2012 Archive

The Christmas 5 Days championships concluded today with the last event held on the rugged granite terrain of Beechworth Gorge.
It was a chasing start format for the elites.  The day was made even more challenging with an extremely steep uphill finish; quite warm temperature and courses that were 20% longer than expected.

Grace Crane was the outstanding runner of the carnival and she retained her 20 minute lead today, despite having a sore back from yesterday’s event.  She recorded a winning time of 84 minutes. Kathryn Preston got within one minute of Grace today with a strong run while Felicity Brown showed great form in being only 4 minutes behind for 3rd today.  Overall it was Grace, Kathryn, then Aislinn Prendergast, Felicity, Jasmine and Mace Neve, Susanne Casanova and junior Heather Muir rounded out a strong top eight.

Julian had a somewhat narrower 4 minute lead going into the chasing start but blew his competitors away with an outstanding time of 65 minutes, with Matthew Crane being next best with 72, then David Andersson on 73.   Julian thus won by a 12 minute margin, from David, then Matthew who jumped ahead of Simon Uppill.  Rob Preston was 5th followed by the dynamic junior duo of Ian Lawford and Olle Poland.

The other classes were decided on a points system with the best 4 of 5 results counting.   Placegetters, Australians unless stated otherwise, were:
Men’s B – Tim Hatley, Steve Doyle, Matthew Goodall (NZ)
Men’s C – Ulu Aeschlimann (Swiss)  Paul Pacque, Ted van Geldermalsen.
Men’s D – Eoin Rothery, Steve Flisk, Alex Tarr
Men’s E – Torsten Smedslund (Finland), Robert Allison, Andrew Campbell
Men’s F – Kylian Wymer, Alan Kuffer, Duncan Currie
Men’s G – Ewan Shingler, Jared McKenna, Mason Arthur
Women’s B – Jenny Bourne, Isabelle Wymer, Nicola Dalheim.
Women’s C – Paula Savolainen, Jo Allison, Carolyn Jackson
Women’s D – Ulla Enderby (Sweden), Lisa Annersand (Sweden), Ann Scown
Women’s E – Kelly Candy, Danielle Goodall (NZ)  Caroline Taurany
Women’s F – Joanne Hill, Alyssia Wymer, Sarah Davies
Novice – Ellen Currie, Torren Arthur, Nea Shingler

The 2nd MTBO event was held at Stanley, co-ordinated by Leigh Privett and other members of the Albury-Wodonga club.   This was a 60 minute score event witha twist, in that older riders received bonus points before they started.   However Robbie Preston still managed a win from Geoff Robinson, while the speedy Carolyn Matthews was the victor in the women’s field.

The Christmas 5 Days had a variety of excellent maps; many international competitors; really good weather and the beautiful town of Beechworth as the centre, thus ensuring that all had a good time.   Many thanks to the huge number of Victorian orienteers who made this carnival possible.

Results

Day 1
Results
Splits

Day 2
Results (Men A cancelled)
Splits

Day 3
Results
Splits

Results can also be found in Eventor from the Event Calendar, or if you have entered the event, from; My Pages > My Events

Day 2 of the foot o Christmas 5 Days was held in the somewhat rugged terrain of Barambogie, near Chiltern.    Competition was much closer at the top in the women’s elite with Grace Crane again victorious but only by 35 seconds over Swedish star Lena Eliasson.   Grace estimates that she lost several minutes in several mistakes, but it’s hard to be perfect in the detailed granite areas of the map.   Kathryn Preston was a further 6 minutes back in 3rd with Jasmine Neve one second behind her.

Aussie stars Julian Dent and Simon Uppill were atop the men’s leader board before the course was cancelled due to a misplaced control 8.    At least 6 eatly starters went through

before the control was relocated correctly, thereby giving later starters a proper course.

The other 400+ competitors enjoyed their outing in the challenging terrain.  ACT’s Toni Brown experienced success on course 2 with a narrow win over Jenny Bourne and Barbara Hill.   Michael Burton won the men’s course 2 ahead of Steven Doyle and Tim Hatley.     Course 3 winners were Ulu Aeschliman (Swiss) and Carolyn Jackson, with runner’s up being Svein Nygard and Paula Savolaine.

A large number also turned out at the MTBO event at Indigo winery near Beechworth in the late afternoon.   The format had a 75 minute score event with a twist.   With a mass start riders had to collect 15 controls in any order and then return to the start before commencing a 6 leg point to point event.   The central nature of the start saw riders disappearing to all points of the compass, but Alex randall and Chris Firman ended up together, causing a super fast pace.   Given the small nature of the area it was no suprise to see them return in a speedy 37 minutes, with Alex prevailing by a mere 19 seconds over Chris, who is in his last days as a junior comnpetitor!    Fellow WOC team-mate Ricky Thackray took 3rd ahead of Robbie Preston and Ben Rattray.

The women’s class saw Kathryn Preston as a suprise entrantbut her victory was no suprise.  Carolyn Jackson and Carolyn Matthews rode extremely well to finish close behind.

Day 1 of the Christmas 5 Days was held on the spur- gully terrain of “Magenta” which adjoins the Chiltern township.   The competition this year attracted large fields, partly because of the high class maps on offer, but also as an important warm-up for World Cup and  Oceania events which start in New Zealand in early January.

The elite women were led in by Grace Crane who had a big 3 minute victory over Helen Palmer (Britain / Norway) with Jasmine Neve, Kathryn Preston and Aislinn Prendergast all finishing in the next 90 seconds.  There were over 30 entries and 7 internationals in this field.

Matthew Crane also won albeit with a much closer margin, with Julian Dent making a welcome return home to be just 11 seconds behind.   Simon Uppill took out third, a further 2 minutes back, and Swede David Andersson was close behind in 4th.   David Shepherd was next, then Rob Preston and Ian Lawford was just ahead of fellow junior Olle Poland.

Tomorrow’s event moves into rock terrain at Barambogie, followed by Kangaroo Crossing, Rowdy Flat (Yackandandah) and finishes on the Beechworth map.   The first MTBO occurs tomorrow afternoon at Indigo winery, with the second event at Stanley on Tuesday.  With temperatures predicted to be in the low to mid thirties it will be hot both running and riding.

The next 4 weeks or so are going to be hectic. Firstly there is the Christmas 5 Days based at Beechworth in some of Australia’s best terrain. Then many Aussies are off to New Zealand for the Oceania Championships and associated events. Twenty two elites are racing in the World Cup events; a Schools team is taking on their Kiwi counterparts; a large age group Aussie team is squaring off against the New Zealanders in the Challenge; and many others are racing in the Oceania events also. Then some are staying for Sprint the Bay, while other juniors will go to Canberra later in January for a training camp.

But wait, there is more …. Start planning ahead for a super 2 weeks in the Bendigo- Ballarat area over Easter and the following week. Easter is based mostly at Bendigo, with some exciting new areas. Then there is the following array of activities …… so get out that new 2013 and pencil in some dates now.
O Coaching Workshop – Tuesday April 2nd
It is proposed to hold a whole day coaching workshop on orienteering on the Tuesday after Easter based somewhere near Bendigo.

The workshop will largely be aimed at how to coach individual athletes.

The application is especially important for those coaching or aiming to coach elite athletes but will be valuable to coaches working at any level, or for those looking to start.

Topics covered will include how to design appropriate training programs; psychological aspects of orienteering; “on the couch” exercises; how to set specific training exercises; ….
OA is looking to adopt a different development pathway for our sport and individual coaches will be an important part of this. It is really important that athletes have someone that mentors them on a one to one basis. This doesn’t mean that you have to be an O coach, athletics coach, sports psychologist and career counsellor all rolled into one – but you do need to chase up such support if needed.
This workshop will be led by Hanny Allston and will have different presenters.

Expressions of interest to kayhaarsma@hotmail.com

JUNIOR CAMP -Wed 3rd – Sat 6th April.

A post Easter junior camp will be held from Wed morning April 3rd to the afternoon of Sat April 6th based in Creswick. To enrol or seek more information contact: Roch Prendergast – prenderg@tpg.com.au

ULTRA-LONG – Saturday 6 April (Saturday after Easter)

Format: Multi-loop

Organiser: Eureka Orienteering Club

Terrain: Creswick area, detailed mining and gully/spur, fast running

Winning times: M21E 2.5hrs, W21E 2hrs, M20E 2hrs, W20E 1hr45, all other classes have longer than normal winning times (but are not ultralong length)

Major Prize: return flight to Europe in 2013 + entry to European event of choice (e.g. Oringen), total value $2500

Winner of major prize will be decided by a handicapped adjustment of elite class km rates, based on Scandinavian ultralong km rates

Contact details: Jenny Bourne, Geoff Lawford – gjlawford2@bigpond.com

Selection Procedures for Australian Team for 2013 Junior World Orienteering Championships

Orienteering Australia will send a team to contest the 2013 Junior World Orienteering Championships in the Czech Republic from 29^th June to 6^th July.

It is expected that a team of at least 4 men and 4 women will be selected. Additional team members (up to a maximum of 6 men and 6 women) may be selected depending on performance in the selection trials.

Nominations                                                                                                                          

Nominations are to be made to the Chair of the Junior Selection Panel, Jan Hardy, either in writing (326 Murray St, Hobart, Tas 7000) or by e-mail (janhardy@iprimus.com.au). A note advising of your availability for selection is sufficient. Nominations should be received no later than Sunday, 3^rd March. Verbal nominations will not be accepted. Late nominations may be accepted at the discretion of the selectors.

With your nomination please advise a contact (preferably phone) for the days after Easter – this will make it easier for us to get the good news to you if the occasion requires.

Selection Criteria                                                                                                                                 

The primary selection trials are the four races of the Easter weekend, to be held in Victoria from 29^th March to 1^st April 2013.

Secondary selection trials will be the 2013 March National League races on March 9th and 10th in South Australia.

All candidates for selection are expected to compete in these events unless they have grounds for special consideration (see below).

In such cases of special consideration, or where selection is exceptionally tight between 2 or more nominees, selectors may refer to the results of other recent major events, including the 2013 Oceania Championships, 2012 JWOC and 2012 Australian Championships.

As part of new procedures for the National Junior Squad, members of the squad are expected to enter into an athlete agreement. Those who have declined to enter into such an agreement, or who have failed to follow it to the satisfaction of the selectors, may be excluded from consideration for selection irrespective of their performance in the selection events. This provision does not apply to those who have not yet been asked to enter into an athlete agreement, e.g. those who have not yet been selected in the National Junior Squad.

Classes                                                                                                                                        

Candidates for selection will normally be expected to compete in M/W17-20E at Easter. Any candidates for selection who want to run M/W21E should seek the approval of the Chair as soon as practicable – this approval will normally be given only to those who are realistic candidates for

selection in senior representative teams or squads. Any such competitors will be considered based on kilometre rates at Easter, and past Junior World Championships performances. 17-20E and 21E will run the same course at the March National League races.

Candidates for selection who are competing or training overseas at the time of the selection events may apply for pre-selection. The Selection Panel has the authority to pre-select one or more individuals at any time if, in the Panel’s opinion, they have clearly demonstrated that they have a realistic prospect of placing in the top 16 of the individual races in the Junior World Championships. Such a decision will be based primarily on previous international championship performances and the candidate’s proposed programme of training and competition overseas. There is no longer any other provision for overseas selection.

Anyone who wishes to seek pre-selection under this clause is advised to contact the Chair as soon as possible.

Other applications for special consideration                                                                                   

Any competitor who is unable to compete, or whose performance is adversely affected, in one or more selection trials due to injury, or illness, may be considered for selection in the team, providing that they have significantly outperformed one or more members of the team that would have been selected in their absence in recent major events.

Anyone seeking special consideration under this clause should contact the Chair as soon as possible once they become aware of the situation which leads them to seek it. The Chair may require a medical certificate to be produced.

Timing of selection 

The team will be announced in the week following Easter and all nominees will be advised by email.

Other information                                                                                                                              

The full rules for the selection of JWOC teams can be found in the Operational Manual on the OA website, in sections 5.1 (Australian Teams) and 5.3 (Junior World Championships Teams). This includes information on the procedure for appeals.

Selection in the team will be conditional on acceptance of an athlete agreement, including relevant codes of conduct.

The selection panel consists of Jan Hardy (Chair), Roch Prendergast (National Junior Coach), Bridget Anderson and Susanne Casanova.

Contacts for further information                                                                                                       

Jan Hardy can be contacted by e-mail at janhardy@iprimus.com.au, and by phone on (03) 62342991

Jan Hardy               Chair, Junior Selection Panel                                15 December 2012

PRE NOL TRAINING in South Australia March 7-8th.

There will be training offered in or near Adelaide on the two days immediately prior to the NOL races in Adelaide.   This will be March 7 & 8th.  This is available to both junior and elite orienteers and both sprint and bush orienteering will be offered.  This is publicised now to allow for appropriate flight bookings to be made.  Also note that that March weekend is very busy in Adelaide so accommodation bookings should be made earlier rather than later.

Congratulations to Nick Dent, (NSW), who has been appointed the High Performance Operations Manager, working 8 hours a week for Orienteering Australia.    He replaces Gareth Candy, who stepped down after accepting a new full time job, but who is still willing to contribute in a voluntary capacity.

Nick has a wide breadth of experience in orienteering, having competed since 1984, and raced in 15 different countries.      He is a Level 3 coach and was JWOC team coach in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2009.  Nick is also accredited at Level 3 as a controller.  He recently controlled the 2012 WOC trials in Newcastle and also was event director for the World Masters Orienteering Championships in 2009.     Nick’s main role will be in administering the National Foot O League and National MTB-O Series.

His secondary role will be to support team coaches, managers and athletes by ensuring appropriate arrangements (support, equipment, uniforms etc) are made for Australian teams competing in international competitions.

The Australian elite team to compete in the three New Zealand World Cups in January has undergone significant changes with the withdrawals of Laurina Neuman, Bryan Keely, Max Neve and Dave Shepherd due to injuries and other reasons.   This has opened up opportunities for others to step up and race at the international level.  The adjusted team and their events are:

A total of 34 people attended some or all of the OA Annual Conference at the Australian Institute of Sport on the weekend of 1 & 2 December. Mats Troeng from the Swedish Orienteering Federation was a special guest; he has been working closely with OA Board member Craig Feuerherdt in implementing the Swedish Eventor management system for events, memberships, calendar and results. The Eventor events system is already up and running for online entry for the Christmas 5 Days and Easter 2013 carnivals, and the programming to set up online memberships should be complete in a week or two.

Some of the major decisions of the Conference were the following.

High Performance
Following excellent presentations by Gareth Candy and Hanny Allston on gaps in the development pathway for orienteers in Australia, from beginning at club level through to WOC medal contention, and strategies to address these gaps, it was agreed to set up a High Performance Working Group to produce a new Development Pathway Plan to 2020 with vision statement, strategies and performance indicators. This will be done over the next 2 to 3 months. This follows on from last Friday’s Government announcement of a new strategic plan for high performance sport in Australia; the existence of a strong Development Pathway Plan will be crucial for us to be considered for continued high performance funding.

Eventor
The Conference formally agreed to adopt Eventor as the national management system for events, memberships and calendar, and strongly encouraged all states to maximise their use of it. The Conference further agreed on an ongoing funding stream to cover the annual costs of Eventor based on a combination of state registration fees and a levy per event day on all events in the Easter and Australian Championship carnivals.

Sprint relays
The IOF is introducing a 4-person sprint relay (F-M-M-F) into WOC from 2014 (http:// orienteering.org/sprint-relay-in-the-world-orienteering-championships-2014/). Conference agreed to encourage state associations to trial sprint relays from 2013, but perhaps experiment with formats such as 2 person teams running a F-M format over 4 legs to create more intense head to head competition. ONSW will use the recommended IOF format for a NOL event on the weekend after Easter 2014.

Australian Schools Sprint Championship
The Conference supported a recommendation by Australian Orienteering Schools Coordinator Ian  alton that a trial Australian Schools Sprint Championship be investigated for the 2014 Australian Championships Carnival. The organisers, OAWA, will now consider this option in their planning.

International developments
Orienteering Tasmania is formally bidding to the IOF to conduct World Cup events as part of the Oceania Championships in Tasmania in the first week of January in 2015. NZOF is formally bidding to the IOF to conduct the World Masters Orienteering Championships in New Zealand in 2017 as part of the World Masters Games in New Zealand in that year.

Kim Nankervis (Tasmania) will be the official team manager for the Australia v New Zealand challenge team in NZ in January 2013.  Her role will be in co-ordinating relay teams and general trouble shooting.  With 4 events being part of the challenge there may be injuries, and Kim is the one that will need to know.  Look for her at the Australian “embassy”- where the Aussi flags are flying.

Team O tops will be distributed at the Christmas 5 Days (for those there) by Kay Haarsma or Kim, and the remainder will go with Kim to NZ.

With the World Cup team involving 22 elites it was thought necessary to appoint a third official to assist WOC coaches Tom Quayle and Wendy Read.  This position was advertised and had a number of suitable applicants, with Ben Rattray being appointed.  Ben is an ACT resident but runs for his “state of origin,” South Australia

The Schools Test team sees Valerie Barker (ACT) and Ian Dalton (WA) as the official “team” in charge.

JUNIOR TRAINING CAMPS

Given that many juniors will be busy orienteering in New Zealand over January the national training camp format is slightly different this year.

The January camp, which will be in Canberra, will start from Friday 25^th Jan until the evening of Monday 28^th January, utilising the long weekend.   This camp is open to ALL JUNIORS from 14 -20 yearswho have shown they can orienteer on moderate to hard courses.  (No beginners.)   Applications are welcome from individual athletes and state associations are also urged to prompt suitable juniors.

Participants would have to arrive on the Friday morning before 1pm and depart in the evening of Monday 28^th.  Local orienteers might be able to accommodate those from far away for longer.

There will be a post Easter camp from Wed April 3rd to Sat April 6^th in Victoria following the Easter 3 Day held in Bendigo.   Arrive in Creswick Wed. am and depart Sat. pm.  Again this camp is open to all juniors from 14-20years of a competent standard.   If interstate participants require a bed with locals on the Monday & Tuesday nights, that should be able to be arranged.  Note that this week is school holidays only for Queensland.   Nominations for this camp will be called at a later date.

Interested athletes in the January Camp should email the camp manager, Valerie Barker (vnwb@internode.on.net) to reserve their spot.   The camp will be led by Valerie and Roch Prendergast (JWOC coach), who are both trained teachers and accredited coaches.   There will be some cost to the camp, but it will also be subsidised by Orienteering Australia.

 Coaches and elite athletes who would like to assist at either camp should contact Roch (prenderg@tpg.com.au) asap.  Accommodation costs will be able to be paid for those who assist.

It is really worth-while having coaches from different states contribute to national camps and they also learn from each other.   It may be possible to subsidise a flight for a coach from an outer state.  If you would like OA to consider this please copy the HP Manager Kay Haarsma, (kayhaarsma@hotmail.com) into your email to Roch.

2013 NATIONAL JUNIOR SQUAD

 Boys

Matt Doyle – VIC                    Ian Lawford – VIC/ACT

Shaun McDonough – TAS     Oscar McNulty – WA

Ashley Nankervis – TAS        Brodie Nankervis – TAS

Todd Neve- VIC                    Olle Poland- ACT

Girls

Nicola Blatchford – NSW       Michele Dawson – NSW

Jacqui Doyle – Q                   Anna Dowling – TAS

Mary Fleming – VIC              Shea-Cara Hammond – ACT

Nicola Marshall – TAS           Heather Muir – Q

Lanita Steer- VIC

2013  NATIONAL JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT SQUAD

 Boys

Jarrah Day- TAS                   Daniel Hill- NSW

Patrick Jaffe- VIC                  Henry McNulty – WA

Stephen Melhuish- ACT        Oisin Stronach- TAS

Girls

Heather Burridge- Q       Zoe Dowling – TAS

Lucy Fleming – VIC         Hannah Goddard – TAS

Winnie Oakhill – Q           Asha Steer-VIC