Author: craigf

A small number of Australians has made the trip to Canada to compete in WMOC 2005. The first qualification race has been run, and both Jim Russell and Warren Key are well placed in their age groups.

The selectors would like to announce the Australian team for the World Cup Final in Italy in October. The team is:

David Brickhill-Jones (Tas)

Julian Dent (NSW)

Eric Morris (NSW)

Eddie Wymer (Vic)

The selected relay team is David Brickhill-Jones, Julian Dent and Eddie Wymer.

Aussie girls finish 8th in the relays at magnificent San Bernadino. San Bernadino is a ski resort in the winter and the terrain is a mixture of alpine meadows on steep slopes and alpine forest with small knolls and gullies.

The Australian junior women’s team of Jasmine Neve, Erin Post and Hanny Allston finished eighth. Jasmine Neve led the team out under the noise and excitement of the crowd and a helicopter that was there to take aerial photos of the competitors at the beginning of the relay. Jasmine overcame her knee injury to put Australia in a reasonable position. Erin followed with a steady run and left Hanny to bring the team home to eighth position with her finishing with the second fastest leg time of the day in the women’s race.

In the men’s team Dave Meyer led the team out but lost a lot of time in the first loop being confused by the number of split controls and the noise and crowds of competitors. He was nearly the last competitor to come to the first spectator control above the assembly area. He was very disappointed in his own performance. Simon Uppill was able to salvage some time and brought the team up to 36th position after the second leg from 44th position. Then Julian Dent was able to make up more time and finished with the 6th fastest time for his leg and the Australian men’s team finished in 19th position overall for the relay.

JWOC 2005 in Summary

The 2005 Australian junior orienteering team finished overall in 10th position. This was due to some excellent personal performances from Hanny Allston (Bronze medal in the middle distance and second fastest relay leg) and Julian Dent (8th for the middle distance, 4th in the long distance races), the steady runs from Dave Meyer and Jasmine Neve in the long distance race and Simon Uppill in his first JWOC qualifying for the A final in the middle distance race.

The team displayed all the characteristics of good teamwork and supported each other in their successes and in their disappointments. The support from the physiotherapists Manuela Buzzo(from Switzerland), during the training camp and from Jan Sargood during the competition week assisted the team members to feel confident and comfortable with massages and advice.

Hilary Wood

Sunday was the Teams relay for the World Games. The terrain was a mix of urban area and parklands, with a very small area of forest. The organisers recommended running shorts and shoes for competitors.

The World Games relay is a four-person (two men & two women) relay. Qualification is highly competitive with only 13 teams offered a starting place: Australia qualified 13th, and went into the day aiming to improve that position following some solid runs in the Saturday’s middle distance race.

Australia’s relay team was led out by Troy de Haas, with the pace on from the very start. Troy made a couple of little errors but held on to the back of the pack to come in 22 seconds behind the leaders and handed the reins over to Allison Jones.

Allison had a battle with the Juliette Soulard from the French team, Allison opened up a gap on Juliette as the teams came through the stadium at the half way point of the course, in the second half, the French girl finally caught up to Allison as they took different route choices and they entered the stadium locked together.

Grant Bluett went out on the course with Thierry Gueorgiou, the new World Games Champion. With a couple of wider splits, Grant never got to the front and had to contend with a time 5 seconds slower than Thierry.

Danielle Winslow was the last runner for the Aussie team, she started out in 12th spot and the question was, could she hold off the Finnish team. It was not going to happen as the Finnish girl ran the 3rd fastest time of the day and went past Danielle during the 1st loop, Australia then had to settle for 13th place.

Jim Russell

A strong performance by Grant Bluett at the World Games overnight — but he couldn’t do enough to defend his Gold Medal from the 2001 World games in Japan. Bluett finished 12th in a quality field — boding well for his prospects in this year’s WOC. The race was won by Thierry Gueogiou of France — who has dominated Middle Distance racing over the last two years. Troy de Haas was also racing for Australia. He started well, but fell away in the middle part of the race to come in 23rd.

The women’s race was won by Simone Niggli-Luder  of Switzerlan. Allison Jones had a steady run to come 32nd, and Danielle Winslow 39th.

WORLD GAMES At Duisburg
Middle Distance Final
Men:
1 Thierry Gueorgiou (FRA) 38m 10.1s
2 Daniel Hubmann (SUI) 38m 31.1s
3 Oystein Kvaal Osterbo (NOR) 38m 33.4s
12 Grant Bluett (AUS) 40m 06.6s
23 Troy De Haas (AUS) 41m 49.3s

Women:
1 Simone Niggli-Luder (SUI) 36m 44.1s
2 Karin Schmalfeld (GER) 37m 10.1s
3 Heather Monro (GBR) 38m 26.0s
32 Allison Jones (AUS) 45m 00.1s
39 Danielle Winslow (AUS) 50m 03.6s

Australia’s most successful Junior World Champs has closed, with the womens #1 team of Jasmine Neve, Erin Post and Hanny Allston claiming 7th spot in the relay — the highest place ever achieved by an Australian team in a JWOC relay. Jasmine started steadily, Erin picked up 6 places and Hanny came home in the fastest time of the day to claim 7th place.

In the men’s relay, Australia promised much, but the team will be disappointed with their 18th place overall.

A full report from team manager Hilary Wood will be posted shortly.

W20
1. Norway 2:13:46
Egseth Elise 47:14:00
Fasting Mari 42:13:00
Bjerkreim Nilsen Betty Ann 44:19:00
Norway 2 2:17:33
Ekroll Jahren Silje 47:05:00
Ulvestad Siri 45:38:00
Welle-Strand Horn Fanny 44:50:00
2. Sweden 2:18:12
A-Skantze Elin 48:32:00
Jansson Helena 45:19:00
Persson Anna 44:21:00
3. Finland 2:22:21
Kinni Saila 50:51:00
Iso-Markku Paula 46:37:00
Tarvonen Silja 44:53:00

7. Australia 2:33:56
Neve Jasmine 55:57:00
Post Erin 54:41:00
Allston Hanny 43:18:00

M20
1. Norway 2:30:32
Sørensen Øystein 51:01:00
Dæhli Magne 47:49:00
Lundanes Olav 51:42:00
2. Czech Republic 2:33:38
Chromy Adam 49:33:00
Benes Jan 54:40:00
Palas Jan 49:25:00
3. Sweden 2:36:50
Fredriksson John 55:03:00
Rost Erik 49:33:00
Kristensson Mikael 52:14:00

18. Australia 2:59:04
Meyer David 66:34:00
Uppill Simon 61:03:00
Dent Julian 51:27:00

At the beginning the women’s race was very exciting with Hanny Allston starting off well and with a chance to beat yesterday’s winner of the middle distance race, Anna Perrson, but a few errors after the second spectator and drinks control saw her slip behind. The later-starting runners from Norway, Mari Fasting and Elise Egseth, blitzed the rest of the field by two minutes. When all were finished Hanny placed in a very creditable 11th position.

Dave Meyer starting earlier in the day had a steady run, finishing in 32nd position. He says he did not rush and took a bit more time to ensure he kept in contact with the map and did not make any big errors. Next to finish for the Aussies was Simon Uppill in 58th position, still in the top third of the field and encouraging for Australia for the future. Louis Elson(105), Ryan Smyth(115), and Conrad Elson(119) found the going tough but gallantly finished the course with 23 competitors failing to finish or mis-punching in the men’s race.

In the women’s race Erin Post, who had the earliest start of the day, finished in 50th position and was happy to finish and improve on her result from yesterday. Ainsley Cavanagh was also pleased with her performance in 68th position and was followed by Vanessa Round in 74th spot and looked very tired at the end of her race. Jasmine Neve found the going tough as she was still nursing a bruised knee from the previous race but gallantly ran her race finishing in 76th position and then Zebedy Hallett in 79th spot who had a few navigational errors at one point doing a 180 error on a track.
The area was very tough going for all and only the winner in the mens race achieving the estimated winning time of 73 minutes and the winners in the women’s race being 8 minutes more than the estimated winning time of 55 minutes.
An exellent result for Australia getting a podium finish by Julian Dent in 4th position and Hanny Allston finishing in 11th spot in the under such tough conditions.

Hilary Wood

Abbreviated Results

Success for Australia at todays competition in the middle distance final race held at Taverne in Switzerland! Hanny Allston in another great run finished in the third place securing Australia its first medal since 1999 in the JWOC competition. Hanny was extremely pleased with her run although she felt she made mistakes and was very teary on the finish line. She says she is shocked about her result and relieved that she has achieved her goal of ‘podium finish’ and still has another race to go! Winner Anna Persson from Sweden finished in a time of 25:51. She reported she was feeling fantastic about her win although she didn’t really understand it. For Anna tomorrow is another race but she aims to have fun in the forest! The Finnish girl Heini Wennman also had a great run for second place and said she was feeling emotionally exhausted but also very relieved to have gained second place and a silver medal.

All placegetters were tested as part of the campaign for drugs-free sport. Interestingly, we have seen a fair-play anti-drugs commercial at the awards ceremony using orienteering as an example sport with the drug user shown collapsing at a control! Amusing and effective!

In the men’s race Julian Dent (25:10) finished in 8th position; he says he had a sloppy run around the controls which accounted for his not having any fastest splits. Again the finish was very exciting as the top seeds fnished. The race was won by the local Swiss orienteer Fabian Hertnerto in a time of 21:28 by, followed by Frenchman Phillipe Adamski and Finland’s Hannu Airila.

The rest of the Australian team were not disgraced and Simon Uppill held the lead early in the day which was also very exciting and augurs well for the future. He finished in 22nd position in the A final at his first JWOC. Jasmine Neve also managed to finish quite well in 32nd position after she ran with Swedish runner Sara Luscher for a while. Unfortunately Jasmine took a fall and bruised her knee and this set her pace back a bit and she lost time in the latter half of the course.

In the B finals Zebedy Hallett and Ryan Smyth were the best placed of the Australians, with Zebedy finishing in 6th place and Ryan in 10th position. Ryan started after David Meyer and when he caught him they gave each other confidence to run the rest of the course well after David had lost vital minutes earlier in his course. Conrad Elson finished in 20th position, followed by David Meyer in 23rd and Louis Elson in 52nd. Following Zebedy in the women’s race, Vanessa Round came 21st and Ainsley Cavanagh 51st, having lost time at the beginning of her race on an early control and later at the 11th control.

Unfortunately for Erin Post she mispunched by missing her second control. She said that someone spoke to her in the forest and although not an excuse it put her off and she didn’t realise that she had missed the second control and went straight to the third instead. However all is not lost for Erin on her birthday today as she has received excellent uni results of one high distinction and three distinctions! She is hoping for a better run tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the classic race and Australia is hoping for podium finish for Hanny and Julian. Here’s wishing all the team the best for tomorrow.

Hilary Wood

World Junior Championships At Taverne Switzerland
Middle Distance Finals

Men: 3.5 km: A Final:
1 Fabian Hertner SUI 21:28
2 Philippe Adamski FRA 22:43
3 Hannu Airila FIN 23:27
8 Julian Dent AUS 25:10
22 Simon Uppill AUS 27:26

B Final:
1 Magne Dæhli NOR 23:41
10 Ryan Smyth AUS 26:30
20 Conrad Elson AUS 28:44
23 David Meyer AUS 29:46
52 Louis Elson AUS 37:57

Women: 3.0 km: A Final:
1 Anna Persson SWE 25:51
2 Heini Wennman FIN 26:00
3 Hanny Allston AUS 27:18
32 Jasmine Neve AUS 36:00

B Final:
1 Ane Linde DEN 22:46
6 Zebedy Hallett AUS 28:12
21 Vanessa Round AUS 33:28
52 Ainsley Cavanagh AUS 47:59
Erin Post AUS mp

Hanny Allston wins her heat in Middle Distance qualification race with the fastest time of the day! Report from Hilary Wood in Switzerland.

Hanny Allston had a perfect run on Tuesday in perfect conditions, sunny and warm but with a cool mountain breeze. She blitzed her heat in a time of 22 min 12 sec for the 3.2 km course. Her time was the fastest for the day across all heats and it was over a minute faster than the next best. She says she felt good and is looking forward to a repeat performance tomorrow (Wednesday) in the A Final. Jasmine Neve (28:34) has also made the A final finishing in fifteenth position in heat C. She felt her run was lacking in confidence but it was good enough to come in the top twenty and make the A final.

In the men’s competition Julian Dent finished in ninth place in a time of 26:19 in heat A (fastest time in this heat 24:23 by Swiss junior Andreas Ruedlinger), confirming his place in the A final. He fell during the race and did not have a clean run; he estimates that he lost around one and a half minutes through errors, and is looking forward to having a clean run to be competitive tomorrow. Simon Uppill also made the A final in 20th position with a time of 27:30. He was pretty pleased with his run and is feeling good for tomorrow.

Dave Meyer was very disappointed with his run and lost valuable minutes on a couple of controls. Dave Meyer, Louis Elson and Ryan Smyth all finished in the 30th minute although they were running in different heats. Erin Post, Vanessa Round and Zebedy Hallett also finished about the same time of 32 minutes.

Conrad Elson finished just in 30:39 just off the pace of the his team-mates Dave, Louis and Ryan. Ainsley Cavanagh started her course well and then made a few mistakes and eventually finished in a time of 41:41. Overall a fair start to the competition with Hanny’s fantastic run and Julian also coming in the top ten in his heat. Australia now has four chances to reach the podium for tomorrow’s middle distance final to be held at Taverne, where a special bridge has been constructed across the main road for the competitors to use. The map area goes over a road tunnel and covers some of the local town area as well as the lovely cool forests of chestnut and beech trees.

Hilary Wood

World Junior Championships At Tesserete, Switzerland
Middle Distance Qualifying heats

Men: 3.9 km:
Heat A:
1 Andreas Rüedlinger SUI 24:23
2 Marcus Millegård FIN 24:30
3 Michal Krajcík SVK 24:52
9 Julian Dent AUS 26:19
26 Louis Elson AUS 29:18

Heat B:
1 Olav Lundanes NOR 24:17
2 Philippe Adamski FRA 24:22
3 Eriks Lebedoks LAT 25:05
29 Ryan Smyth AUS 29:46
30 David Meyer AUS 29:50

Heat C:
1 Fabian Hertner SUI 23:38
2 Zsolt Lenkei NED 24:16
3 Jan Palas CZE 24:28
20 Simon Uppill AUS 27:39
36 Conrad Elson AUS 30:39

Women: 3.2 km:
Heat A:
1 Elise Egseth NOR 23:26
2 Silja Tarvonen FIN 24:20
3 Anna Persson SWE 24:48
23 Erin Post AUS 32:14
24 Vanessa Round AUS 32:16

Heat B:
1 Hanny Allston AUS 22:12
2 Heini Wennman FIN 25:34
3 Saila Kinni FIN 25:39
21 Zebedy Hallett AUS 32:04

Heat C:
1 Capucine Vercellotti FRA 25:01
2 Rahel Friederich SUI 25:12
3 Amélie Chataing FRA 25:25
15 Jasmine Neve AUS 28:34
38 Ainsley Cavanagh AUS 41:41