WORLD CLASS AT JWOC

World Class Juniors set Dubbo forests alight

What a week of high-class orienteering. The Norwegians showed their strength in both male and female JWOC classes and the Czechs were also strong.

Ahighlight for many was in the girls Relay when the lead changed three times in the run from the last control to the Finish, with the Norwegian, Siri Ulvestad, prevailing by just two metres over Swede Jenny Lonnkvist. Ulvestad stumbled at the creek crossing but fought back to regain the lead as the crowd rose to its toes and roared encouragement. For Australia the emergence of two new forces in Australian Orienteering was great to see. Simon Uppill’s 4th place in the Long-distance Championship showed that he has matured as an athlete and was a fitting rewards for the hard work he has done in preparation for these Championships. On the same day, Vanessa Round took a podium 6th place in the Longdistance Championship – a fitting reward, too, for her efforts in preparation, and both Simon and Vanessa had very good runs in the Relays a few days later. Another emerging force was Rachel Effeney. Initially not selected in the Team, Rachel came in to replace the injured Ineka Booth. She snatched the opportunity by finishing second Australian in the Sprint Championship at Dubbo Zoo, then next day she was again second Australian in the Long-distance Championship. Rachel had a slight stutter in the Middle-distance qualifying race when she missed the A Final, but then finished 5th in the B Final and had an excellent 2nd leg in the Relay. Rachel has another year as a Junior so will be aiming at being a major force in the 2008 JWOC Team when it heads to Sweden next July. Only Vanessa Round and Simon Uppill had previous experience competing at JWOC. For the others in the Team this was their first JWOC and, for such a young and inexperienced team, they performed to a very high standard. Australia’s talented Juniors can be proud of their achievements in Dubbo and can look toward even greater achievements next year in Sweden. Congratulations must go to Ron Pallas, Paul Prudhoe and the Organising Team for a memorable JWOC2007 and Western Plains Carnival. It would be interesting to know the number of manhours that went into creating the Carnival. A rough guesstimate would be 20-30,000 man-hours. Such a successful carnival requires that kind of time commitment. All those involved should feel justly proud. And they would be pleased to hear the comments of one Swiss girl competitor who said that coming to Australia for JWOC2007 was better than orienteering around The Matterhorn at Swiss-O-Week last year.

Vanessa Round Simon Uppill Rachel Effeney

Congratulations and Thank You

Bob Mouatt – President, Orienteering Australia

ON behalf of the Board of Orienteering Australia, and the entire Australian orienteering community, I wish to say congratulations and a huge thank you to all of those involved in staging the highly successful Junior World Orienteering Championships (JWOC) and associated events in and around Dubbo. It was without a doubt one of the most successful and significant Orienteering carnivals ever staged in Australia. There were obviously times when some feared that it would not come together, but on each day it did, and all those involved can take great pride in their achievements. Apart from staging a highly successful Orienteering competition, Australian orienteering gained considerable skills and experience that will serve us well into the future, and that would never have happened but for JWOC. And now to balance the books. A high level of participation in the 2008 Australian 3-Days on the maps used for JWOC will be important to OANSW breaking even over all, so I would encourage everyone to consider heading to Dubbo for Easter 2008. I will certainly be there and will be looking forward to the challenge of navigating successfully through the granite of Sappa Bulga, the general name for the area.