Australian team for Junior World Orienteering Championships announced

The Australian team to contest the Junior World Orienteering Championships has been announced. The team is:

Men: Kasimir Gregory (NSW), Ian Lawford (ACT), Oscar McNulty (WA), Alex Massey (NSW), Brodie Nankervis (Tas), Oliver Poland (ACT). Reserve: Aaron Breed (Vic).

Women: Amy Buckerfield (Tas), Lilian Burrill (Qld), Michele Dawson (NSW), Heather Muir (Qld).

The Championships will take place in Slovakia in the second week of July.

Congratulations to all of those selected.

Australian 3 Days Wraps Up

Another fine warm day greeted competitors for Day 3 of the Australian 3 Days Championships in Queensland. It was make or break day for some competitors eyeing the prize of Australian 3 Day Champion, while for many others improving on results from previous days was the goal.

A number of competitors had an exceptional weekend, winning all three days. A big congratulations to Ross Brighouse (M65A), Neil Schafer (M85A), Gyula Karolyi (M35-44AS), Rob Lewis (M45-54AS), Winnie Oakhill (W14A), Marina Iskhakova (W21A), Anna Hyslop (W35A), Jenny Bourne (W50A), Carol Brownlie (W60A) and Toy Martin (W65A).

On the other hand, there were a number of classes which were very tight at the pointy end of the field. Jock Davis (NSW) overtook Eddie Wymer (Vic) for a 2½ minute win in M45A. Anita Scherrer (ACT) gained a minute on Nicola Dalheim (Vic) in W45A, but fell 26 seconds short of the overall win. It was also close in W45-54AS, where Philippa Lohmeyer-Collins (Vic) took a 28 second win over Vicki Wilmott (NSW).

There were no changes in the overall lead in the elite classes today. In the men’s elite class, David Shepherd (ACT) took the win today, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Simon Uppill (SA) for the overall win. Bryan Keely (Vic) took the overall third place, and a great run by Murray Scown (ACT) moved him up to fourth overall. Oliver Poland (ACT) had a third straight win in the junior elites, handing him a well deserved overall win. Ian Lawford and Oscar McNulty rounded out the top 3 overall.

The women’s elite class was won by Grace Crane (Tas) with Susanne Casanova (SA) about 5 minutes behind in the overall placings. Tracy Marsh (NSW) had her best run of the weekend with a second place today, but it wasn’t enough to overtake Vanessa Round (SA) for the overall third place. Michele Dawson (NSW) had her first win of the weekend in the junior elites, but Lilian Burrill (Qld) had set up enough of a lead over the rest of the field to take the overall win. Amy Buckerfield (Tas) and Heather Muir (Qld) came second and third respectively. The sledge competition was won by Justin Woolford of Tasmania.

The Australian 3 Days also incorporates a number of other competitions on various days. The Family Relays on Friday were won by the team of Matthew Crane, Grace Crane and Jan Hardy, with second place going to the Uppill/Anderson team and third to the Wymer team. In the Australian University Championships held on Sunday, Bryan Keely of Latrobe University and Rachel Effeney of the University of Queensland took the individual honours, with the University of Queensland team the overall champions. The Champion Club Trophy went to Ugly Gully of Queensland.

Congratulations to all competitors in the Australian 3 Days! The Easter 2012 Carnival continues with midweek events at Cascades and Harding’s Paddock, before moving to Brisbane for sprint and long events next weekend.

Simon Uppill, Ollie Poland, Grace Crane and Lillian Burrill lead into Day 3.

Day 2 of Easter, with the long course being run, is often the decisive day and it appears to be that way for some classes.  Stand out performer was Simon Uppill (SA) who will take a good lead into Day 3 in men’s elite.  He was pushed all the way today by Bendigo’s Bryan Keely.  While Simon took the lead mid-race Bryan was closing the gap towards the end but Simon took a 1 minute victory with Dave Shepherd (ACT) a further 4 minutes back.  Another Bendigo runner, Evan Barr ran impressively for fourth.  Matt Crane (ACT) was forced to pull out half way around with injury. Simon has a 6 minute lead overall from Bryan Keely with Dave Shepherd lurking just 26 seconds further back.

Queenslander Rachel Effeney (85 mins) ran brilliantly today, leading from leg 4 onwards to finish 4 minutes up on Grace Crane (ACT), with Susanne Casanova (SA) again showing great form to be in third. Vanessa Round (SA), after being in second place mid course lost a massive 10 minutes on one leg to finish 10thwith 99 minutes.  Grace has a 4 minute buffer overall on Susanne with Vanessa retaining 3rd place a further 2 minutes back.

Ollie Poland (ACT) again stamped his class on M20E with a 5 minute win over Max Neumann (Qld) and Kasimir Gregory (NSW) back another 2 minutes.  Both Max and Oscar had 4 not so good legs which cost them time. Overall though Ollie has a 15 minute lead over WA’s Oscar McNulty with Ian Lawford (ACT) within a minute of him.

W20E saw a close race at the pointy end today. Heather Muir (Qld) produced her best run of the carnival to take a narrow 35 second win over another local Lillian Burrill with Amy Buckerfield (Tas) just another 3 minutes back.  Overall Lillian takes a huge 12 minute lead into the final day from Jacqui Doyle (Qld) and Amy another minute further back.

Full results are available on the QOA website and the AO results section.

Wins to Round and Crane on Day 1 in Queensland.

Today saw over 600 runners competing in Day 1 of the Australian 3 Day Championships in a granite area extending over both sides of the Queensland-NSW border. With long grass covering much of the area between the rocks, competitors found it both physically and technically tough. Those who paid careful attention to the map and didn’t let themselves get pushed around by the terrain performed well today.

The lead changed a few times early in the men’s elite race, before a mistake from Simon Uppill (SA) gave Matthew Crane (ACT) the lead at control 7 which he held to the end finishing 78 seconds ahead. Simon finished in second, followed by David Shepherd (ACT). The junior elite race was led from start to finish by Oliver Poland (ACT) who finished almost 2 minutes ahead of Brodie Nankervis (Tas) and Ian Lawford (ACT).

Similarly Vanessa Round (SA) held the lead in the women’s elite race from the beginning, showing her strength in the physical terrain to win by almost 2 minutes. Bridget Anderson (Qld) and Susanne Casanova (SA) were rewarded for their consistent runs with second and third places respectively.

RIMG0040 - CopyJacqui Doyle and Lilian Burrill (Qld) traded places for the lead in the junior elite class, with Jacqui taking the win by 21 seconds. Michele Dawson of NSW was third.
The largest class of the day was M65A where Ross Brighouse of New Zealand took the win. An impressive run from Geoff Lawford (Vic) saw him win M55A by almost 10 minutes. Other large winning margins were posted by Clive Pope (Qld) in M75A and Tony Mount(Tas) in M80A.

Jenny Bourne (Vic) won the largest women’s class of W50A by over 8min. A three way battle in W55A between Robin Uppill, Carolyn Jackson and Sue Key ended with Robin Uppill (SA) taking the win. Maureen Ogilvie of NSW led from the beginning in W75A for a very good win.

A highlight of the day was the sledge class which featured a mass start between Powerrangers, forest fairies and Wally (from Where’s Wally).

Easter 2012 Carnival commences in Queensland

The Prologue Races and Family Relays were held today at Wilmot’s Waterholes, an area of scattered granite just north of Stanthorpe. Courses were set with many short legs and changes of direction to keep competitors on their toes.

The Elite classes were first into the bush, with Simon Uppill of the Southern Arrows getting his weekend off to a good start by winning the men’s elite class ahead of Canberra Cockatoos David Shepherd and Matthew Crane. The Junior Elite class was won by Oscar McNulty of the Western Nomads who continued his great start to 2012, although Ian Lawford of the Canberra Cockatoos was very close behind. Brodie Nankervis (Tas) took out third place.

Grace Crane (Tas) and Vanessa Round (SA) had a close battle in the women’s elite class, with Grace taking the win by 5 seconds. Queensland Cyclones Rachel Effeney and Laurina Neumann finished in third and fourth. The largest winning margin of the day was in the junior elite class, where Lillian Burrill (Qld) had a great run. Lillian hails from Warwick so with her home terrain advantage she may be hard to beat this weekend. She was followed by Michele Dawson of the NSW Stingers and Mary Fleming of the Victorian Nuggets.

In the Public Prologue, runners either competed in a short, medium or long course. Incredible running speed was shown by some young Victorian runners in the short course, with 11 year old Aston Key taking first place over 10 year old Kylian Wymer. The medium course was won by Jenny Bourne of Victoria, who just edged out Queenslanders John Baker and Neil Simpson. The long course was also very close with Eddie Wymer of  Victoria winning by 3 seconds over Mark Nemeth of Queensland.

Results and splits are now available and routegadget will soon be available.

Tomorrow will see competitors return to an adjacent area for Day 1 of the Australian 3 Days Championships.

Uppill and Crane win opening prologue at Easter.

The Prologue Races and Family Relays were held today at Wilmot’s Waterholes, an area of scattered granite just north of Stanthorpe. Courses were set with many short legs and changes of direction to keep competitors on their toes.

The Elite classes were first into the bush, with Simon Uppill (15.09)of the Southern Arrows getting his weekend off to a good start by winning the men’s elite class ahead of Canberra Cockatoos David Shepherd and Matthew Crane, with first year elite Josh Blatchford a close 4th. The Junior Elite class was won by Oscar McNulty (15.57)of the Western Nomads who continued his great start to 2012, although Ian Lawford of the Canberra Cockatoos was just 7 seconds behind. Brodie Nankervis (Tas) took out third place.

Grace Crane (Tas) and Vanessa Round (SA) had a close battle in the women’s elite class, with Grace taking the win by 5 seconds in a time of 15.10.. Queensland Cyclones Rachel Effeney and Laurina Neumann finished in third and fourth. The largest winning margin of the day was in the junior elite class, where Lillian Burrill (Qld) had a great run in 18.24. Lillian hails from Warwick so with her home terrain advantage she may be hard to beat this weekend. She was followed by Michele Dawson of the NSW Stingers and Mary Fleming of the Victorian Nuggets. The respective juniors and seniors both ran the same courses, so results are comparable.

In the Public Prologue, runners either competed in a short, medium or long course. Incredible running speed was shown by some young Victorian runners in the short course, with 11 year old Aston Key taking first place over 10 year old Kylian Wymer. The medium course was won by Jenny Bourne of Victoria, who just edged out Queenslanders John Baker and Neil Simpson. The long course was also very close with Eddie Wymer of Victoria winning by 3 seconds over Mark Nemeth of Queensland.

Tomorrow will see competitors return to an adjacent area for Day 1 of the Australian 3 Days Championships. These Easter races are final selection trials for the Jwoc team going to Slovakia, the World University Champs team bound for Spain (also comprising a team of 6 & 6) and the Bushranger team heading for New Zealand in June

Results and splits (Winsplits) are now available and routegadget will available soon.

Changes on the way at Orienteering Australia

Orienteering Australia President Bill Jones is not seeking re-election at this Sunday’s Annual General Meeting in Stanthorpe. Victoria’s Blair Trewin is standing for election as President and the ACT’s Bruce Bowen for election as Director, Finance. Robin Uppill is standing again as Director, Technical and the Board is seeking expressions of interest for the vacant Director, Development position.

Mountain bike orienteering legend Blake Gordon is not standing again as Chair of the national Mountain Bike Orienteering Committee, a position he has filled with great distinction and enthusiasm for many years.

In the High Performance area, newly married Rob Preston has resigned as Manager of High Performance Operations to take up a full time job in another field. The part-time position of Manager, High Performance Operations will be advertised shortly; interested people should contact Grant Bluett, OA Director, High Performance (email grant.bluett at gmail dot com).

New SPORTident option for clubs and schools

A new SPORTident option for clubs and schools is now available and during the Easter Carnival Colin Price at the AussieOgear shop has a free booklet and SPORTident Pcard to give to a representative of each orienteering club.

Further details are as follows. “SPORTident wants to introduce you to one of our new projects, a special designed booklet containing information and practical exercises that might assist you and PE teachers in schools. For more information about the SPORTdent School project – The new way of teaching physical education – look at school.sportident.com. We have also attached a sample of the “pCard” so that you can see how it works. The pCard is a cheaper and practical alternative to the standard SI8 & SI9 sticks used in orienteering. They will store up to 20 controls and are perfect for school carnivals or events that attract large numbers of competitors such as an Urban Adventure Race.

Please arrange for a representative of your club to call and collect your copy of the booklet and pCard free of charge from Colin Price who will be at the AussieOgear shop at the Easter carnival. Alternatively contact Colin at colinp53@yahoo.com.au , (email your address details and club), and the material will be posted out to you. Dont miss out on your FREE copy! SPORTident wishes you a wonderful time in Stanthorpe, Qld, for the Easter carnival! Anna Bralite, School Project manager”.

Embargoes for Easter 2013

The following areas are embargoed to orienteering training (including off-track running and training with a map) for intending participants in the Easter 2013 events:
1. All forest areas within 15km of the centre of Bendigo which are not on existing orienteering maps.
2. The area covered by the existing (1984) Mount Alexander orienteering map.
3. The Edwards Road campus of La Trobe University, Bendigo. (Normal university activities are not affected by the embargo).

Orienteering Australia committee meetings and annual general meeting

Orienteering Australia meetings – Easter Carnival
During the Easter Carnival, Orienteering Australia will be coordinating a number of meetings. Interested orienteers are welcome to attend any or all of the meetings!
Meeting details are:
Saturday 7 April: OA Committee Meetings, Library, Stanthorpe High School, 2 McGlew St, Stanthorpe
Room 1: 2.30pm Technical; 3.40pm IT and website development.
Room 2: 2.30pm Development Forum
Room 2: 3.40pm Coaching
Room 3: 2.30pm Schools
Room 3: 3.40pm Mapping
Sunday 8 April: OA Annual General Meeting
3.30pm, Granite Belt Community Learning Centre, Stanthorpe High School, 2 McGlew Street, Stanthorpe.

OA is also seeking nominations for the following positions to be either elected or appointed at the AGM:
Board positions due for election for 2-year terms:
– President
– Director, Finance
– Director, Technical
– Director, Development

Appointments:
– Chairperson (Mapping Committee):
– Chairperson (Technical Committee):
– Chairperson (Events Committee):
– Chairperson (MTBO Committee):
– Chairperson (IT Committee):
– Chairperson (Development & Participation Committee)
– Tribunals and Appeals Committee (up to two to be appointed)
– Misconduct Tribunal
– Selection Appeals Committee