Melbourne Forest Racers’ star team of Paul Liggins, Bruce Arthur and Adrian Jackson are the 2007 club relay champions after comfortably winning Saturday’s race at Stumpy Gully near Bendigo. Even a 2 minute error by 1st leg runner Liggins when he went to the wrong penultimate control didn’t mar their result.
In an exciting finish MFR’s ‘B’ team consisting of Torgeir ‘Top Gear’ Watne, Dion ‘Neon’ Keech and Warren ‘Wazza’ Key moved into 3rd place just metres from the finish line. Approaching the second to last control Ted van Geldermessen of Yarra Valley was leading Wazza but he took the lead around the dam wall and beat Ted to the finish, even after taking a spectacular short cut through the dam itself, much to the delight of the on-looking crowd.
MFR women’s team of Nicola Dalheim, Tash Key and Jasmine Neve were upset by Eureka’s Belinda Lawford, Aislinn Prendergast and Jenny Bourne after a costly mistake by Dalheim near the end of her course.
Yarra Valley took out group 3, with Barry Hart, Tim Dent and Russell Bullman all running well. Geoff Lawford (EU) ran the fastest time for this course.
Bendigo’s home ground helped, with Terry Davidson, Peter Hill and Peter Galvin winning Group 4, while Shane Keely, Matthew Browne and James Robertson winning Group 5.
A new generation of Melbourne Forest Racers won Group 6 – Timmy Jackson, Rosie Dalheim and Max Dalheim.
Louis Elson dominated the Tasmanian middle distance championships held in the complex sand dunes at Pittwater on a day when very few competitors had clean runs.
Louis Elson
Pittwater specialist Mike Dowling, running in M21, was one of the few competitors to avoid major mistakes, but a week of the high life in Kiev tooks its toll, and Mike was almost four minutes behind Louis. In W21, former JWOC representative Corinna Woolford (nee Kelly), was a clear winner from evergreen Louise Fairfax.
Among the better performances in the age group races were Jess Fuller-Smith (W20), who was over 2 minutes faster than her father Darryl Smith on course 3, and Sue Hancock (W40), who was a clear winner on course 4, 3 minutes ahead of multiple WOC representative Christine Marshall. John Brammall was the first home on course 5, and Sue and Tony Mount made it a family double on course 5A.
Queensland Championships go digging for gold at Leyburn.
The 2-day Queensland Championships moved to a new area, the old gold-mining Leyburn Forest some 80 Km SW of Toowoomba. The forest is undulating spur gully with good cover and only medium visibility. There are some intricate watercourse features, some scattered small rock and evidence of past gold diggings but the majority of the map offers fast but indistinct country similar to the Maryborough and Bundaberg regions. Similar to the Maryborough and Bundaberg areas, Leyburn can produce some excellent times but also can create massive loss of time because of the lack of re-location features.
Day 1 was overcast and the forest had softened with the welcome rain during the week before the Champs. In M/W21 and M/W17 -20 the first day stands alone as the Queensland Middle Distance Championship but is added to Day 2 for the overall Queensland Championship.
M21 covered 5.5 Km with Ian Anderson taking the lead to the first control but he fell back after an error to control 4. Veteran Mark Nemeth and Dane Cavanagh both ran consistently, minimizing errors for 2nd and 3rd places but Lorenzo Calabro (returning after a long period away) took the lead from control 2 and was never troubled to win in 33 minutes. M17-20 covered the same course and Mat McGuire managed to take the lead from Simon Mee after control 1 and although the gap between the two was never greater than 2 minutes Matt held on for a 25 second win in a very good time of under 40 minutes.
W21, in the absence of Anna Sheldon at WOC, became a race for the future stars of Queensland orienteering. The race came down to a case of minimising risk because all runners suffered from location problems in the early stages of the course. The early lead was taken by Krystal Neumann, then Rachael Effeney, closely followed by Bridget Anderson but by control 4 Ainsley Cavanagh’s consistency had pushed her to the front from where she moved away to her first open win in 35 minutes over the 4.1 Km course. W17-20 ran 3.5 Km and also suffered with lack of locational features. Brooke Pye led early but lost the lead to Jessica O’Connell with an error to control 4. From half way through the course Grace Burrill took over the race to win comfortably in just under 40 minutes.
Day 2 dawned clear and sunny which seems to have been a gift to almost the entire field as results, overall, were better than Day 1. M21 covered over 11 Km but the race continued in the same pattern as Day1. Lorenzo Calabro took the lead early in the race and was never headed. Dane Cavanagh made a grab for 2nd place midway through the race but was unable to sustain the effort leaving the final placings unchanged from Day1, with Lorenzo taking out the race in an excellent 75 minutes. M17-20 was similarly uneventful. Ben Freese and Gary Flynn exchanged the lead early but steady running from Mat McGuire and Simon Mee took them to the lead with Mat drawing away for his first Queensland Championship, running the 8 Km course in 64 minutes.
W21 ran over a fairly short 7 Km and after a very even 1st control Ainsley Cavanagh took charge of the race to win comfortably by 4 minutes and take out her first Open Championship. The place-getters on Day2 were Krystal Neumann and Bridget Anderson but over the 2 days these places were reversed. W17-20 seemed to have difficulty with the course with all runners making errors in some parts of the course. Jessica O’Connell led to control 5 but she was passed by Michelle Cantwell who held on for a good win. The overall Championship went to Grace Burrill as a result of her excellent win on Day1.
In senior classes stand out performances came from Clive Pope in M70, Jacquie Rand in W55, Gayle Quantock-Simson in W45 and Dave Firman in M55. M35 saw a great race between Steve Doyle and the eventual winner, Tim McIntye. In junior classes W16 was a great battle between all four of the Queensland (and Australian) Junior School team with Glennie Nottle eventually holding out Katie Doyle for a good win. M16 saw a similar battle, and fast running, between Oliver Crosato and Kurt Neumann with Oliver taking out the overall competition.
Simone Niggli dominated the women’s sprint, with her 12th individual World Championship gold medal, from Minna Kauppi (FIN) and Lena Eliasson (SWE).
Hanny Allston completed another fantastic sprint race, to finish in 13.26, 9th place and 80 seconds behind Niggli.
Grace Elson (Photo: Erik Borg)
12th starter Grace Elson, momentarily took the lead in a time of 14.42.3 (finally 30th place). However, her glory only lasted 10 seconds, with Celine Dodin (FRA) ahead by 50 seconds.
Kathryn Ewels appeared to lose time early, finishing in 17.07, 46th place.
In the men’s sprint distance final, just 0.9 of a second separated Wednesday’s middle distance winner, Thierry Gueorgio (FRA) from Thursday’s long distance winner, Matthias Merz (SUI). Gueorgio trailed Merz by 0.5 sec at both radio controls, but he was ahead when it mattered most.
Julian Dent starts his race – Photo: Erik Borg
Both Gueorgio and Merz said they were careful to take time to read the map, and choose the best route choices, especially near the end of the course.
Australia’s Julian Dent has completed his World Championship campaign with a solid run in the Sprint Distance Final, finishing 22nd. Julian’s times were impressive at each radio control, at the time just 22 seconds behind the lead at Radio 1 and 37 seconds at Radio 2. When Julian finished he was in 5th position, 40 seconds behind the lead, and just one second behind 3rd place. Of course the favourites started last, but his time held up well, just 71 seconds behind the eventual winner.
Australia have finished 7th in the women’s relay at WOC, behind Finland, Sweden and Norway. As was the case last year, Jo Allison and Grace Elson produced solid runs on the first two legs, leaving the team in 8th after two legs, nine minutes behind. Hanny Allston ran well on the last leg, but not as spectacularly as she did last year; she overhauled Denmark on the later part of the final leg, but was unable to quite make up the ground to pass the Czechs and put the team on the podium. Finland, led by their dual long distance world champions Heli Jukkola and Minna Kauppi on the last two legs, pulled away to score by just over a minute, with the Swedes outsprinting the Norwegians for silver.
The men’s team put together three consistent legs. Troy de Haas was with the lead group early and competitive through, finishing about two minutes off the pace in 11th place. Julian Dent held that position, and sent Rob Walter, a late addition to the team due to Dave Shepherd’s illness, out with a chance of making the top 10. Walter had a solid run but was unable to hold off the Czechs and Estonians, in a result which was a significant improvement on last year. Russia repeated their 2006 triumph, again coming through on the last two legs thanks to Andrey Khramov and Valentin Novikov, with Sweden in second and Finland third. Less than two minutes covered the top five.
Women
1. Finland 106.35
2. Sweden 107.41
3. Norway 107.50
7. Australia 118.13
Men
1. Russia 130.26
2. Sweden 131.08
3. Finland 131.35
13. Australia 139.42
22. New Zealand 157.11
Hanny Allston finished 6th in the long distance event at the World Championships today. As a relatively early starter, she set the pace for much of the day, and only the very best were able to overhaul her, her last section being particularly good. It equals her best WOC long distance result, in Japan in 2005, and shows she is in good form as she looks to defend her sprint title from 2006.
Hanny Allston into 6th place. Photo: Erik Borg
There was an unprecedented tie for first. Minna Kauppi gave Finland the lead, but her teammate Heli Jukkola looked good for much of the course, especially after catching two minutes on favourite and defending champion Simone Niggli. Kauppi, though, had run an exceptionally good last section, and Jukkola was only able to equal her teammate’s time. Niggli took the bronze.
Anna Sheldon ran consistently and finished in 30th position, her best result yet at this level.
Matthias Merz took the gold for Switzerland with a commanding run. He led throughout the course, but it was in the last part of a long day where he really came into his own. He went into the final loop 1.20 ahead of the field, and stretched that lead by more than two minutes by the end on a day when endurance counted for a lot. Andrey Khramov took the silver, whilst Anders Nordberg was third. The top two from last year, Jani Lakanen (achilles) and Marc Lauenstein (ill), both failed to start, whilst seven others did not finish.
The course was better suited to fast runners than some of the earlier days, with some very long legs and numerous track options, but the courses were very long (18km for the men), and the extreme heat (33 degrees at 11.00) made it a severe physical test, with winning times well over expectations.
Hanny Allston runs into 13th place – photo:Erik Borg
The World Middle Distance Championships was held at Bortnychi, Ukraine, today with gold medals going to Simone Niggli (SUI) and Thierry Gueorgiou (FRA). A strong showing by the Australian Boomerangs: Hanny Allston finished 13th, Grace Elson 32nd and Julian Dent 24th.
The sandy forest, with lots of negative contour detail, made for a technically difficult race and a large spread between the runners. Furthermore, visibility was reduced due to areas of young trees and long grass made it a physically tough race. The long grass made for a big advantage for later runners, with tracks forming in the forest; but this meant little to Minna Kauppi (FIN) who set the early pace with a fast time of 34:17, and led for much of the day. She eventually finished 4th after Niggli claimed her 11th gold medal at World Championships level.
The technically difficult start claimed many scalps, including Jo Allison, who made some uncharacteristically large mistakes early on, and couldn’t recover, ending up 44th. Grace Elson started strongly, and while she faded slightly in the final, short, loop had a solid day to finish 32nd, 13 minutes off the lead. Australia’s leading orienteer, Hanny Allston, showed her strength in this terrain, and finished in 13th place, 7 minutes behind Niggli. Allston will now try to recuperate in time for tomorrows Long Distance final.
Julian Dent, 24th today. Photo: Erik Borg
The mens race followed a very similar pattern — another Finn, Tero Fohr, led for a long time, only to be beaten at the end of the day. Gueorgiou dominated the race, pulling out 40 seconds in the first 13 minutes, ultimately winning by 2 minutes. Australia had one qualifier in Julian Dent, who started slowly, but made ground during the course to finish well in 24th place.
Womens Results
1. Simone Niggli Switzerland 32:13
2. Heli Jukkola Finland 33:18
3. Marianne Andersen Norway 34:14
13. Hanny Allston Australia 39:19
32. Grace Elson Australia 45:42
36. Tania Robinson New Zealand 46:48
44. Jo Allison Australia 57:56
Mens Results
1. Thierry Gueorgiou France 32:21
2. Tero Fohr Finland 34:22
3. Valentin Novikov Russia 34:30
24. Julian Dent Australia 38:11
37. Ross Morrison New Zealand 42:35
The World Championship contenders take a well-earned rest today, with the qualification races all finished. The program for the remainder of the week is listed below:
Wed August 22
Middle Distance Final
Thurs August 23
Long Distance Final
Sat August 25
Relay
Sun August 26
Sprint Final
All races start at 9:30 am local time, or 4:30pm AEST and can be expected to finish at 8:00 pm AEST.
Tomorrows Middle Distance Final represents a great opportunity for Australia with all three women qualifying. Jo Allison (start time 10:07 local time or 5:07pm AEST) and Grace Elson (10:11, 5:11 AEST) both had solid qualifying runs, while reigning World Sprint Champion, Hanny Allston finished 2nd in her heat and starts at 10:51 (5:51pm AEST). In the men’s race, Julian Dent is in great form — he qualified 3rd in his heat and will start at 12:29 (7:29pm AEST).
Stay tuned to the Aussie Team Blog for more insights into the team. In the event of patchy internet coverage from Ukraine we will endeavour to post updates on the OA website.
Four Australians through to the WOC middle distance final
The qualification heats for the middle distance race in Kiev, Ukraine, were run today on the “Bortnychi” map. Australians competing were Troy de Haas, Rob Walter, Julian Dent, Jo Allison, Grace Elson, and Hanny Allston.
The forest used for the qualification race is a model event venue for the final, so competitors can expect more of the same when they line up for Wednesday’s final. Thick vegetation reduced visibility a lot and made accurate compass work difficult; combined with the relatively shallow detail (where there was any detail at all), it made for a very challenging race, with even Simone Niggli having to relocate from a previous control.
Troy de Haas was one of the first three starters, but his time of 34:16 suggested he would struggle to qualify. Although Valentin Novikov’s time of 28:54 was significantly slower than the predicted winning time, Troy eventually placed 17th in heat A, 1:31 behind 15th placed Kiril Nikolov (Bulgaria). Rob Walter placed 18th in heat B, 1:02 behind Andreas Krass (Estonia).
Jo Allison was the first of the Australian women to start, and her time of 32:13, compared to first finisher Emma Engstrand (Sweden), might initially have caused some nervousness, but as results were posted, it was obvious that the difficult terrain was taking its toll, and Jo qualified comfortably in 9th place. Grace Elson maintained her consistent form, and she also qualified in 9th place. Hanny Allston was the last of the Australian women to start, and obviously relished the tough conditions to place 2nd in heat B, behind Finland’s Heli Jukkola.
Julian Dent had an excellent run in heat C, and his third-place time of 27:32 was the fourth fastest time overall in the men’s heats, and gives the Australian team high hopes for at least two podium places on Wednesday.
Results
Men’s Heats
Heat A
Heat B
Heat C
Valentin Novikov (Russia)
28:54
Thierry Guergiou (France)
26:02
Daniel Hubmann (Switzerland)
26:44
Anders Nordberg (Norway)
28:59
Holger Hott (Norway)
27:47
Jonn Are Myhren (Netherlands)
27:23
Martins Sirmas (Latvia)
29:00
Pavlo Ushkvarok (Ukraine)
27:52
Julian Dent
27:32
(+3:03)
17 Troy de Haas
34:16
(-1:31)
18 Rob Walter
32:08
(-1:02)
Bracketed time is time ahead (+) or behind (-) the last qualifier.
Women’s Heats
Heat A
Heat B
Heat C
Tatyana Riabkina (Russia)
26:52
Heli Jukkola (Finland)
26:43
Helena Jansson (Sweden)
26:28
Simone Niggli (Switzerland)
27:09
Hanny Allston
28:53
(+8:33)
Paula Haapakoski (Finland)
27:51
Emma Engstrand (Sweden)
27:30
Annika Billstom (Sweden)
29:24
Marianne Andersen (Norway)
28:02
9 Jo Allison
32:13
(+3:42)
9 Grace Elson
32:09
(+2:42)
The first 15 in each heat qualify for the final to be held on Wednesday 22nd (16:30 AEST)
For more personal appraisals of the day be sure to check out the Australian Team Blog.
