AUSTRALIAN MIDDLE DISTANCE CHAMPS

M21E 4.6 km 165 m time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Finish

1. Julian Dent ––––– 30:22 1:27 4:08 6:08 8:18 9:54 12:58 14:19 18:58 26:57 28:21 30:00 30:22 1:27 2:41 2:00 2:10 1:36 3:04 1:21 4:39 7:59 1:24 1:39 0:22 2. David Shepherd ------ 30:53 1:47 4:11 7:19 9:29 11:29 14:14 15:31 20:06 27:42 29:10 30:35 30:53 1:47 2:24 3:08 2:10 2:00 2:45 1:21 4:31 7:36 1:28 1:25 0:18

W21E 3.7 km 160 m time 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Finish

1. Natasha Key ––––– 31:29 2:10 5:59 8:10 12:00 17:44 19:49 29:05 31:07 31:29 2:10 3:49 2:11 3:50 5:44 2:05 9:16 2:02 0:22 2. Nicki Taws ------ 32:34 2:10 5:18 8:20 13:06 18:53 21:16 29:57 32:08 32:34 2:10 3:08 3:02 4:46 5:47 2:23 8:41 2:11 0:26

Australian Middle Distance Championships

Stanthorpe, Queensland – 16 April 2004 by Liz Bourne (Qld)

This year’s Australian Middle Distance Championships were conducted in Amiens Forest outside Stanthorpe, situated approximately 240km south west of Brisbane. The Championships were held as part of the Australian 3-Day Orienteering Carnival, a series of nine events from 9 – 17 April which were organised by the Queensland Orienteering Association. More than 410 orienteers from throughout Australia and New Zealand took part in the Middle Distance Championships.

THE map used for the event, The Cascades, was first produced for the Asia-Pacific Orienteering Championships in July 2000 by leading mapper, Eric Andrews, who lives just 5km south of the area. It covers an area of 16 sq km of granite country, typified by complex boulder clusters and large areas of bare rock slabs, interspersed with heathlands and eucalypt forest in undulating to steep terrain.

Due to the complex nature of the area, it took Eric 600 hours of fieldwork and 200 hours of cartography to produce the map. Eric was also the course setter for the Championships while British orienteer, Jon Sutcliffe, was the controller and IOF advisor.

The Middle Distance Championships were conducted on the northern section of The Cascades which contains some of the more complex rock areas and most diverse vegetation. Both the Men’s and Women’s elite courses proved a real technical challenge to those not familiar with granite terrain with their first legs taking them immediately into an area of large boulders and cliffs where fine navigation techniques were essential. As the Championships were part of a series of National Orienteering League competitions for Australia’s elite competitors as well as being used as a selection race for the World Championships team, it attracted a top field with some even returning from their training bases in Sweden to participate.

Up and coming junior, Julian Dent, a 19 year old student from NSW, took out first place in the 4.6km Men’s Elite event in a time of 30:22, just ahead of Dave Shepherd of the ACT in 30:53, with Stewart Fishwick, also from the ACT, placed third in 35:03. Julian had a virtually fault-free run until the final leg when he visited the wrong boulder on his approach to the finish. However, this mistake was not enough to cost him the top place in the race and he was subsequently selected as part of the Australian team for the Junior World Championships (JWOC). Left: Tash Key winner of the Middle Distance Champs at Stanthorpe, while Junior, Julian Dent (above) won the Men’s elite class.

In the 3.7km Women’s Elite race, the experience of two former Australian WOC team members came to the fore, with Victorian Natasha Key finishing in first place in a time of 31:29 with Nicki Taws (ACT) in second place in a time of 32:34. Danielle Winslow of Tasmania was placed third with a time of 33:03. Natasha and Danielle were both subsequently included in the Australian WOC team.

2004 Australian Championships Preview

Some of Australia’s top orienteers will be back from the World Championships just in time for “The Grapes of Rock Tour” - our Australian Championships Carnival to be held from 25th September to 3rd October in the Mudgee to Orange region of NSW. Will they be able to peak again so soon after WOC? Who will emerge to challenge them? We’ll soon know. Orienteers who have entered the Carnival may not be aware that they’ll be heading into Frank Gardner country for the Australian Championships. This bushranger was a national celebrity in his own time and pulled off the biggest gold robbery of colonial times - $4million in today’s money. After a couple of spells in prison he actually moved to California where he ran a saloon before marrying a rich widow and retiring to a ranch. In 1912, two young Americans were in the district digging on top of Wheogo Hill. Rumour has it that they were his sons digging up buried treasure. One of his hideouts was Eugowra Rocks. A few years ago we ran on a map named Gardiner's Lookout which was somewhere near Cootamundra. For further reading before or during the “The Grapes of Rock Tour” look for "Frank Gardiner - Bushranger to Businessman (1830-1904)”, by Alec Morrison, published by Wiley in 2003.