Today saw the campaign start for the 2007 WMTBO championships.  The first event consisted of a sprint around the World Cup biathlon Venue of Hotel Ski near Nove Mesto Na Morave. Weather conditions were ideal with a temperature of 26 degrees.

The men’s sprint was contested by David Simpfendorfer, Tony Clark, Paul Darvodelsky and Alex Randall on a 6Km course.  Alex Randall placed 14^th overall 1.09min behind Torbjoern Gasbjerg from Denmark. Other Australian places were David S 45^th (just 3min behind the winner), Paul D 50^th and Tony C 72^nd.  All boys had pretty clean runs on the detailed 1:5000 map, except for Tony who lost 3min at control 1. All are looking forward to further good runs over the next couple of days.  New Zealand’s sole representative Michal Glowacki tied with David S for 45^thplace

The women’s sprint was contested by Thorlene Egerton who unfortunately rode past control 4 resulting in a DSQ.  Thor was well pleased with her navigation and her splits demonstrated this. Ksenia Chernykh of Russia won the Sprint with a time of 13.51, 36secs ahead of Micheala Gigon of Austria. Czech television showed the Sprint live and it can be seen here.  It makes great viewing.

Results

Splits – men, women

Paul Liggins overcame illness and a demanding training schedule to post an impressive 3 minute win over Bendigo’s Chris Naunton and Evan Barr.  Naunton led for the first 4 controls, before Liggins used his superior fitness to take the lead on the longer legs in the middle of the course.

Natasha Key produced her best race since giving birth to her third child last year, winning by 5 minutes from WOC team member Kathryn Ewels, taking out 13 of the 15 splits along the way.

It was a good day for Melbourne Forest Racers with Timmy Jackson and Rosie Dalheim the fastest male and female on course 8, Max Dalheim winning course 9, and Carolyn Jackson the fastest female on course 5.

All competitors are encouraged to record and analyse their route choices on Route Gadget.

Results

Splits

The 2007 World Mountain Bike Orienteering Championships commences today in Novo Mestre, Czech Republic. Australia has 5 men, and two women competing, with Victoria’s Alex Randall our best hope for a podium result. The teams has been posting lots of stories and pictures on their blog at http://www.ozmtboteam.socialfx.net/home/.

The Championships schedule is:
Monday: Sprint Distance
Tuesday: Middle Distance
Wednesday: Long Distance Qualification
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: Long Distance Final
Saturday: Relay and Banquet

The Official webpage can be found at http://www.mtbo.cz/woc2007/

The OA board and Orienteering community would like to wish them the best of luck for the Championships.

Queensland runners returned to the site of the 2005 Championships – Flagstone Creek – for the Badge Event last Sunday. The map has suffered from the spread of lantana in the drought and some seemingly indiscriminate logging but the winning males still averaged around 7 minute Kms on their courses.

In M21 Ollie Mitchell led for almost the entire course to eventually beat Dane Cavanagh by just over 2 minutes.  The first few controls were even with Ollie holding a slight advantage and Dane taking a brief lead at the 4th control.  However, he followed this with an error to the 5th handing the lead back to Ollie.  Despite a valiant effort to cut back the lead between controls 9 and 15 Dane faded over the last 2 controls and Ollie celebrated his first win in open company, completing the 11.1 Kms in 77.49.

In W21 Ainsley Cavanagh was never really challenged as she increased her lead over Bridget Anderson through every control.  Ainsley’s was a very convincing performance, particularly in the middle stages where she won almost all of the splits over some very competent, mature male orienteers running the same course.  She eventually completed the 7.3 Kms in 56 minutes, a clear 13 minutes ahead of Bridget.

Simon Mee began very well in M17-20 to lead Matt MacGuire up to the 5th control.  However, some small errors by Simon allowed Matt to take the lead and then Matt put together a good second half, enabling him to beat Simon by 1 minute, finishing the 8.4Kms in 59 minutes.  Gary Flynn came in third some 6 minutes behind Simon.
Oliver Crosato and Aaron Breed fought all the way in M16 with Aaron managing to hold on to a slim lead for all except the first control.  Aaron finally won by 30 seconds with both runners completing the 6.5 Kms in around 50 minutes.

In the older age groups the usual good performances came from Geoff Peck and Steve Doyle (both 62 minutes for 8.4 Kms).  Greg Chatfield and Felicity Crosato both ran well to cover 5.5 Kms in 47 and 48 minutes respectively and Clive Pope ran his usual even pace to complete the 4.7 Kms in 44 minutes.

With just 3 weeks to the Queensland Championships this event was a good hit out in preparation for the expected fast times on the new Leyburn map.

Australia-NZ Challenge – Manager Wanted

Applications are called for the position of Manager of the Australian team to compete against New Zealand in the 2007 Australia-New Zealand Challenge, to be contested in conjunction with the Oceania Long and Relay Championships in Canberra on 6-7 October.

Responsibilities of the manager will include the following:

• In conjunction with other OA officials, arranging team uniform ordering and distribution.
• Maintaining a list of contact details for team members, and confirming their availability.

(Much of the work for these two points has already been done)

• Being the principal point of contact during the event for matters relating to the team and the Challenge. (Under the Challenge rules the team managers are formally responsible for a number of matters, such as authorizing late replacements by the opposing team).
• Arranging team meetings and any other gatherings during the event.

Applications should be sent to the OA Executive Officer at orienteering@netpseed.com.au, or PO Box 284, Mitchell ACT 2911, no later than 15 August (apologies for the short timeframe but we obviously need to fill the position quickly. Any queries should be discussed with Blair Trewin at oa_finance@netspeed.com.au.

A trio of Australian expatriates competed in the 2007 Canadian Orienteering Championships held 27-29 July in Saskatchewan.  The three events were notable for 30°C plus temperatures, complex negative terrain, and plenty of big mistakes.

William Hawkins, Nicki Rehn, and Mark Gregson all competed in the senior elite classes, mixing it up with the top elites from Canada and some from the US.

Friday’s sprint race at the University of Saskatoon was relatively uneventful, with results generally according to form. Rehn finished 4th in the women’s and Gregson 8th in the men’s. Hawkins was still en route to Saskatoon because of a delayed flight and missed the race.

The middle distance championship was held on Saturday in a sweaty 32°C and was the competitors’ introduction to the technical terrain at Eb’s Trails. Hawkins achieved the best result of the Australians placing 3rd in 39:08, 1:31 behind Canadian national team member Patrick Goeres. Gregson was 4th another 5:27 back.  The difficulty of the course was clearly demonstrated in Goeres’ winning pace of 9:10/km.

The women’s field also had difficulty with the terrain. Rehn placed 5th behind winner Canadian stalwart Pam James who completed the 3.7km course in 47:12.

Sunday saw temperature rise to 33°C for the long distance race. Hawkins again produced a good placing despite a mistake riddled run and finished 4th. He was leading through the first half of the race but then lost concentration in the heat and dropped nearly 9 minutes on the eventual winner, Wil Smith of Canada.

Gregson joined more than half the men’s field when he withdrew at the spectator control at 3/4 distance after struggling with the heat.

Rehn, who grew up in outback WA, thrived in the heat but made two massive mistakes ending up in 7th.

• Routegadget

The 2007 World Orienteering Championships in Kiev, Ukraine are only 3 weeks away. Unlike JWOC, not every athlete can run every discipline, with only 3 from the same country allowed to run any one distance. Defending Sprint Distance Champion Hanny Allston gets a free spot, allowing 4 Aussie girls to race the Sprint Distance.

Allocation of disciplines are below:

Women:

Long   – Hanny Allston, Kathryn Ewels, Anna Sheldon
Middle – Hanny Allston, Jo Allison, Grace Elson
Sprint – Hanny Allston, Anna Sheldon, Grace Elson, Kathryn Ewels
Relay  – Hanny Allston, Grace Elson, Jo Allison (order not decided)

Men:

Long   – Dave Shepherd, Reuben Smith
Middle – Rob Walter, Troy de Haas, Julian Dent
Sprint – Rob Walter, Troy de Haas, Julian Dent
Relay  – Dave Shepherd, Troy de Haas, Julian Dent (order not decided)

WOC starts on 18^th August. Follow the athletes on the team blog. Best of luck to all our athletes.

2007 Australian Team for Australia-New Zealand Challenge

The Australian team to contest the 2007 AUS-NZL Challenge was named on Sunday 15 July, after the Australian Relay Championships.  The competition will be staged near Canberra over two days:

• Saturday 6 October. Oceania Long Distance Championships at Boboyan Divide, at the southern end of Namadgi National Park.
• Sunday 7 October. Oceania Relay Championships at Antills Creek about 25 kms south of Canberra off the Captains Flat Road.

Team Badges.  All members of the official team which competes in the Challenge (excluding reserves) will be supplied with two official team badges courtesy of Orienteering Australia.

Tracksuits.  With generic Australian tracksuits being no longer available, with the exception of the M/W20 (who will wear their JWOC clothing) and the Bushrangers team (which hopefully will be able to be outfitted from remaining WOC uniforms), there will be no official tracksuits for other team members, but they may acquire a suitably coloured tracksuit and attach an official team badge or attach an official team badge to a previously used tracksuit.

Competition Uniforms.  With generic Australian competition uniforms being no longer available, with the exception of the M/W20 (who will wear their JWOC clothing) and the Bushrangers team (which hopefully will be able to be outfitted from remaining WOC uniforms), arrangements are being made for other team members to buy an official top which will be similar to the official WOC/JWOC top (see page nine of the June edition of The Australian Orienteer).  The back will be the same as the WOC/JWOC top and the front will be similar, except that the official badge, which will replace the two logos, will be on the left breast. The supplier, who made the new tops worn by the Southern Arrows, has been asked to start the artwork and to anticipate an order for around 40 tops. A sizing chart is being sought and should be available within a few days. The cost, for short sleeve tops, will be $50. Unfortunately, because of the tight lead-time, it is not possible to include long sleeved options. The target date for delivery of tops to the OA Office, Canberra will be Tuesday 25 September.  With a lead-time of around eight weeks, a firm order would have to be placed by Friday 27 July, to ensure timely delivery. Competitors may attach an official badge to previously used generic orienteering tops. The competition pants will be suitably green coloured tights or orienteering pants, to be supplied by the competitors.

Team Management. A team manager will be appointed shortly.

The Team Members and Next Actions. With the exception of the members of the Schools Test Match team (bolded), who will make all of their arrangements through Valerie Barker, the manager of the Schools Team, the following team members (including reserves) should immediately contact the Executive Officer, Orienteering Australia by email at orienteering@netspeed.com.au or by phone at (02) 6162 1200 and:

• confirm their availability to participate in the 2007 AUS-NZL Challenge,
• advise their contact details, eg email address and phone number, and
• advise whether they wish to acquire an official orienteering top at $50 each. More details, eg sizing chart, method of ordering and payment, etc will be provided in a few days.

W16        Krystal Neumann, Nadia Velaitis, Melanie Neumann. R1 Tamara Orr, R2 Claire Butler

W18        Belinda Lawford, Bridget Anderson, Ineka Booth. R1 Aislinn Prendergast, R2 Brea Pearce

W20        Heather Harding, Rachel Effeney, Jess Davis.

W21        To be announced.

W35        Natasha Key, Thor Egerton, Wendy Read. R1 Louise Fairfax

W40        Nicola Dalheim, Clare Leung, Christine Marshall. R1 Karen Blatchford, R2 Su Yan Tay.

W45        Anthea Feaver, Louise Fairfax, Jenny Bourne. R1 Gayle Quantock-Simson, R2 Felicity Crosato.  (R3 Carol Harding, R4 Lisa Lampe)

W50        Sue Neve, Robin Uppill, Carolyn Jackson. R1 Debbie Davey, R2 Hilary Wood.

W55        Lynn Dabbs, Jacquie Rand, Meredyth Sauer. R1 Alison Radford.

W60        Debbie Gale, Jenny Hawkins, Ruth Goddard. R1 Jean Baldwin, R2 Val Brammall.

W65        Dale Ann Gordon, Ann Ingwersen, Janet Tarr. R1 Emily Quantock, R2 Helen Smith.

W70        Maureen Ogilvie, Jeffa Lyon, Sue Mount. R1 Sue Healy.

M16        Joshua Blatchford, Lachlan Dow, Oscar Phillips. R1 Kurt Neumann, R2 Oliver Crosato.

M18        Tristan Lee, Simon Mee, Leon Keely. R1 Anthony Brown, R2 Callum Fagg.

M20        Louis Elson, Morten Neve, Rob Fell. R1 Nick Andrewartha, R2 Rhys Challen.

M21        To be announced.

M35        Scott Simson, Graham Turner, Chris Helliwell. R1 Shane Trotter.

M40        Paul Liggins, Martin Wehner, Jim Russell. R1 Tim Hatley, R2 Tim McIntyre.

M45        Rob Vincent, Mark Nemeth, Mark Darvodelsky. R1 Bjorn Mella, R2 Andrew McComb.  (R3 Mike Dowling)

M50        Geoff Lawford, Chris Norwood, Roch Prendergast. R1 Ross Coyle, R2 Nick Wilmott.

M55        Hugh Moore, Nigel Davies, Greg Hawthorne. R1 David Marshall, R2 Derek Morris.

M60        Robert Allison, Tony Simpkins, Greg Chatfield. R1 Rob Tucker, R2 Trevor Sauer.

M65        Alex Tarr, Peter Prime, Tim Dent. R1 John Hodsdon, R2 Ted Mulherin.

M70        John Lyon, Clive Pope, Robin Simson. R1 Barry Hanlon, R2 George Reeves.

Simon Uppill showed he is definitely in contention at these championships with a strong start in the sprint by finishing in equal 10th place, just 40 seconds behind the Gold medalist, Czech runner, Vojtech Kral. Simon was very pleased with his result and it has been a confidence booster for the coming races. Simon looked great in the Skins and the Australian JuniorTeam are very happy and performing very well in the Skins gear.

The Australian Schools Team to compete against New Zealand in late September is:

Junior Girls

Katie Doyle             QLD

Lilian Burrill           QLD

Georgia Parsons        ACT

Melanie Neumann      QLD

R1.  Glennie Nottle    QLD

R2.  Naomi Mitchell   ACT
R3.  Rebekah Sunley   VIC

Junior Boys

Kurt Neumann            QLD

Samuel Webb             TAS

Todd Neve                 VIC

Dave Mallen               VIC

R1.  Thomas Carter     NSW

R2.  Aaron Breed         QLD

R3.  Kasimir Gregory   NSW

Senior Girls

Aislinn Prendergast       VIC

Krystal Neumann          QLD

Catherine Hewitt           TAS

Brea Pearce                   TAS

R1.  Claire Butler          TAS

R2.  Emily Prudhoe       NSW

R3.  Thea Richardson    NSW

Senior Boys

Leon Keely                   VIC

Simon Mee                   QLD

Lachlan Dow                 ACT

Joshua Blatchford           NSW

R1.  Oscar Phillips         TAS

R2.  Oliver Crosato        QLD

R3.  Callum Fagg          TAS

Manager: Valerie Barker ACT

Coach:     Ian Dalton     WA