August 12 - Racing Action From Perisher Valley
Australian Sprint Championship, August 9
It was a flashback to 2006 in the Australian Sprint Championship last
Saturday August 9, with Victorian Esther Bottomley and Geoffroy Pais from
France repeating their A-final wins from that season on the same course at
Perisher Valley. Bottomley won easily ahead of Aimee Watson from NSW with
Lescinska Fackerell getting up for third place ahead of Georgia Merritt.
In the men's final Pais took the early lead then held on in the final
straight ahead of Andrew Mock and a fast finishing Paul Murray who left
his run too late.
Bottomley won the time trial by 10 seconds
ahead of Watson, with her expected main rival Chloe McConville managing
only 3rd place after a week of illness. McConville gambled that she might
be able to pull a good sprint out of the bag, but when it was apparent
that she wouldn't be competitive she cut her losses and withdrew from the
finals. d'Arcy Baxter, Belinda Phillips, Camille Melvey, and Sarah
Slattery were eliminated in the semi-finals. Bottomley shot to the lead in
the A-final and just about had a winning margin by the top of the first
hill. Merritt, Watson and Fackerell were very close half way up the hill
but then Watson began to edge away. Merritt was still in contact with
Fackerell into the hill the second time, but couldn't hold on and there
were no close finishes. As the highest placed U20 skier Merritt became the
Australian Junior Sprint Champion.
Paul Murray posted the fastest men's
qualifying time ahead of Pais and Nick Grimmer. Former Australian Sprint
Champion Ben Sim was the biggest casualty in the quarter finals, knocked
out by Pais and 10th fastest qualifier Leon Spiller. In the first
semi-final Murray looked to be in trouble behind Mock and Neil van der
Ploeg, but managed to claw his way back to edge ahead of van der Ploeg at
the top of the hill the second time and then hold on in the straight. From
the other semi final Pais and Grimmer were too strong for Chris Darlington
and Spiller, who was pretty shagged after his tussle with Sim. Pais made a
great start in the A-final, stringing out the field up the hill and taking
a handy lead into the downhill. Mock worked hard for the next lap and
finally got onto the heels of the Frenchman as they headed into the final
corner. He gave it a crack down the straight but Pais held on by 2 metres
and punched the air for his win. Murray overtook Grimmer as they headed
into the hill the second time and with a burst started to close steadily
on the leaders, but it was all too late and he had to settle for third.
It was Mock's first Australian title, going
one better than his second place in 2003 behind Ben Sim. Neil VDP won the
B-final easily ahead of Darlington, with Callum Watson taking 7th overall
and the Australian Junior title as the highest ranked U20 skier.
In the U16 women's final Lucy Glanville was
too strong for her NSW team-mates Laura Bull and Siobhan Jones, with Anna
Trnka taking 4th. Alasdair Tutt won the men's U16 final ahead of Dyllan
Harmer, with Jackson Bursill 3rd and U14 junior Lachlan Porter 4th.
Full Results
Australian 10/15km Championship, August 10
If a flashback to 2006 wasn't enough on Saturday then how about a
flashback to 1998? Three time Winter Olympian Anthony Evans' last national
title was the 15km Freestyle in that year, and the 39 year old Jindabyne
resident showed he can still shake a leg by finishing as the first
Australian in the Australian 15km Championship at Perisher Valley on
Sunday. Geoffroy Pais from France skied a strong last lap to win the race
overall, with Evans in second place comfortably clear from Andrew Mock. In
the women's 10km Aimee Watson won by a convincing 3 minute margin ahead of
rising NSW junior star Lucy Glanville, with Belinda Phillips taking third.
After 3km Evans was right up there in the
splits in the interval start event, within a second of Mock and pre-race
favourite Ben Sim, and 6 second off the pace of Pais. Evans then turned in
stomping effort in the next 5km, going 10 second clear from Pais and
leaving the rest of the Australian contenders fighting for the rest of the
places. Sim seemed to lose time on the downhills and was caught from 30
seconds behind by Darlington, who moved up into 4th place overall. On the
final lap Pais took the lead back from Evans and skied away to victory.
Mock finished comfortably in third place after Darlington tired at the
start of his last lap, and though Sim left Darlington on the last hill
Darlington did just enough to hold onto 4th place.
In the 10km Freestyle Watson already had a
lead of one minute after the first 3km, but it was close for second
between Glanville and Phillips. Watson's lead continued to grow on the
second lap, while Glanville built up a small gap over Phillips to secure
second place. Georgia Merritt was also not too far behind, but not close
enough to threaten Phillips for the last podium spot.
Full Results
August 5 - Lots More Racing
ACT Classic Championship - August 2
NSWIS athletes Ben Sim and Aimee Watson won the open ACT Championship at
Perisher Valley last Saturday, however it was the junior results that were
the most interesting. 18-year-old Callum Watson was second overall in the
men's 10km Classic behind Sim, while two 13-year-old juniors Lucy
Glanville and Siobhan Jones topped the women's junior field in the women's
5km Classic and filled the open minor podium places. It was good weather
for racing, with slightly blown in classic tracks that were unavoidable
due to the fresh snow that had fallen overnight.
Callum Watson was just under two minutes and
just over 5% behind Sim's winning time of 33:17, which was one of Callum's
best championship results behind the reigning Australian Champion. Third
place went to Chris Darlington, who didn't quite have the same spring in
his legs as for the 30km the previous weekend. NSW Junior coach Cameron
Morton was 4th and Victorian Mark van der Ploeg 5th, the latter struggling
to find form after recent illness. Second junior in the 10km was Andrew
Kovacs, ahead of the first U18 skier Robert Jones. In the younger classes
the first U16 man was Mark Pollock ahead of Alasdair Tutt, the first U14
skier was Lachlan Porter, and the first U12 skier Damon Morton.
Aimee Watson won the 5km by over two minutes
in the time of 19:28, but just 14 seconds separated Glanville and Jones in
the race for second place. Both young NSW juniors have taken a big step up
this winter. Third junior was d'Arcy Baxter ahead of the first Victorian
Georgia Merritt. The first U16 junior woman in the 5km was Imogen Blanche
ahead of Laura Bull and Ashleigh Spittle, the latter two separated by just
0.3 of a second. In the U14 women's 2.5km Classic Gabriella Cigana won
ahead of Anna Trnka, while the first U12 girl was Georgia Cigana.
ACT Championship Results
NSW Freestyle Championship - August 3
Ben Sim and Aimee Watson backed up the next day to win the open NSW
Championship in freestyle technique, but this time the podium places were
different. In the men's 10km Freestyle Geoffroy Pais from France took
second place, pushing Callum Watson back down to third. Lucy Glanville
skied another very impressive race to take second place in the women's 5km
Freestyle, with Georgia Merritt stepping up to take the remaining podium
place.
Sim was just 8 seconds ahead of Pais after the
first 5km lap, but the Frenchman died a little on the second lap to end up
27 seconds behind at the finish. Callum Watson was under a minute behind
Sim, and looks likely to give the rest of the senior men a run for their
money at the Australian Championship races at Perisher next weekend. Colby
Rook skied his best race of the season so far to be second junior in the
10km, four minutes behind Watson. In the U16 men Mark Pollock topped the
podium again, with Dyllan Harmer taking second and pushing Alasdair Tutt
down into third. Lachlann Porter won the U14 boys again, with Damon Morton
also going back to back in the U12 boys but this time against a much
deeper field.
Glanville was only one minute behind Aimee
Watson in the 5km, and could also surprise more of the senior women next
weekend. Merritt also skied a good race to be within 10% of Watson for the
first time in a distance event. Siobhan Jones was third junior, 21 seconds
behind Merritt and 25 second ahead of d'Arcy Baxter. In the U16 class
Imogen Blanche won ahead of her one-armed Wangaratta Ski Club team-mate
Aislinn Kildea, with Ashleigh Spittle again in third place. Anna Trnka won
the U14 2.5km Freestyle by 15 seconds ahead of Gabriella Cigana, while
Grace Franki was the clear winner in the U12 class.
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Cross Country Committee
