AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEERING CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Trewin Report Blair Trewin
In 2009 the Australian Championships week came to Victoria. For many of the older generation (including a sizeable overseas contingent), it was the first stage in three weeks of orienteering culminating in the World Masters Championships (or the second stage in four weeks for those who had been to Queensland too). For many others, including some of the largest elite fields seen in many years, it was the culmination of the season. Australian Middle Distance Championships, Chewton, VIC - 26 Sept. The week started with the Australian Middle Distance Championships in the gold-mining terrain of Chewton, accompanied by the cold, damp conditions that were to be a regular feature of the week (there was even a flooded creek to negotiate before the last control). The detailed terrain was ideal for Middle Distance orienteering and led to some fine racing. Two clean sweeps of individual elite championships got under way at Chewton. Kathryn Ewels, coming off her fifth place in the World Championships Sprint, would have been considered a serious contender even in a full-strength field, and in the absence of Hanny Allston (just started a new job in Tasmania) she was a very warm favourite. She took a while to emerge from the pack but by the long legs at #7 and #8 she had broken clear, and went on to win with more than a minute in hand. Behind her there were two career-best results at this level in the minor placings. Susanne Casanova finished very well to claim 2nd, in conditions as unlike her now-hometown Darwin as it is possible to get without leaving the country or going to the mountains, while Mace Neve’s consistent run was just enough to hold a fastfinishing Vanessa Round off for third. Mace’s brother, Max, got an outstanding week under way in M20. Going into the week he would have been considered third favourite at best, but he led almost all the way and ended up a minute clear. Behind him there was a tight battle for second, in which Oscar Phillips led for much of the way before Josh Blatchford got the best of the final technical section.
After a week of rain before the Australian Middle Distance Champs at Chewton, a small watercourse feature had turned into a very full creek which all competitors had to cross to get to the finish. The Photoworx website www.photoworx.com.au/ shows how everyone got through the creek. Some, such as W14 Olivia Sprod from South Australia, made a bigger splash than others. Photo sequence: Michael Brown / Photoworx 12 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER DECEMBER 2009
Eleanor Ross, NSW Photo: Ian Dalton
