2012 Archive

Orienteering NSW provided three outstanding events over the “Coalfield’s Classic” weekend at Newcastle that were appreciated by elite and age groupers alike. Initially there was a sprint in the complex Newcastle university campus, then a middle distance event with numerous short legs on the re-mapped Pelaw Main area, and finally the long at Astley’sTower.

Best NOL performer was Canberra Cockatoo Matt Crane who took out the trifecta in elite men.  SA’s Simon Uppill took out second places in both the sprint and middle, while Bendigo’s Bryan Keely impressed with a strong 3rd in the 18 kilometre long behind Crane and NZ’er James Bradshaw.

Cockatoo Ollie Poland won both the sprint and middle but Tassie’s Brodie Nankervis defeated Ollie narrowly in the 14km junior elite long course. NSW’s Alex Massey took third in the sprint while Oscar McNulty (WA) was very consistent in the bush events with 2nd in the middle and 3rd in the long.  Ashley Nankervis won a close battle for third in the middle.

Vanessa Round (SA) had a dominant run in winning the 11.6km women’s long in her last Australian race for the forseeable future, as she leaves to live in Switzerland next week.  Her 87 minute run was seven minutes better than 2nd place Aislinn Prendergast but then Lizzie Ingham, Grace Crane, Rachel Effeney and Jasmine Neve were all grouped together within ninety seconds.  Rachel Effeney (Qld) again emerged as the sprint champ with Grace Crane over a minute in arrears.  New Zealander Lizzie Ingham, had a narrow win over Vanessa Round in the middle.

Lillian Burrill won a close sprint by three seconds from fellow Queenslander Heather Muir in the junior women.  However Heather Muir and NSW’s Michele Dawson were one-two in both the middle and long with Lillian third in those.

Overall there were many excellent runs and pleasing depth in the open elite fields, while the juniors generally had exciting competitions and handled the ultra long courses really well.

Maps and courses are available on Route Gadjet at the NSWOA site.

Selectors will determine the World Championship team, which will compete in Switzerland in July, over the coming week.  They also will finalise the events to be run by the World University team.

Meanwhile Julian Dent and Ian Lawford are competing in the European Championshipsduring the next week.  In the middle qualifying Julian was 24th (out of 42) with his time of 28.20 compared to the winner’s 25.22 being a minute short of qualifying for the final.  JWOC team member Ian Lawford, running “up” in the elites was 35th in his heat in a time of 31.33.

The MTBO Australian team for the World Championships in Hungary in August is:

Elite Men: 

Steve Cusworth (VIC)

Oscar Phillips (TAS)

Alex Randall (Vic) – subject to fitness

Ricky Thackray (WA)

Elite Women:

Melanie Simpson (NSW)

Junior Men:

Chris Firman (QLD)
Marc Gluskie (TAS)
Tom Goddard (TAS)
Heath Jamieson (VIC)

Karl Withers (QLD)

Alex Randall is recovering from a broken collarbone incurred a week before the trials.

Oscar Phillips has “graduated” from the junior mtbo team last year to the WOC team.  Melanie Simpson (4th WOC) and Steve Cusworth (5th WOC) are both extremely fit and capable of breaking into the top 10 this year. Ricky Thackray, winner of the elite national series in 2011, will be making his World Championship debut.

Also new to the team are juniors Heath Jamieson and Karl Withers.  Chris and Marc will be competing at their 3rd JWOC, while it is the second for Tom Goddard.

Coach is WA’s Ian Dalton and co-managers are Peter and Carolyn Cusworth from Victoria.

Note: Any Aussies heading over to the World Masters MTBO Championships in Hungary at the same time may be able to take advantage of the travel and race insurance package taken out by our team.  For more details contact Kay Haarsma.

Selectors were:  Ian Dalton, Paul Darvodelsky,  Kay Haarsma, Carolyn Jackson.

Men’s Elite – 37.6 km

1 1:45:35 Steven Cusworth (VIC)
2 1:57:26 Ricky Thackray  (WA)
3 1.57.50 Jim Russell     (VIC)
4 1.58.44 Oscar Phillips  (TAS)

Men’s 20 Elite – 31.3 km

1  1:24:59 Chris Firman  (QLD)
2  1:30:51 Tom Goddard   (TAS)
3  1:32:18 Marc Gluskie  (TAS)
4  1.39.30 Heath Jamieson (VIC)
5  1.42.32 Angus Robinson (VIC)

Women’s 21 Elite – 31.3 km

1 1:43:48 Melanie Simpson (NSW)
2 1:58:06 Thorlene Egerton (QLD)
3 1:59:33 Carolyn Jackson  (VIC)
4 2:00:52 Caitlin Wade     (VIC)

Boy’s U14  Declan Dickson (VIC)

Men’s 40   Richard Eisner (VIC)

Men’s 50   Robert Prentice (NSW)

Men’s 60   Greg Bacon  (NSW

Men’s 70   Graham Fowler (NSW)

Men’s 80   Graeme Cadman (VIC)

Girl’s U16  Lucy Fleming  (VIC)

Women’s 40  Jeannie Douglass (ACT)

Women’s 50  Peta Whitford (VIC)

Women’s 60  Kathy Liley (VIC)

Women’s 70  Dale Ann Gordon (VIC)

Women’s 80  Joyce Rowlands (VIC)

Full Results, Splits and Routegadget

John Harding has additional photos of the Easter Three Days presentations at http://hardingjohn.smugmug.com/Sports/Orienteering/Easter-orienteering/, of the NOL sprint events at http://hardingjohn.smugmug.com/Sports/Orienteering/NOL-sprint-events-Brisbane/ and the Collins Creek NOL bush event at http://hardingjohn.smugmug.com/Sports/Orienteering/Collins-Creek-NOL-event-QLD/

Orienteering Australia is seeking to recruit a part-time High Performance Operations Manager who will coordinate and support the effective operations of the Orienteering Australia High Performance Program. The Manager will work with OA Director, High Performance Grant Bluett, High Performance Manager Kay Haarsma, the High Performance Management team, Australian University Sport and event managers for the national foot and mountain bike league series. Hours are variable but average 8 hours per week.

The contact person for more information is Grant Bluett at grant.bluett at gmail dot com and applications close on 4 May 2012. Applications should be sent to the OA Executive Officer (orienteering@netspeed.com.au) and should include relevant experience in orienteering, sport administration and organisation of team travel, management skills and other attributes you will bring to the position, plus contact details for 2 referees.

Tasks of the HP Operations Manager include:

1 Support people in HP positions by assisting in or completing duties to:
i. ensure appropriate arrangements (accommodation, training, support, equipment, uniforms etc) are made for Australian teams competing in international competitions.

ii. liaise with and set up annual training and competition opportunities with New Zealand and other countries as appropriate (in conjunction with, or separate to test matches).

iii. help coordinate training camps within Australia.

iv. update and distribute team / squad contracts and team feedback forms and compile a summary of the latter.

2 Administer the conduct of the National Foot O League and National MTB-O series: 
i. call for applications by member states to conduct events as a part of the National League.
ii. liaise with National League event organisers to ensure a balanced program of formats.

iii. provide feedback to organisers.
iv. maintain and update rules and regulations in consultation with the OA Board (where appropriate), athletes and team managers.

3 Liaise with State/Territories Academies/Institutes of Sport and/or other relevant Sports Science and Sports Medicine (SSSM) service providers (eg universities, private providers etc) to promote the sport of orienteering, engage with them to present orienteering as a professional sport, and identify development opportunities for the athletes (International training opportunities, performance analysis, recovery, nutrition etc). Ensure this engagement and opportunities are communicated back to the relevant stakeholders within the OA high performance system (eg athletes, coaches, Manager High Performance, Director High Performance).

4 Facilitate orienteering at the University level through:

i) Liaise with the Australian University Sports High Performance Manager regarding participation in World University Orienteering Championships, selection criteria and management.

ii) Publicise and co-ordinate the running of an Australian University Orienteering Championships concurrent with the Australian 3 Days Championships at Easter.

iii) Coordinate applications for national squad / team members to either a) enter a university elite athlete scheme or b) seek additional university entry points as an elite athlete.

Men

Aaron Breed (VIC)

Oliver Crosato (Q)

Bryan Keely (VIC)

Oliver Mitchell (Q)

Matt Parton (NSW)

Murray Scown (ACT)

Women

Bridget Anderson (QLD)

Ilka Barr (VIC)

Rachel Effeney (QLD)

Lauren Gillis (SA)

Laurina Neumann (QLD)

Aislinn Prendergast (VIC)

The Championships will be held in Alicante, Spain, from the 2-6 July

There were a large number of nominations making the final selection difficult.

Josh Blatchford (NSW) and Belinda Lawford (ACT) would have been selected but for recent injuries.

Photo: Lauren on way to winning 2012  SA trail running championships.

From selection panel: Jenny Casanova, Blair Trewin, Kay Haarsma.

Dave Shepherd and Rachel Effeney are the leaders of the SILVA National Orienteering League after winning the final race of the Queensland series, a long mass-start race start of Brisbane, today.

Both wins were by comfortable margins of about five minutes. Effeney was in doubt going into the weekend with a heel injury which kept her out of the final day of Easter, but followed up her Saturday win with another triumph today to give her maximum points for the fourth time this season. It was a much closer contest behind her, with the next four separated by only just over a minute. Aislinn Prendergast won a sprint finish against Anna Sheldon for second, while Susanne Casanova did likewise against Jasmine Neve for fourth.

Whilst Shepherd’s win was predictable there was unpredictability behind it, in the form of a career-best result on home ground for Oliver Mitchell, who came through the field on the third loop to take second place, ahead of Murray Scown and Lachlan Hallett. Another local to achieve a personal-best result was Oliver Crosato in sixth.

Oliver Poland continued his good season with a comfortable win over Brodie Nankervis and Todd Neve in the junior men’s, while Heather Muir took out W17-20E ahead of Jacqui Doyle and Michele Dawson.

Shepherd leads the National League by 39 points, although Simon Uppill and Matt Crane have races in hand and will have chances to improve their position in the second half of the season. Effeney took the lead for the first time to be five points ahead of Prendergast, but her four wins should place her in good stead once competitors have enough scores to be dropping their worst ones.

The Canberra Cockatoos continue to run away with the men’s team competition, but a good contest is developing for the women, with the Queensland Cyclones – aiming for their first title – four points ahead of defending champions Victorian Nuggets.

Queensland conducted two exciting and technical urban sprints today at Kelvin Grove and the University of Queensland.   These totalled 6 kilometres for the elite men and 5 for the women, with the seniors and juniors both doing the same courses.   The second race incorporated a chasing start based on the morning’s first course results thus putting pressure on runners to maintain or improve their positions.

Two of the recently selected JWOC team members, Oscar McNulty (WA) and Ian Lawford (ACT) chose to race amongst the seniors, for added competition.  Oscar, renowned for his past good sprinting results, again showed everyone a clean pair of heels to win overall.  Second place could have done with a photo-finish camera, with Dave Shepherd getting the judges verdict by a nose ahead of Bryan Keely.  Junior Ollie Poland was just another second further back.

Sprint superstar Rachel Effeney, sidelined by a foot injury on the last day of Easter, was back to her brilliant best winning both races with ease and having a two and a half minute win overall.  Second was taken by the wily Victorian veteran Natasha Key, who certainly has a good turn of speed.  Queenslanders Heather Muir and Lillian Burrill took the quinella in the junior women, recording times that would have put them midfield in the seniors.

M17-20E                                                              Stage 1                 Stage 2                 Time

1              Oliver Poland                     A            1              15.16     2              19.10     34.26

2              Brodie Nankervis             T             3              17.50     1              18.50     36.40

3              Ashley Nankervis             T             6              18.15     3              20.09     38.24

4              Todd Neve                          V            5              17.58     5              20.38     38.36

5              Kasimir GREGORY            N            4              17.51     6              20.48     38.39

6              Chris Firman                       Q            7              18.45     7              21.10     39.55

M21E                                                                     Stage 1                 Stage 2                 Time

1              Oscar McNulty                 W            1              15.27     2              18.25     33.52

2              David Shepherd                A             3              16.06     1              18.18     34.24

3              Bryan Keely                       V             2              15.57     3              18.28     34.25

4              Bruce Arthur                     V             4              16.19     5              19.20     35.39

5              Oliver Mitchell                  Q             7              16.41     7              19.27     36.08

6              Murray Scown                  A             9              17.35     4              19.08     36.43

7              Ian Lawford                       A             6              16.36     9              20.26     37.02

W17-20E                                                              Stage 1                 Stage 2                 Time

1              Heather Muir                     Q            1              17.13     1              19.52     37.05

2              Lilian Burrill                         Q            3              20.07     2              20.29     40.36

3              Michele Dawson              N            2              20.00     4              22.03     42.03

4              Jacqui Doyle                       A            4              20.25     3              21.53     42.18

5              Amy Buckerfield               T             6              20.29     5              23.11     43.40

6              Nicola Blatchford              N            5              20.27     7              23.45     44.12

W21E                                                                     Stage 1                 Stage 2                 Time

1              Rachel Effeney                  Q            1              14.48     1              17.00     31.48

2              Natasha Key                       V            2              15.56     3              18.16     34.12

3              Bridget Anderson            Q            4              16.27     2              18.08     34.35

4              Jasmine Neve                    V            3              16.21     7              19.06     35.27

5              Laurina Neumann            Q            6              17.07     6              19.00     36.07

6              Vanessa Round                 S             7              17.43     5              18.40     36.23

Progress points in SILVA NOL competition after stage 7:

Senior men: S Uppill (SA) 186, D Shepherd 174, M Crane  149;

Junior men: I Lawford (CC) 174, O McNulty 166, B Nankervis 163.

Senior women: G Crane (TF) 173, V Round 161, A Prendergast 146;

Junior men: L Burrill (QC) 188, M Dawson 174, H Muir 173.

Progress state team competition points after stage 7:

MEN: Senior: Canberra Cockatoos 61, Victorian Nuggets 47, NSW Stingers 38,

Junior: Canberra Cockatoos 48, Tasmanian Foresters 44, Victorian Nuggets 43.

WOMEN: Senior: Queensland Cyclones, Victorian Nuggets 49, Southern Arrows 44; Junior: Queensland Cyclones 61, Tasmanian Foresters 49, NSW Stingers 32.

Full results available in OA results area.

Ugly Gully Orienteering Club from Queensland had a narrow win over Tasmania’s Australopers and the Melbourne Forest Racers to be Australian champion club for 2012 at the Easter Carnival. Club President Anna Sheldon said the club’s victory was especially satisfying as many club members had worked hard in helping to organise the Easter carnival.

The top 10 clubs were:

1 Ugly Gully QLD 51 pts, 2 Australopers TAS 49, 3 Melbourne Forest Racers VIC 32, 4 Garingal Orienteers NSW 28, 5 Bayside Kangaross VIC 28, 6 Yarra Valley VIC 24, 7 Wellington Ranges TAS 23, 8 Bushflyers ACT 21, 9 Parawanga Orienteering Club ACT 21, 10 Red Roos ACT 18.

Newly elected Orienteering Australia President Blair Trewin undertook his first public duty at the Annual Dinner last Sunday at Dalveen north of Stanthorpe when he presented the OA major annual awards.
Silva Athlete of the Year was Grace Crane from Tasmania for her outstanding performances at the 2011 World Orienteering Championships when she finished 24^th in the sprint final and 27^thin the middle distance final and was 7^th fastest in her relay leg.

The Silva Award for Services to Orienteering went to Grace’s father Bert Elson, President of the Australopers Club, who has had a long history of outstanding contributions to orienteering in Australia at the national, state and club levels.

The David Hogg Award for Event Management went to Tasmania’s John and Valerie Brammall who have organised hundreds of events over the years since they began orienteering in 1986 with the Esk Valley Club. John and Valerie’s first major event was the Veteran World Cup in 1989 when John took on the job of Event Director. He is an IOF Event Advisor and he and Valerie have had important roles as Event Organisers, Controllers and Planners at many national carnivals and events since 1989.

Grant McDonald, outstanding coach of the ACT Blue Lightning Squad for many years and in recent years the Canberra Cockatoos, was awarded the Silva Award for Services to Coaching.

For the second year in succession M55 star Geoff Lawford of Victoria was the Silva Orienteer of the Year, derived from age-sex adjusted points in the national orienteering carnivals during 2011.