News

The 2016 Australian JWOC team assembled in Sent on Sunday for the 5 days of pre JWOC preparation with a focus on 1. terrain familiarisation, 2.  mental techniques 3. technical challenges of each discipline and 4. creating team harmony and focus. A detailed plan for the 5 days has been prepared by the two coaches who are working with the team during the week-Julian Dent and Ralph Street. These two older elite athletes who have both recently achieved impressive results in the two biggest relays in orienteering- Ralph being in the winning team at 10Mila in Sweden and Julian in the second placed team at Jukola in Finland, have prepared a structured program for the athletes to prepare each athlete for the challenges of the JWOC competition which starts on Sunday with the Sprint Distance in Scuol.

Some of the tam have been in Europe for some time competing and training and all have arrived in Sent healthy and relaxed. There are three newcomers to JWOC competition in the team- Aston Key, Tara Melhuish and Zoe Dowling. We have some experienced JWOC team members with Matt Doyle, Henry McNulty, Lanita Steer and Anna Dowling all having been to at least two previous JWOC’s and are all competing in their last JWOC before moving into senior elites. Winnie Oakhill, Asha Steer Patrick Jaffe, Simeon Burrill and Jarrah Day are competing in their second JWOC.

The JWOC week of competition is very challenging as all athletes compete in five events over the six days. The Sprint on Sunday is followed by the Long Distance event on Monday which will be held at an altitude of 2100m. A rest day follows and then there is the Middle Qualification , Middle Final and the team Relay on the Friday. There will be live streaming on the JWOC website of all the finals and the relay including GPS tracking for some athletes.

2016 Australian JWOC Team at Tarasp

Nick Dent

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 17^th in middle in 2008 and 23^rd 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 10^th 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 31^st 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 35^th in long in 2012.

Julian Dent will be competing in his 8^th 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 24^th in long in 2011 and 22^nd in the middle in 2005.

Simon Uppill will also be competing in his 8^th WOC. His best result in sprint is 30^th 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 20^th– 27^th.

Jo Allison dominated the women’s elite class at the 2016 Australian 3-Days. After making a solid start with fourth place in the sprint prologue on Friday, she won all three forest days by comfortable margins, taking her to an eight-minute win overall. Her only remotely close challenger, in a good weekend for the more experienced contingent, was Natasha Key, whilst Anna Sheldon completed a set of placegetters eligible for W35 (or beyond), just ahead of Belinda Lawford who had her best result at this level.

It was a much closer affair in M21E. Matt Crane won two of the first three days (both after taking the lead for the first time at the second-last control), giving him a narrow lead over Simon Uppill going into the final day. Uppill, though, had wiped that 29-second buffer out by the second control on the last day, and whilst it was close the rest of the way, the South Australian always had just enough in hand as he took the honours by 1.25. Leon Keely’s second on the final day ensured that he would hold third against Henry McNulty.

Matt Doyle swept all four days in the junior men’s event, although all four days were close with none being decided by more than about two minutes. Patrick Jaffe was second on all four days and was always competitive, ending up a bit over four minutes behind overall. Aston Key looked set to make it a Victorian trifecta, but was forced out of the final day by injury, opening the way for Jarrah Day to move into the placings.

The junior women’s event looked set to be a tight two-way contest when Anna Dowling led Lanita Steer by less than 30 seconds going into the last day, but Steer lost six minutes at the first control to end her chances, leaving the way open for Dowling to score a comfortable victory despite some late wobbles. Winnie Oakhill’s final-day win lifted her to second after steady improvement across the weekend, while Asha Steer was able to just edge out her older sister for third.

The Canberra Cockatoos moved into the lead in the senior men’s competition in the National Orienteering League by five points over the Victorian Nuggets, although their depth, imposing this weekend, will be tested over forthcoming rounds in South Australia and Tasmania. The Nuggets continue to have strong leads in the senior women’s and junior men’s events, and a smaller lead over the Tassie Foresters in the junior women’s. Simon Uppill’s winning performance at Easter has given him a useful lead in the individual competition, whilst, despite a disappointing weekend, Rachel Effeney’s early-season form sees her still in front, albeit by a single point over Natasha Key.

Results, splits and updated National League points are available.