Author: craigf

The Australian Bushrangers held off a fast-finishing New Zealand Pinestars for a 113-103 win in the Test Match, contested over the last three days near Daylesford. The 45-27 lead that the Australians established on the first day proved to be enough to take the Test Match overall, despite New Zealand scoring narrow wins on each of the last two days. They went into the final day today 14 points behind but could only make up four.

At the front end it was more of the same. Grant Bluett made it three wins from as many races, although this was the closest of the three as he took the victory by four seconds from Julian Dent. Dent and Dave Shepherd made up the placings, as they had in both of the two previous trials. Hanny Allston also made it a 100% record from the two races she contested in a race that was even closer, holding on by three seconds from Jo Allison, who added a second runner-up position to her sprint win on Friday. Tania Robinson made up the placings for the New Zealanders.

Grant Bluett and Hanny Allston stamped their authority on the final series of selection trials for 2005 WOC in Japan in August. Grant showed selectors his winning form in yesterday’s sprint Race at Hepburn was no fluke. Bluett’s 38-second win today over Dave Shepherd and a further 2 minutes to fast-improving Julian Dent will be tested tomorrow in the final middle-distance trial at Mt Egerton. Hanny Allston ran smoothly and within herself to post an impressive 3 minute 20 second win over Jo Allison, with a further 3 and a half minutes to Tracey Bluett.

A great down-under spirit was evident at the finish as the New Zealand WOC team competed alongside their Aussie mates. Best of the Kiwis was evergreen Tania Robinson, third behind Allston and Allison in the women’s race, while Chris Forne was the best of the Kiwi men 41 seconds behind third-place Julian Dent. In the ANZ Test Match the Aussies who held a good lead after yesterday’s sprint race, posted a narrow 19-17 win in the men’s but NZ convincingly won the women’s race 21-15. Australian team selection for Japan will announced next Wednesday (1 June) on this website.

Blake Gordon

Men’s Classic

1 Grant Bluett AUS Australia 110:43
2 David Shepherd AUS Australia 111:21
3 Julian Dent AUS Australia 113:51
4 Chris Forne NZL New Zealand 114:32
5 Rob Preston AUS Australia 116:31

Women’s Classic

1 Hanny Allston AUS Australia 82:15
2 Jo Allison AUS Australia 85:35
3 Tania Robinson NZL New Zealand 86:32
4 Tracy Bluett AUS Australia 89:02
5 Rachel Smith NZL 90:50

The Australian Bushrangers have taken the lead in the Australia – New Zealand test match today. Scores were 24-12 in the men, and 22-14 in the women. Chris Forne and Tania Robinson were the leading Kiwis (both placing 4th), but their efforts were overshadowed by Grace Elson and Julian Dent who picked up maximum points.

In the Australian WOC Trials, Jo Allison narrowly won the women’s race, with other standout performers being Grace Elson (2nd) and Kathryn Ewels (3rd) – both of whom are fighting for a place in the team.  The men’s race contained few surprises, with Grant Bluett winning by a minute from Julian Dent and David Shepherd.

The 2005 South Australian Middle Distance Championships was held in the Burra region, approximately two hours north of Adelaide. It was the second of two events held in the area over the Adelaide Cup long weekend. The Sunday event was a Badge event run by Yalanga Orienteers on the Merridee map. The next day was the SA Middle Distance Championships, held on Bri Glen, a map directly adjoining Merridee to the north.

The top three places in the open class (M21-39A) were hotly contested with less than 4 minutes separating them. Lachlan Hallett managed to catch Simon Uppill and Miguel Clark to take out the 6.4km course in 36:38, two minutes clear of Uppill and 4 minutes ahead of Clark. Hallett started well and stayed ahead for the entire race, finishing strongly with the fastest last 5 legs, catching both Uppill and Clark at the last control. Clark started well, only 11 seconds behind Lachlan at the third control, but then his lack of stamina showed as he dropped off the pace losing two minutes over the following two legs to let Uppill into second place. Greg Morcom also started strongly, ahead of Uppill in the early stages of the course but dropped in the second half to finish in 4th place. Tyson Hillyard,Warwick Dougherty, and John Nieuwenhoven rounded out the field. Sadly, another hot contender for a fast time, Conrad Elson (from Tasmania, living in South Australia for the year), was unable to finish due to an injury, sensibly preferring to preserve himself for the junior world orienteering championships later in the year.

The womens open class (W21-39A) was a two woman race at the top, with Susanne Casanova taking the 4.6 Km event ahead of Zebedy Hallett by three minutes in a time of 31:21. The two matched each other early with Hallett leading at the third control, but the experience and endurance of Casanova prevailed and she took control from then on, staying in the lead for the rest of the race. It was a great run by Susanne who had run second in the M21 event the day before only 5 minutes behind Lachlan Hallett. Third place was a closer affair between Miriam Whittington, Jenny Casanova, Katherine Radford, and Lexie Ashforth. Whittington finished in 44:11, with Jenny Casanova 20 seconds behind, Radford two minutes back and then Ashforth only a further 20 seconds. Michelle Soar and Edda Keskula finished out the field.

In the junior classes, M/W17-20A, Jason Nicolson and Vanessa Round won the men’s and women’s events respectively. The men’s race (4.6km, the same course as the open women’s event) was quite close with only 4 minutes separating the top 5. Tristan Lee started strongest leading Nicolson at the 4th control. A two minute mistake then lost him the lead that he was unable to regain, finishing second, one minute behind Nicolson. The rest of the field were all on a similar time until the 4th control and only 2-3 minutes behind the leaders. Andrew Slattery then had a great second half to move into second place briefly at the 7th before finishing third, less than a minute behind Lee. Michael Roberts and Max Sankauskas finished off the top five with times of 41:05 and 41:39 respectively. Vanessa Round comfortably outran the rest of the junior women, finishing in 27:32, over 10 minutes clear of Mallory Hughes and Rebecca Hembrow. Both Hughes and Round lost a significant amount of time on the second leg which left them to play catch up for the rest of the race, leaving little chance of pulling Round in. Shannon Nicholson, Nicole Such and Peta Johannsen finished out the field.

Daylesford in Victoria will be the centre of the Australian orienteering world this coming weekend (27-29 may), when the final selection races for the Australian team to compete in the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) in Aichi, Japan, 8 – 14 August, will be held. The New Zealanders will be represented by their WOC team, selected after trials earlier this month near Hamilton, and this contest will give both the Kiwis and the Australians some indication of how they will fare in Japan. Although we have nothing inAustralia to compare with Japanese terrain, the Daylesford terrain will at least be comparable in steepness.

Australian selectors Ian Prosser (chair), Nicki Taws, and Jenny Lawford will select the team on the basis of results from the first round of selection trials at the Easter 3-day event at Jindabyne, together with past form in major international races and Australian championship races. Australians living and competing in Europe willconsidered on the basis of their performances in major European races, and are eligible for selection.

There will be three races, sprint (Friday) 2.4 Km (men) and  2.0 Km (women), long distance (Saturday) 16.79 Km, climb 1180m/9.88 Km, climb 715m, and middle distance (Sunday) 6.1 Km / 4.8 Km. Course setters are Rob Plowright (sprint and long distance, and course setter for the sprint race at WOC in Japan), and Andy Hogg and Natalie Smith (middle distance).

One notable absence from the trials is Tom Quayle. Tom has withdrawn his nomination due to ongoing injury; he has decided to focus on rehabilitation this year aiming to be back to his best for WOC2006.

Selectors will announce the team on this website on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 1.

Results of each of the selection races at Daylesford will be posted on the website as soon as possible after each race. Entry lists and start times for the weekend can be seen via links in the High Performance section of the website.

Daylesford in Victoria will be the centre of the Australasian orienteering world this coming weekend (27-29 may), when the Australia New Zealand challenge will be held. The challenge will also feature the final selection races for the Australian team to compete in the World Orienteering Championships (WOC) in Aichi, Japan, 8 – 14 August. The New Zealanders will be represented by their WOC team, selected after trials earlier this month near Hamilton. The Australian Bushrangers team is:

Women – Tracy Bluett, Susanne Casanova, Grace Elson, Clare Hawthorne, Orla Murray, Mace Neve. Reserve 1: Kathryn Ewels, Reserve 2: Ilka Barr

Men – Bruce Arthur, Gareth Candy, Julian Dent, Ben Rattray, Kerrin Rattray, Robbie Preston. Reserve 1: Ian Meyer, Reserve 2: Peter Preston

Australian selectors Ian Prosser (chair), Nicki Taws, and Jenny Lawford will select the team on the basis of results from these selection races and the first round of selection trials at the Easter 3-day event at Jindabyne,together with past form in major international races and Australian championship races. Australians living and competing in Europe will considered on the basis of their performances in major European races, and are eligible for selection.

There will be three races, sprint (Friday) 2.4 Km (men) and  2.0 Km (women), long distance (Saturday) 16.79 Km, climb 1180m/9.88 Km, climb 715m, and middle distance (Sunday) 6.1 Km / 4.8 Km. Course setters are Rob Plowright (sprint and long distance, and course setter for the sprint race at WOC in Japan), and Andy Hogg and Natalie Smith (middle distance). Having Rob Plowright setting courses for our trials is also a bonus as it should ensure that the team will have some idea of what to expect in Japan.

Contenders for the WOC team with good results from Easter are previous WOC representatives Grant Bluett, David Shepherd, Natasha Key, Jo Allison, Hanny Allston, and Tracy Bluett. Overseas-based Australians with good credentials are Troy de Haas (Finland), David Brickhill-Jones (Norway), Rob Walter (Sweden), and Allison Jones (Sweden). Others with good recent form are Grace Elson, Susanne Casanova, Danielle Winslow, and Clare Hawthorne. Among the men, Julian Dent, Robbie Preston, Ben Rattray, Eric Morris, and Gareth Candy cannot be discounted. One notable absence from the trials is Tom Quayle. Tom has withdrawn his nomination due to ongoing injury; he has decided to focus on rehabilitation this year, aiming to be back to his best for WOC2006.

The terrain has been chosen to be as Japan-like as possible and course setters have been instructed accordingly. Japan will be steep, hot and detailed gully-spur. Although Australian forest differs from that ofJapan, their gully-spur is not the same type as ours, and the weather in Daylesford will be closer to freezing than hot, the courses will at least be comparably steep.

Selectors will announce the team on this website on the afternoon of Wednesday, June 1.

Results of each of the selection races at Daylesford will be posted on the website as soon as possible after each race.

Split times from the National League and public races at Umuna on Saturday 7th May, and at Julimar on Sunday 8th May are now available on SplitsBrowser.

Umuna Middle Distance and enter on the day splits.

Umuna Sprint splits.

Julimar Long Distance and Badge Event Splits.

Tracy Bluett travelled to Perth for this weekend’s NOL series, spending her first nights apart from her 18 month old daughter Tiia. But the sacrifice brought rewards when she won the Mother’s Day long distance race this morning. Bluett, who missed out on last year’s WOC team, now seems to have returned to her best form, beating Jo Allison by about a minute and is now second in the National League points table. Clare Hawthorne finished off a good weekend – she was a further 5 minutes behind in third place. Grace Elson, whose consistency has been a feature of the 2005 season, cemented her claim for a WOC spot, finishing fifth behind Anna Sheldon, and is now 4th in the overall standings.

In the men’s race Grant Bluett may have wrapped up the NOL title this weekend – he has won the last 5 races including this morning’s victory. He beat Eric Morris (second) and Dave Shepherd (third). Shepherd needed a win to keep his hopes of the National League title alive, and led the field until a mistake at the 16th control cost him dearly. Local Western Nomad CraigDufty finished off a solid weekend at home – he placed 6th in a quality field.

In the team competition, the Canberra Cockatoos look unassailable in their quest for another title. Victoria failed to capitalise on the non-attendance of NSW star Julian Dent; they made ground on the NSW Stingers yesterday, drawing level on overall points, but dropped behind again today as NSW took out the women’s race, and clinched second in the men’s.

National League 2005 So Far…

The National League now moves to its midwinter hiatus. Many of Australia’s best senior and junior elites will head to Europe for the season, followed by the World Championships in Japan. The NOL resumes in Tasmania in September, as part of the Australian Championships Carnival.

Standings after 10 Rounds are as follows:

Teams

1. Canberra Cockatoos 150
2. NSW Stingers 127
3. Victorian Nuggets 123
4. Queensland Cyclones 86
5. Southern Arrows 76
6. Western Nomads 69
7. Tassie Foresters 50

Men

1. G Bluett ACT 234
2. D Shepherd ACT 199
3. J Dent NSW 178
4. R Preston NSW 165
5. E Morris NSW 163

Women

1. J Allison ACT 225
2. T Bluett NSW 204
3. H Allston TAS 175
4. G Elson TAS 165
5. S Casanova SA 146

Grant Bluett extended his lead in the National Orienteering League today with victories in both races in the “Call of the West” series. In the morning middle distance race Bluett had a narrow victory over his Canberra Cockatoo rival David Shepherd. Ben Rattray (Southern Arrows) had a breakthrough performance, coming in third place – his best result for the year so far.

In the afternoon forest sprint race Bluett again prevailed.
This time Danish international (and Victorian Nugget) Rune Olsen produced his best performance since moving to Melbourne, coming in second, with Eric Morris (NSW Stingers) third. Ben Rattray maintained his morning form, and finished in fourth place.

In the Women’s middle distance race Natasha Key (Victorian Nuggets) showed a sparkling return to form after a somewhat disappointing Easter (by her standards). She won by 54 seconds from NSW Stinger Tracy Bluett, and consistent Canberra Cockatoo Jo Allison in third place.

Other notable performances included Anna Sheldon (Qld Cyclones – 4th).
The afternoon’s sprint race produced one of the tightest results in this year’s National League – and a change at the top compared to the morning’s race.
Reigning Australian long distance Champion Clare Hawthorne (Victorian Nuggets) won by 4 seconds to fellow Victorian Kathryn Ewels and Canberra Cockatoo Jo Allison, who tied for second place.

The standout result of the day was Victorian junior Jasmine Neve who placed 6th in the middle distance and 4th in the sprint. She leaves directly from Perth for the Junior World Championships in Switzerland, and will travel with high hopes for good results there.

The terrain was lightning fast granite. Clearing and grazing on the area meant that running was unusually easy for WA, but the complex granite increased the technical difficulty.
The National League shifts to the Chittering Valley tomorrow where runners will face the difficult prospect of a physically demanding long distance race in spur-gully terrain.

After 9 rounds, the Canberra Cockatoos have extended their lead in the total pointscore competition. The Victorian Nuggets have made up ground on the NSW Stingers – they are now equal second on 112 points. Of the remaining States, WA Nomads have been unable to take advantage of their local knowledge, and are in 6th place behind the Queensland Cyclones (4th), with the Southern Arrows in 5th. The Tasmanian Foresters had limited representation in WA, with only Grace Elson and Danielle Winslow making the trip west, and remain in 7th place.