The Long, (10th January)

The long distance held on the final day of the 2015 Orienteering World Cup in Tasmania saw the Australian team finish its campaign strongly. Julian Dent, 13th, (1:29.22) and Hanny Allston, 10th, (1:23.57), the best of the Australians, had world class performances in the steep granite terrain west of St Helens, to post the best Australian team results of the carnival races. Both athletes were the leading Oceania Competitors and have secured a place in the long final at the World Orienteering Championships in Scotland as the 2015 Oceania Champions. Simon Uppill and Lachlan Dow, the next best Australians, ran strong races to place 23rd, and 32nd over a tough course which saw an early 3.8km leg with challenging route choice. In the Women’s race, Vanessa Round and Laurina Neumann placed 21st (1:32:34) and 22nd (1:33.44). Laurina Neumann’s run, her best performance at this level, is a strong step up into world class results and a performance that her recent races have been suggesting was possible. These were great team results after a disappointing middle distance race, two days previously in Coles Bay.

With these achievements from Julian Dent (NSW) and Hanny Allson (TAS), Australia secures another place in both the Men’s and Women’s long race at the 2015 World Orienteering Championships. With 3 male and female spots now available for Australians in the long, this opens the door for our athletes later in the year. A training camp at the end of May in the sand dune terrain of New Zealand will be ideal preparation for the Scottish terrain.

The Middle, 8th January

The team bounced back with strong performances on the last day in the long after a tough middle distance on the 8th January in Coles Bay which saw half the field lose time; either on a challenging second leg, or later in the course after the arena run through. Hanny Allston 18th (42.12), the best Australian, lost time early and was closely followed by Laurina Neumann, 21st (43.00) and Vanessa Round 22nd (43.13).

Graham Hammond’s Middle Distance video:

In the men’s race, Rob Preston 22nd (39.50) was the best of the Australians and very closely followed by Simon Uphill 23rd (39.51) with Julian Dent 27th (41.30). The New Zealand pair of Matt Ogden, 13th (36.00) and Lizzie Ingham 12th (37.33) took the Oceania titles and World Orienteering qualification spots – much to the delight of the parochial New Zealand supporters.

The Sprint, 2nd January

Earlier in the carnival, the sprint final in Launceston on the 2nd of January, saw the Australian team start their campaign strongly taking out the men’s and women’s Sprint Oceania titles with top twenty results. Rachel Effeney (QLD) and Julian Dent (NSW) are the 2015 Oceania Sprint Champions with both Simon Uppill (SA) and Hanny Allston (TAS) on the Oceania podium in third Place.

In the World Cup sprint, Rachel Effeney was the best placed Australian at 14th (17.32). In the men’s race, Julian Dent placed 18th. Hanny Allston was our other top 20 result at 20th. Simon Uppill a close 21st. Lachlan Dow (ACT) and Jasmine Neve (VIC) challenged for the Oceania Sprint Podium and placed 25th and 22nd in the World Cup placings respectively.

Graham Hammond’s video of the sprint qualification at Cataract Gorge, Launceston: