2005 Archive

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

Australia has made it’s best-ever start to a JWOC campaign — with a bronze medal to Hanny Allston and 8th place for Julian Dent.

Hanny Allston from Tasmania has taken a bronze medal in the Middle Distance race at the Junior World Championships in Switzerland. Allston started the race slowly and trailed by nearly 2 minutes to place 8th at the first split control. But she picked up time steadily over the second half of the course, finishing only 90 seconds behind the winner, Anna Pearson of Sweden.

In the men’s race, Julian Dent was also slow out of the blocks, but finished in 8th place – Australia’s best result in the Men’s Middle Distance at JWOC.

Of the other two A-Finalists Jasmine Neve came in 32nd and Simon Uphill a competitive 22nd in his first JWOC.

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

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 n.class.

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.

Paul Darvodelsky has withdrawn from Australia’s WMTBOC team after a major crash in a Sydney road race. The crash happened about 300 metres from the finish, as the pack was shaping up for the sprint at speeds of about 50 km/h. Darvodelsky broke both collar bones, two ribs and his right shoulder blade, and will not ride for at least 6 weeks – meaning recovery in time for WMTBOC is impossible.

Darvodelsky was intending to compete and manage the team, which includes last year’s gold medallist Adrian Jackson. He will still travel to Slovakia as team manager.

Blair Trewin and Kay Haarsma took out the open (21A) classes at theinaugural NT Championships, held at Lok Cabay near Batchelor on Sunday. Haarsma was almost unopposed in W21- after her only competitor (TEO local Katie Webby) pulled out with a bad leg gash, requiring a quick trip up to Darwin Hospital. Mani Berghout, another
local TEO orienteer running W35A but same course as Kay, gave her a run for her money finishing just 9 minutes behind.

Half a dozen contested M21A. First place seemed fairly settled once Trewin had caught his most likely rival, Rob Vincent, four minutes at the second control, but the gap had only grown by another minute at the 8km mark of the 13.1km course. The margin widened steadily after that, eventually reaching 13 minutes by the finish. Vincent ended up in a close tussle on times with Murray Scown (in M20, but running the same course), with Scown just prevailing at the end after a solid run.

The pick of the other classes was M60, where three New South Welshmen fought out a tight contest. Dave Lotty had just under two minutes in hand over Ron Junghans with Dick Ogilvie a further two minutes behind. Barry Sampson also had to work hard for his M65 win, by 87 seconds over Neville Cobbold and Nev Bleakley. The New Zealanders made their presence felt amongst the veteran women, with several placegetters and a good win for Bunny Rathbone, running up a couple of age groups in W60, while Lynn Dabbs had one of the better runs of the day in comfortably winning W50.

There was a pleasingly large attendance of around 120, with many coming from interstate, a significant New Zealand contingent, and even the odd Briton. The terrain gave competitors a very different experience, with a mixture of gully-spur that was very rocky underfoot, flat black-soil plains (with the occasional enormous termite mound) and ancient, large stromatolite rock formations. The vaguer areas brought many undone, and together with the hot and unseasonally humid conditions, made for long times on many courses.

OA has agreed to a variation to its technical rules for the organisation of the Australian Sprint Championships in Tasmania later this year. A Red Start Group will be used (as is done in many international races) in the start draw for men’s and women’s elite races. Entries, excluding the top ten nationally ranked runners, will be randomly drawn, and the ten highest ranked runners will be separately randomly drawn and start as the last 10 starters. The top ten will be those ranked highest on August 12th (close of entries for Australian Sprint Championships). Late entries will not be part of the Red Start Group, regardless of ranking.