STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

State Champs Roundup

Blair Trewin

2004 National League

Blair Trewin

Queensland, Old Hidden Vale, 21-22 August

The championships season commenced in Queensland on the 2004 Easter maps. A good contest emerged in M21A, with four separated by seven minutes over the two days. Mark Nemeth led by three minutes on the first day, but was overtaken by Nathan Lawley on the long second day. Scott Simson just held off Matthew Bourke for third. There was also a second-day lead change in W21A, when Anna Sheldon came from two minutes down to win by seven against Julia Davies. Ainsley Cavanagh finished third.

SA, Twigham, 5 September

The South Australian Championships, near the 1990 Easter areas at Burra, were a largely local affair, though M21A provided a major exception. Bruce Arthur, now resident in Victoria, scored an expected win. He was pushed all the way by SA junior Lachlan Hallett. Another junior, Conrad Elson, completed the placings. W21A was also a good race for the juniors, with Zebedy Hallett prevailing narrowly over Jenny Casanova.

Victoria, Kooyoora, 12 September

The venue in Victoria was on the north side of Kooyoora, regarded as one of the most difficult areas in the country. Competitors found it a very serious challenge indeed, with many long times. Mistakes by some of the big names opened the door for significant upsets (Dianne Searle and John Meeking won their first-ever state titles in W60 and M60 respectively), none of them bigger than Emma Prime’s win in W21E. Prime, a JWOC representative in the late 1990’s, was running her first major elite race after several years away from the competition. She was comfortably ahead of Kathryn Ewels and Hania Lada. M21E was closer, with Stewart Fishwick holding off a fastfinishing Simon Goddard by 18 seconds. Bruce Arthur, who led through the middle of the race, lost time late and finished third.

Tasmania, Royal George, 18 September

The deep ranks of Tasmanian male juniors dominated M21A at the Tasmanian Championships, filling three of the top four places. Conrad Elson scored by three minutes over Ryan Smyth, with only Bernard Walker breaking up the juniors group by taking 3rd just ahead of Lee Andrewartha. Jasmine Elson was the only W21A entrant.

ACT, Sparrow Hill, 19 September

As in Victoria, the open fields in the ACT suffered from the absence of the WOC team, but Nicki Taws would have taken some beating even if everyone was there, having a comprehensive eight-minute win in W21A. Orla Murray was 2nd in her best result of the spring season, with Tracy Bluett third. Julian Dent was similarly impressive in M21A, four minutes ahead of Stewart Fishwick and Rob Preston.

WA, Calophylla, 18-19 September

John Toomey and Craig Dufty fought out a tight battle in M21A over the two days of the WA Championships. Toomey led by just under a minute on the first day, and was able to extend that by another minute on the second day for a narrow victory. The improving junior Rhys Challen was third. Rachel West set up a comfortable W21A win taking a four-minute lead on the first day. Cath Chalmers pushed her on the second day but couldn’t overhaul her lead. Chalmers’ fine second-day effort got her into 2nd place, just ahead of Karen Staudte. The Canberra Cockatoos’ run of nine successive National League titles was broken in 2003 by the Victorian Nuggets. The position going into the final week of the 2004 season was quite similar to that in 2003, with Canberra 25 points ahead of the Victorians, but Canberra was much stronger this year (particularly their women), and they ran away with the title, their tenth in 12 years. The real contest was for second place. The NSW Stingers whittled away at Victoria’s lead through the week, and hit the front for the first time after the Australian Championships, by a single point. That left NSW, with two strong relay teams, in the box seat, and a mispunch by the Victorian women on the first leg made sure of it. Just behind in 4th were the Queensland Cyclones, enjoying their best season. Their women performed particularly well, outscoring both NSW and Victoria over the course of the year. The Spring Cup individual competition took place during Australian Championships week. New Zealanders took the honours in the men’s competition, with Chris Forne and Karl Dravitzki tying for first, and Rob Jessop and Darren Ashmore also in the top five. Eric Morris, in third, was the only local to get a look in. Nicki Taws, with three wins midweek, was a comfortable winner of the women’s event, with Jo Allison and Tracy Bluett completing the placings.

Above: The successful Canberra Cockatoos, National O League Champions for 2004. Left: Nicki Taws, winner of the Spring Cup individual competition. Photos: Bob Mouatt

2004 Junior National League

The inaugural team competition in the Junior National League was taken out by Tasmania in a tight three-way contest with Victoria and Queensland for most of the season. A great day at the Australian Championships saw them wrap up the team trophy with one event to spare. Victoria held off Queensland by a single point for second. Julia Davies had an excellent season in her final year as a junior. Five wins in the first half of the season, including all three days of Easter, gave her a big lead, which was beyond the capacity of Hanny Allston to catch, despite a good finish to the year. There was a great battle for third with seven still in with a chance going into the final event, but Mace Neve’s second in the Australian Championship saw her claim the honour. Julian Dent went into the 2004 season as hot favourite, but the number of events he missed (either through running in elite classes or organizing) meant that he had little margin for error. He won all seven of the rounds which he contested to see off Conrad Elson, who led for much of the season. Lachlan Hallett won a tight contest for third over a fast-finishing Simon Uppill.