2007 AUSTRALIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS – DUBBO then took his opportunity when Simon Mee, who had led most of the way, crashed to sixth with an 8min error at #15. That left Phillips comfortably clear of the field with only Josh Blatchford as a plausible challenger, and they went on to take 1st and 2nd, two minutes apart. Oliver Crosato completed the placings after a good second half.
Blair Trewin NSW Championships, Tuckland, 7 July The week opened with the NSW Championships at Tuckland near Dunedoo, an area which was largely gully-spur but with some lines of rock along the slopes. Many courses had a very long first leg, and this was crucial in deciding the result in several classes. The two favourites in the open classes both showed why they were favourites, winning by double-digit margins. Dave Shepherd was in front from the start and won the first ten legs, with his only wobble on the course being the loss of a minute at #22. He was 5mins in front by #13 and doubled that by the end. Karl Dravitzki (NZ) was his closest challenger for most of the day, but lost 3mins at #24 and 1min at #27 to drop out of the placings, in favour of his fellow New Zealander, Neil Kerrison, and Rob Preston.
The closest race of the day was fought out by Kurt Neumann and Sam Webb in the Junior Boys. They were never more than 15secs apart at any stage, but Neumann held a razor-thin lead throughout the second half and was 10secs clear at the end. 3rd place was even closer, as three Victorians finished within 9secs; James Robertson squeezed the more experienced Todd Neve out in the chute. Four States were in contention after the individual, with Tasmania holding a one-point lead over Queensland. The competitors coped surprisingly well with the most technical terrain used for this event, with only a few major blowouts.
Australian Schools Relays, Sappa Bulga, 13 July Tasmania took out the Australian Schools Championships for the second time, after a consistent performance on Relays day. Victoria, the best performer in the relays, and New South Wales tied for second, four points behind, with Queensland slipping to 4th place.
Hanny Allston was even more overwhelming in W21, only losing two legs, both by small margins, and finishing an enormous 13mins clear of the field. Grace Elson lost 6mins on the first leg, then bounced back strongly but it left her too far back to get ahead of Jo Allison for 2nd place. Cassie Trewin, in her first major event in Australia for several years, was just behind in 4th.
Schools Relay day rarely passes without a certain amount of drama. 2007 saw the usual quota of shooting stars and untimely mispunches. This year’s distinctive feature, thanks to the limited daylight after the JWOC Relays, was the final leg mass start, only 90 minutes after the start; it became a factor in several classes, especially the senior girls.
The junior classes were depleted by the absence of the JWOC team. Kieran Sullivan was a comfortable leader from the start in M20, a result which turned out to be crucial in the National League, whilst Aislinn Prendergast opened what was to be a breakthrough week by scoring her first win at this level after a tight contest with the Neumann sisters, Krystal and Laurina.
Like the individual race, the Junior Boys were close from first step to last with the two leading teams being together almost throughout. Five teams finished in the lead group on the first leg. This was whittled back to two after two legs as Victoria and NSW pulled away from the field, and they were still almost together at the last control. Dave Mallen had just enough in hand over Kasimir Gregory and was able to hold him off by 13secs, while Brett Fisk, who had impressed with his speed at times, ran the day’s fastest time to get away from Sam Webb and give the South Australians 3rd.
Notable results in other classes included a rare defeat for Patricia Aspin (NZ) in W55, where she was unable to run down Carol Brownlie after losing 4mins on the first leg; a narrow win for Paul Pacque in M50 after a fluctuating battle with Geoff Lawford; and Steve Craig’s return to Australian orienteering in M35, for 2nd place behind Jock Davis despite a strong finish.
Australian Schools Individual, Sappa Bulga, 10 July Aislinn Prendergast continued her good form into the first day of the Australian Schools Championships when she took out the Senior Girls’ class. Her closest challenger was Krystal Neumann, but once Prendergast took a narrow lead in mid-course she was never headed and scored by just over a minute. The Tasmanian pair of Catherine Hewitt and Claire Butler both led at times in the first half, and whilst they drifted back a little later were still very competitive in 3rd and 4th. Queensland dominated the Junior Girls, having the three fastest times on the day. Glennie Nottle only won two legs, but she led most of the way and took the race by 22secs from a fastfinishing Katie Doyle who only came into the team at the last moment because of an injury cloud over Lilian Burrill. But Burrill wasn’t too badly affected because she ran the third fastest time. As a reserve, she did not count for 3rd place in the official competition, which was taken by ACT’s Georgia Parsons after a steady run. Oscar Phillips looked out of it at halfway in the Senior Boys; he trailed by over 3mins at #8 after losing two minutes at #7. By #14 he had fought back to be within a minute of the lead, and 18 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER SEPTEMBER 2007
Queensland’s title chances had already been severely weakened when their Junior Boys fell right out of contention on the second leg, and disappeared altogether when Oliver Crosato mispunched on the second leg of the Senior Boys. That left Tasmania in the box seat, and they reinforced that position by winning the race, Oscar Phillips coming from 2mins down on the last leg to overrun New South Wales. Leon Keely and Lachlan Dow both ran spectacular last legs but could not quite lift their teams into the top-2. Like the Junior Boys, there was a big lead pack – of four – after the first leg of the Junior Girls, but after that it was, predictably, all Queensland as they finished nearly 30mins clear. In one of two races where the mass start was a factor, the ACT were second across the line but the inexperienced Victorian team finished early enough to squeeze them out on total time. Tasmania were never in the hunt, but four points for 4th were enough to virtually ensure them of overall victory. The mass start was a major factor in the Senior Girls. Only two teams avoided it, and both only just; Tasmania and New South Wales went out together. Krystal Neumann and Aislinn Prendergast went out together in the mass start. The Victorians were totally out of contention but Neumann had to beat the other two across the line by ten minutes, which looked just about possible. It was even more plausible when she had an 8min break by the spectator control, and although Prendergast just beat
