at gmail dot com).