2009 Archive

Orienteering Australia congratulates the winners of this year’s major awards.

Awards in Recognition of Contribution and Service

Nick Dent and Hilary Wood (pictured receiving their trophy at Easter) were joint recipients of the 2009 Silva Award for Services to Orienteering.

Nick and Hilary have had a sustained involvement in orienteering in NSW since the mid 1980s including mapping, event organisation, course planning and controlling, and management of the NSW Schools team. The last five years has seen Nick and Hilary move into national roles. They were initially appointed as co- managers of the JWOC teams in 2006 and 2007 and then as coach and manager in 2008 and 2009. Nick is orienteering Event Director for the 2009 World Masters Games and Hilary has taken on an area management of events role. In 2008 Nick accepted a position on the OANSW Board as Planning Director.

Ron Pallas was awarded the inaugural David Hogg Medal for Services to Event Management for his leadership role as Event Director and Organiser of the JWOC 2007 and Easter 2008 carnivals in Dubbo, NSW. JWOC 2007 was arguably the largest international orienteering event run in Australia since the WOC in 1985.  While many orienteers both from NSW and other States were involved, it was Ron’s leadership role which provided a central focus and impetus for the planning and event management.

Unfortunately no nominations were received for the Services to Coaching award.

Performance Awards

As reported previously on this website and in the Australian Orienteer magazine, Adrian Jackson was voted the 2008 Athlete of the Year for the most outstanding performance in elite orienteering competition during the year and Alex Tarr won the 2008 Silva Medal for orienteer of the year.

After several weeks of perfect Autumn weather, riders in the 2009 Victorian MTBO Champs had to battle cold and rainy conditions over the weekend on the new Fingerpost Corner map near Woodend. The champs were also the first round of the 2009 MTBO National Series.

The Middle and Long races were centred at the Cammeray Waters resort which was a fantastic venue to stage our Championships, and the availability of a large room with a heater and views to the finish and lake was a most welcome refuge from the outside weather.

Nevertheless competitors battled the cold, wet, slippery conditions, and apart from a few spills, most managed very well.

60 people enjoyed the special evening dinner and Middle Distance Presentations at the resort on Saturday night.

Middle Results Splits
Long Results Splits

Many thanks to the Tuckonie Orienteers and Bayside Kangaroos for organising these Champs.

Adrian Jackson has been named Orienteering Australia’s Athlete of the Year for 2008 in a unanimous vote. This follows an outstanding season, highlighted by his second world title, when he won the Middle Distance event at the World MTBO Championships in August.

Adrian also finished on the podium in the other two World Championships events, placing sixth in both the long and sprint distance events. He finished the year as the world’s top-ranked mountain-bike orienteer, with wins in four World Ranking Events on top of his successes at the World Championships. He also won all three distances at the Australian Championships in Queensland in October.

Adrian has also been steadily improving as a mountain bike racer. He won two major multi-stage MTB races in 2008, the Alice Springs Enduro in May and the Wildside in Tasmania in January, and was also highly competitive in the Crocodile Trophy in Queensland in October. He also took out a National Series round late in the year.

Adrian will be presented with his award at the MTBO WOC selection trials (and Victorian Championships) in Victoria this weekend.

Orienteering Australia has selected the team to compete at the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The World Games is a multi-sport festival consisting of non-olympic sports. Over 4500 competitors from 100 nations will attend. Australia is one of only 21 teams competing in the Orienteering races.

The team is:
Men: Julian Dent, Simon Uppill
Women: Kathryn Ewels, Hanny Allston

The Orienteering races will be held from 17-19 July 2009. There are 3 races- Sprint, Middle Distance and a mixed relay consisting of all 4 members. With such a strong team, we have high aspirations that someone may repeat Grant Bluett’s Gold Medal at the 2001 World Games in Japan.

Paul Liggins Chair of selectors

The final round of the 2009 Tas-E Carnival was held at Lively’s Bog near St Helens. The terrain is characterised by steep hillsides covered in granite boulders and thick valleys full of buttongrass marshes and thick vegetation.

Julian Dent (NSW) won his 9th race in a row and looks unlikely to be beaten on the national scene anytime soon. Hanny Allston is also in great form and won her 8th race.

There is also plenty of opportunity to analyse your results using the Splitsbrowser and Routegadget programs that can be located on the Results page.

After the first 9 rounds of the 2009 SILVA National Orienteering League the NSW Stingers have a strong lead in the men’s competition, and the Victorian Nuggets lead the women’s competition. In the junior classes, the Tassie Foresters have a slender lead in the boy’s competition, while the Queensland Cyclones look hard to beat in the girls.

Five of Queensland’s junior orienteers will star in an orienteering story on the kid’s TV program,The Shak, which goes to air nationally this Thursday 23 April at 4pm on Channel 9. The story was filmed in Bunyaville State Forest, outside Brisbane, in February with Krystal and Kurt Neumann, Katie Doyle, Chris Firman and Heather Burridge instructing one of the show’s presenters, Picasso, on the basic techniques of orienteering in the bush. Although the story took three hours to film, the segment will probably only be about 5 minutes in length but it should be a good promotion for our sport.

Liz Bourne
Development Officer – Orienteering Queensland

Another glorious Tasmanian autumn day had smiles on the competitors’ faces at the 2009 ASC Galaxy Sprint. Launceston’s University of Tasmania campus was a great location for the 8th race in the SILVA National Orienteering League. The complex building layout made route choice crucial, with many runners being caught out when their legs carried them quicker than their brains could point them in the right direction.

Julian Dent (NSW) continues to build a big lead in the overall pointscore after winning his 8th race of the season. Simon Uppill (SA) was again the best of the rest but was pushed hard by NSW Stinger Matt Parton.

Hanny Allston (TAS) won the women’s elite class, but it was a close 2nd to Kathryn Ewels (VIC) who was only 11secs behind over the 3.0km course. Jasmine Neve (VIC) continues to show good form to finish 3rd, 1min behind Ewels.

The Junior Elite classes were racing the same course as the Seniors, and there were some great results from many of the recently selected 2009 JWOC team. Belinda Lawford won the W20E class with a great time that would have placed her equal 4th in the open class. Bridget Anderson was close behind in 2nd and Aislinn Prendergast finished 3rd.
Josh Blatchford (NSW) won the M20E class from Max Neve, with Oscar Phillips and Lachlan Dow in equal third place.

M21E

1. Julian Dent 12min24secs.
2. Simon Uppill 13mins20secs
3. Matt Parton 13min27secs

W21E

1. Hanny Allston 14mins05secs
2. Kathryn Ewels 14mins16secs
3. Jasmine Neve 15mins16secs

M20E

1. Josh Blatchford 14mins29secs
2. Max Neve 14mins34secs
3. Lachlan Dow 14mins58secs
   Oscar Phillips 14mins58secs

W20E

1. Belinda Lawford 15mins49secs
2. Bridget Anderson 15mins59secs
3. Aislinn Prendergast 16mins42secs

Day 3 of Easter concluded today with Julian Dent and Hanny Allston going through the formalities to win the elite classes. Allston dominated the race to beat Victorian Kathryn Ewels in 2nd. Jasmine Neve came 2nd on the day — not enough to overtake Ewels but sufficient to hold on to 3rd place in front of her elder sister Mace. Meanwhile, Dent tore around a tough course in under 5 min/km (in terrain where such speed should not be possible). The result was a deserved victory over Simon Uppill, with veteran Grant Bluett in 3rd.

But, as always, Day 3 of Easter belongs to the juniors, with the naming of the Australian team to compete in Italy in July. Josh Blatchford, who missed out on the team last year, made amends with a breakthrough victory over the 3 days ahead of Lachlan Dow. Max Neve – tied for 1st on the day with Leon Keely – finished in 3rd overall, while a strong finish from Callum Fagg was enough to ensure his selection.

Belinda Lawford sealed her 3 Day victory, but the action was taking place behind her in the placings. Sarah Buckerfield – whose big victory yesterday put her in 2nd place overall – couldn’t reproduce her feat, and Bridget Anderson overtook her to claim 2nd place.

The JWOC  team is:

Josh Blatchford Lachlan Dow Callum Fagg Leon Keely Max Neve Oscar Phillips	Bridget Anderson Sarah Buckerfield Lilian Burrill Belinda Lawford Krystal Neumann Aislinn Prendergast

Reserves are Kurt Neumann, James Robertson, Catherine Hewitt and Brea Pearce.

The Silva National Orienteering League is shaping up to be an exciting contest. In particular, the women’s competition is a close battle between the Canberra Cockatoos (currently on 51 points) and the Victorian Nuggets (50). Tasmania is in 3rd place 10 points adrift. In the men’s competition the Canberra Cockatoos made up some ground on most of the field this weekend, but are still 33 points behind the NSW Stingers (63 points) who extended their lead with victory on every day and have a 100% record for the season. Southern Arrows are still in the hunt on 42 points, while Victoria is 3rd.

Normal service continued at Royal George today as Julian Dent and Hanny Allston stamped their authority on the Australian 3-Days. The normally fickle Tasmanian weather has turned out for the best again and runners found themselves in pleasant terrain, with some vague areas adding to the technical difficulty.

The elite classes are usually all but decided on the long distance Day 2, and the women’s class this year appears to be no exception. Hanny Allston dominated proceedings with a staggering 10 minute win over Kathryn Ewels. Allston’s lead of 13 minutes now appears to be unassailable. Another solid run from last year’s WOC debutant, Jasmine Neve, sees her holding onto her third placing ahead of Susanne Casanova.

Julian Dent’s win over Simon Uppill wasn’t quite so emphatic. But the extra 3 miutes gained today, coupled with the fact that Dent is yet to be beaten in this year’s Silva National League makes it appear unlikely that Uppill can make up 5 minutes tomorrow. Meanwhile, veteran Cockatoos Grant Bluett and Rob Walter continue their ding-dong battle for third: Grant won out today and takes a 2 minute lead into the final day. Surprise packet of the day was Ian Meyer’s 5th place (only one minute behind Rob Walter).

In the junior girls, Belinda Lawford (winner on the first two days) was blown away by Tasmanian Sarah Buckerfield, but still holds the overall lead. Josh Blatchford held onto his lead in the junior boys, with Lachlan Dow still in 2nd, but pre-race favourite Leon Keely failed to finish.

Another glorious Tasmanian day greeted participants at Diddleum Plains, 45km east of Launceston. The venue was located at 600m elevation and with Mt Barrow as a dramatic backdrop. The courses finished with a tough section up a  marshy hillside in full view of spectators. The terrain varied from open farmland with scattered marshes to sections of dense Eucalypt plantations.

Hanny Allston was the first finisher in the Women’s elite class, and remained on top of the results board for the remainder of the afternoon. Victoria’s Jasmine Neve had a strong run to finish 2mins down and Southern Arrow Susanne Casanova was 3rd.

A battle is forming in the men’s elite class between NSW Stinger Julian Dent and Southern Arrow Simon Uppill. Dent was again the victor, by 40secs, but the pair were a long way in front of the rest of the field. Cockatoo Rob Walter had an impressive run to finish in 3rd place and move up many places on the overall rankings.

Victoria’s Leon Keely had a convincing win in the Junior Men’s Elites class. His 1min27sec winning margin over Lachlan Dow helped Keely make up for a poor result in yesterday’s sprint. Josh Blatchford (NSW) finished 3rd and now leads the 2-day cumulative results.

Belinda Lawford (ACT) picked up her second win in a row, and starting to build a lead in the Junior National League. Bridget Anderson finished 1min40secs behind Lawford and moved into 2nd place cummulative. Queensland’s Lillian Burrill had her best Junior Elite result to finish 3rd, just ahead of a tightly bunched group down to 8th place.