Explosive start to National 3 Days Carnival

In the men’s race early starter Matt Crane (GBR) set an outstanding target which was never headed, running consistently fast through the whole course. Troy De Haas (VIC) ran strongly and came within two seconds of taking the lead at the last control but could not match Crane’s blistering final sprint, finishing just four seconds off the pace. Australian Sprint Champion Julian Dent (NSW) set a cracking early pace, leading by nearly 25 seconds after the first five legs but then faded over the later stages to finish 4th just behind a consistent Dave Shepherd (ACT). Top junior Simon Uppill (SA) had an outstanding run to finish 5th in one of the strongest Sprint fields assembled in Australia.

In the women’s race World Sprint Champion Hanny Allston  (TAS) dominated, putting in yet another world class performance to finish 70 seconds infront of fellow Tasmanian Grace Elson. Hanny had an amazing 11 fastest splits out of 16 legs. Two of the performances of the day were from our top female junior Vanessa Round (SA) to finish in third place and former junior star Kirsten Fairfax (VIC) in fourth. In equal 5th were the always consistent Jo Allison (ACT) and first year senior Jasmine Neve (VIC).

In the junior womens race the winner was Heather Harding (ACT) from up and coming star Belinda Lawford (VIC) and Rachel Effeny (QLD).

In the junior mens race Kieran Sullivan (QLD) won in front of Brian Keely (VIC) and Nick Andrewartha (TAS).

Results and splits now available.

2007 MTBO WOC Team Named

The Chair of the MTBO Selection Panel has announced the following orienteers have been selected to represent Australia at the 2007 World MTBO Championships to be held at Milovy, Czech Republic in August.

WOMEN

  • Carolyn Jackson (Vic)
  • Thorlene Egerton (Qld)
  • Kath Copland ( Vic)

Reserve – Kay Haarsma (SA)

MEN

  • Adrian Jackson (Vic)
  • Alex Randall (Vic)
  • Paul Darvodelsky (NSW)
  • David Simpfendorfer (ACT)
  • David Wood ( QLD)
  • Tony Clark (Vic)

Reserve – Matthew Hope (Tas)

Orienteering Australia congratulates all orienteers on their selection in the team and wishes them well for the MTBO World Championships

Mike Dowling

Director, High Performance

Trimtex To Supply Australian National Team Uniforms

comp-topOrienteering Australia is very pleased to have reached an agreement with leading orienteering equipment supplier Trimtex of Norway for the supply of all competition uniforms and track suits for our foot orienteering teams. With Australia hosting JWOC we believe our teams both here and abroad will be very distinctive running in the green and gold. The images included here provide a preview of the competition top and track suit top. Competition uniforms will be supplemented with green pants and the track suit will feature matching navy blue trousers.

Mike Dowling

Director, High Performance

track-suit

Tom Quayle Appointed Head Coach

The Board of Orienteering Australia is very pleased to announce Tom Quayle has been appointed Head Coach of Orienteering Australia on an interim basis from April 16th to June 30th. Orienteering Australia is conducting a review of its High Performance and Coaching structures with a view to a substantive Head Coach appointment from July 1st. Tom will bring a great breadth of knowledge to the role of Head Coach as one of Australia’s most successful World Championship performers and through his excellent work over the last year as coach of the Bushrangers.

Australian Junior Development Squad Coach (Re-advertised)

Orienteering Australia has extended the call for nominations for the new position of National Junior Development Coach. The voluntary position includes conducting and leading training and coaching the Australian Junior Development Squad and providing technical assistance to the individual coaches of squad members. It offers a great opportunity for a coach to work with emerging & talented young orienteers that are identified as having the potential to be future Australian representatives.

Applications now close Friday April 20th, 2007 and should be sent to Mike Dowling, Director High Performance, email oa_highperformance@netspeed.com.au The application form is available here.

Hanny Allston Joins The JWOC Coaching Team

Hanny Allston
Hanny Allston

In a fantastic boost for the 2007 Australian team, Orienteering Australia is highly delighted to announce that World Champion Hanny Allston has joined the team for the 2007 Junior World Championships to be held in Dubbo NSW in July as Assistant Coach. Hanny is very much looking forward to working will all team contenders and the team when it is announced at the final selection trails in May to help our young athletes maximise their potential for success in Dubbo come July. She will bring a superb insight into the technical, physical & mental preparation required to compete with success on the world stage. Hanny is very much looking forward to meeting with all team contenders over the Easter 3 Day in Burra, South Australia.

World of O launches woO-TV: Online TV for orienteering

wootv_logoWorld of O, the international orienteering website portal, has announced a new service to bring video to the orienteering community. The service will broadcast reports and interviews from main international orienteering happenings by working with the race organizers and different professional and amateur producers, and will be hosted by www.veoh.com. To get straight to WoO-TV, click here. Initial services include archived videos and three channels.

As with all on-line videos, it should be used with caution if your internet service has a download limit.

More details of the service are available here.

Reminder: WOC trials and National League events 8, 9 & 10 entries close on April 5

The invitation / entry form for the National League round 2 in Victoria on the 5th and 6th of May is available here.

2007 Vic NOL-WOC Trials Invitation v2.doc

Entries close on April 5 (as per NOL guidelines).

The weekend consists of 3 NOL races;
Sat am, Sprint Distance, Monash University, Melbourne
Sat pm, Middle Distance, Petticoat Gully, Creswick
Sun am, Long Distance, Creswick Diggings, Creswick
These races are also selection trials for the Australian WOC team.
The final bulletin and start lists will be published approximately 2 weeks before the event.

New Executive Officer – Kay Grzadka

Kay has been involved in Orienteering in the ACT for over 20 years.  She has an Associate Diploma in Applied Computing and has considerable experience from working in a number of positions in the Australian Public Service.  She retired from full-time work in 2006, after reaching Executive Level 1.

Kay has been engaged to work an average of 15 hours per week.  Her core days/hours in the OA office will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10.00 am to 3.00 pm.  The remaining hours will be spent on handling matters outside of core hours.