AUS 3-DAYS
EASTER 2022
Aston Key.
The Trewin Report
E
aster returned to Queensland for the first time in a decade in what (so far) is a welcome return to a normal orienteering season, with a turnout at the better end of what was expected. The event was based in the Kingaroy region, a new experience for most nonQueenslanders, with relatively flat and open granite terrain for the Prologue and the first two days, and a hillier and thicker final day. The terrain was a tougher physical test than it might have been in a drier year, but the vegetation growth merely turned the first two days from being lightning fast to being merely fast, and the relatively tough final day sorted out many of the fields. The seasonal heat also broke a couple of days before the event, which was contested in generally pleasant conditions. The Prologue, a bush Sprint this year, is no longer part of the overall competition in the elite classes (fortunate for those who mispunched), but was still a National League round and well contested. Experience counted for a lot in W21E, where the average age of the placegetters was 44; Grace Crane, the youngest of them, took the win over Shannon Jones and Natasha Key. There was a minor upset in M21E where Brodie Nankervis edged out Aston Key by seven seconds. W20E was closer still, with Erika Enderby three seconds ahead of Mikaela Gray. Ewan Shingler impressed in winning M20E, in a time which would have placed him third in the seniors (and likely did him no harm in his ultimate selection for WOC). The Prologue proved indicative of form for the senior women as Crane controlled proceedings throughout the weekend. Saturday repeated the Friday placings but with a winning margin of four 8 THE AUSTRALIAN ORIENTEER JUNE 2022
minutes, and she was also a convincing winner on the last day to stretch a five-minute lead to twelve. Only on the Long Distance day was she challenged when Aislinn Prendergast, out of overall contention after striking trouble on Saturday, ran an excellent second half to claim the stage win. The Prologue was also a precursor to a final result for Jones, who was a comfortable second overall despite losing time on the last day, while with Key sitting out the Long day, Emily Sorensen came through with a final-day second to complete the placings.
M21E looked like it would be a similarly straightforward result for two days. After his narrow prologue loss, Aston Key was a comfortable winner on the next two days, and with a five-minute break it looked like the main interest in the chasing start would be the race between Alastair George and Brodie Nankervis for second. The pair went for it from the gun on the last day, cutting small pieces into the gap, and when Key dropped 90 seconds at #8 it was suddenly game on. The gap closed to just over a minute but that was as close as it got, and any chance of a boilover ended when Nankervis lost time at #12 and #13, followed by George at #18. George had to settle for second, and a first National League stage win. In junior classes a lot can change over one summer. A lot more can change in two and a half years, during which only one major national event had taken place, and the event therefore started with more than the usual number of unknowns. Julia Gannon had taken second overall in W20E last year without running a place on any day, amidst a sea of mispunches, but sent a very clear message that she had taken another step up on the Saturday by opening up a seven-minute
