Australia’s team performed strongly in its last event before the Junior World Championships in Switzerland this week, writes team manager Hilary Wood.

A good day for a sprint around the world heritage listed Bellinzona Castle and town has resulted in good early results for the Aussie Team with Hanny Allston taking out fourth place and new JWOC representative Ryan Smyth finishing in eighth place in a competitive field. Hanny just missed out on a monetary prize sponsored by Post Finance with the winners receiving 1000 swiss francs and third place receiving 250 swiss francs. In any case Hanny enjoyed her run although she made a couple of errors which cost her vital seconds.

The run was a mixture of running through the old town and climbing up into the castle grounds to make for a spectacular setting in this lovely Italian part of Switzerland.

Ryan was very happy with his run and enjoyed the attention of appearing on the big screen. The event was also broadcast live on the local TV station which added to the excitement. It was a long afternoon for the rest of the team as they watched and waited for the results to flow through. Rob Walter also competed in the elite sprint and finished in a respectable 14th position.

The team then led a short procession through the streets of Bellinzona and was first to sample the refreshments at the end. The official opening of JWOC is Monday evening at the event centre. We have an unprecedented number of JWOC parents in attendance as the competition coincides with the Swiss 5 days, and let’s face it, Switzerland is a spectacular place to visit.

The training camp went well and the team is feeling comfortable, fresh and ready to compete and give their best.