World Orienteering Championships 2016
Australian Team
Women
Sprint: Natasha Key, Krystal Neumann, Aislinn Prendergast
Sprint Relay: Natasha Key, Krystal Neumann.
Middle: Jo Allison, Vanessa Round.
Long: Jo Allison, Natasha Key.
Relay: Jo Allison Krystal Neumann, Vanessa Round.
Men
Sprint: Leon Keely, Henry McNulty, Simon Uppill.
Sprint Relay: Leon Keely, Henry McNulty
Middle: Julian Dent.
Long: Julian Dent
Relay: Julian Dent, Leon Keely, Simon Uppill.
Coaches: Tom Quayle, Wendy Read.
This team is a mixture of very experienced orienteers, with five team members (Jo, Natasha, Vanessa, Julian and Simon) having competed in seven world championships each and less experienced orienteers with two team members (Leon and Henry) making their debut at the world championships.
Due to the performance of the men’s team at the previous two world championships we are only permitted to have one runner in each of the middle and long distance events. The women are entitled to have two runners in each of these events.
Jo Allison returns to the WOC team after having two children. She last represented at WOC in 2008. Her best performances are 17th in middle in 2008 and 23rd in long in 2004. She was a member of the relay team that finished in fourth place in 2006.
Natasha Key a mother of three, is also making a comeback to WOC representation after last being in the team in 2005. Natasha has a best result of 10th in the sprint in 2003. Natasha will have her eldest son Aston representing Australia in the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Switzerland. So maybe a first in orienteering with a mother and son both representing their country at world championships.
Vanessa Round who has been living in Switzerland for a few years has a best performance of 31st in middle in 2012. She has competed in the last 6 world championships.
Krystal Neumann who has been living in Sweden since the end of last year will be competing in her second WOC. She has joined a strong club in Stockholm, Jarla, and has been getting some very good experience in Swedish terrain.
Aislinn Prendergast will be attending her fourth WOC and is making a comeback to WOC representation, last being in the team in 2013. Her best result has been 35th in long in 2012.
Julian Dent will be competing in his 8th WOC and as he has been living and competing in Sweden for the last 4 years he is very keen to compete at the world championships in Sweden. He is returning to the team after missing the world championships last year due to the birth of his daughter, Freja. His best result at WOC is 24th in long in 2011 and 22nd in the middle in 2005.
Simon Uppill will also be competing in his 8th WOC. His best result in sprint is 30th in 2013 and he is currently ranked 93 in the world in sprint.
Leon Keely will be competing in his first WOC after having been in two JWOC teams in 2008 and 2009. He has recently returned to elite orienteering and last year spent some time living and competing in Norway.
Henry McNulty who is still a junior and who is also in the JWOC team, will be competing in the sprint and the sprint relay. He has been showing very good form in the last few months in sprints.
WOC will be held in Stromstad, Sweden- August 20th– 27th.
Australia Announces Strong Bushrangers Teams for the First Test Match in Wellington
Australia will be looking for a repeat performance of last year, where we took out the first round of the Test Match series in the sand dune terrain of Woodhill near Auckland. The Australian Junior Bushrangers have experience, with Sebastian O’Halloran (TAS) and Aston Key (VIC) participating in last year’s NZ training camp on similar terrain. In 2016, they will both take their place in the team alongside Aidan Dawson (NSW) and Lanita Steer (VIC) who were members of last year’s successful Junior Bushrangers. Lanita Steer is joined by her sister, Asha who placed a strong 3rd in the recent National Easter 3 Day Championships. Two Queenslanders, Simeon Burrill and Riley de Jong, made the Australian Junior Team and will both be keen to build on their performances. The junior team contains 4 debutants at this level, Toby Wilson (NSW), Ella Johnson (TAS), Rosie Dalheim (VIC) and the Queenslander Riley de Jong. All performed strongly at Easter and the national training camps. Joanna Maynard, the only WA representative in the team, was an impressive 8th at Easter, and with many years in the junior ranks to go, will gain valuable experience.
