An individual performance almost as impressive, and even more unexpected, came from Peter Hawkins in the junior boys'. He should have perhaps been taken more seriously than he was in a very open field, as the highest-placed competitor from 1996 who was still eligible for the junior class, but he had done little this year and few fancied him. After a run just as technically perfect as Schulz's, only one competitor was able to get within seven minutes of him. That competitor, Stephen Howe, was an even more unexpected placegetter to most, although that owed much to the fact that his impressive recent results in Western Australia were unknown to most in the east. Rounding off a trifecta of upsets, Peter Baker joined his fellow Canberra Grammarian Hawkins in the placings in what was easily his best result at national level.
Troy de Haas went into the senior boys' event as an overwhelming favourite after his ninth at JWOC. His run spluttered early, settled down later, but hit the rocks at the end with a three-minute mistake at the fourth-last control. This opened the door for the rest of the field. Nick Hain had shown with his ACT Championships victory that he was the next most likely, and his cause was done no harm whatsoever when he caught David Brickhill-Jones at the second control. The two proceeded to fight out a battle royal around the rest of the course, and both were rewarded with great results. Hain came in a minute clear of de Haas, and Brickhill-Jones' time was good enough for a placing. Another fine battle was a case of deja vu; just as he had been last year, Andrew Macken was drawn to start two minutes behind Simon Goddard. Just like last year, the two finished together, and just like last year, they were first and second when they crossed the line, although later starters overhauled them and they finished fourth and sixth.
The closest race of the day was also the one which went to form. Georgie Statham had dominated her class in 1996; 1997 had not been as good a year for her, and an upset was definitely on the cards when she was caught from behind by another 1996 placegetter, Zoe Radford. Statham, however, was able to get away over the second half of the course, and had just enough in hand to hold Radford off overall. With early starts, the two had a nervous wait to see if they would hold their positions. There were two serious challenges, first from Alitia Dougall and then from last starter Rachel Dickinson, but neither was quite able to get home in time.
The state competition could hardly have been closer after the first day. New South Wales, winners for the last three years, were three points clear, but only one point separated four states between second and fourth.
The two junior courses were the first back on the first leg. It was no surprise to see packs forming on the first leg, a common relay occurrence. The leading pair in the junior girls' were as expected; Alitia Dougall of Queensland and Zoe Radford of South Australia. The break they established over the Tasmanians was only about thirty seconds, but it was consolidated on the second leg as the two states stayed together at the front. In the dying stages of the second leg, Stephanie Wood pulled out a narrow lead over Naomi Francis to put Queensland in a strong position after the second leg. Poised behind them with quality runners on the final leg were Tasmania, three minutes back, and New South Wales, a minute behind that.
The finish was a dramatic one. As the teams hit the spectator control, Rachel Dickinson had caught Helen Sheldon to put New South Wales into the lead, with Georgie Statham twenty seconds down for Tasmania with only a few hundred metres to go. It looked a daunting position, but Statham, as she had the previous day, produced in the closing stages when it mattered to put Tasmania on the board. Behind her, Dickinson held off Sheldon for second place.
The junior boys' also started as a pack race, with Peter Baker, Adrian Jackson and Sam Wilson coming in within a second of each other. The pace on the second leg was less frantic, and James Moore gave the ACT a useful lead of just over a minute, but New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland were all closely bunched behind, leaving the race wide open. It was Ross Slater, making amends for not finishing the previous day, who seized the opportunity: he had taken the lead by half-distance, and went on to bring Victoria home by a couple of minutes. Again, there was a change in position in the last few hundred metres, but this time it only affected the minor placings, as the battle between Peter Preston and Peter Hawkins was eventually resolved in the ACT's favour.
Like Slater, Amber Tomas had had an individual event which she would prefer to forget as quickly as possible, and she was even more impressive than he was in taking the first leg apart. In front from the first control, she eventually came in with a lead of over five minutes to put South Australia in a terrific position. There was no shortage of pursuers; the battle for second contained five within two minutes, although an ACT DNF effectively thinned that bunch by one.
By the last part of the record leg South Australia had drifted back to the pack, which was narrowly led by New South Wales after a strong second leg from Michelle Hill. As in the junior race, two teams with leading runners from the individual on the last leg were poised a couple of minutes behind: Queensland with Ruth Schulz and Victoria with Kathryn Ewels. Schulz was unable to match her brilliant run of theprevious day and had to be content with maintaining third, but Ewels was back to her best. Fortunately for New South Wales, so was Orla Murray, and while the three minutes between the teams was cut by one, Ewels could not get any closer. Another noteworthy final leg, although it counted for nothing, was that of Rebecca Minty, who brought the ACT across the line first with the best time of the day.
There was also an early break in the senior boys', courtesy of Andrew Macken for New South Wales. It was not as substantial as that of Tomas - one and a half minutes - and the pack were still close enough to be in touch, but when the closest pursuers, the ACT (courtesy of a mispunch) and Tasmania, drifted out of the contest on the second leg, Ian Meyer suddenly found himself with a five-minute break.
Ominously for New South Wales, the five-minute break was over Victoria, with Troy de Haas to run the final leg. Damon Dickinson did what he could, but was overrun as the margin was all but reversed and the Victorians swept to victory. The disappointment of this defeat for New South Wales, however, was short-lived: they needed only a fifth to make sure of their fourth successive overall title, and when Dickinson came in second they had made sure of it. South Australia, who strung together three steady runs without ever seriously looking like winning, came in third after the ACT's disqualification, while the final item of interest was the battle for third overall: with the other results, it would go to whichever team out of Queensland and Tasmania finished first in the senior mens'. Queensand had established a big lead in this contest by the end of the second leg, and Mark Moran came home in fourth place to confirm it.
Return to Australian results page.Individual
Senior boys (8.1km)
1 Nick Hain ACT 50.32 2 Troy de Haas VIC 51.34 3 David Brickhill-Jones TAS 52.37 4 Andrew Macken NSW 55.22 5 Joel Johnston QLD 56.13 6 Simon Goddard VIC 57.21 7 Chris Baker ACT 58.15 8 Michael White SA 60.54 9 David Moran QLD 63.31 10 David Bourne ACT 65.14 11 Justin Slater VIC 65.52 12 Ian Meyer NSW 68.29 13 Geoff Davis NSW 70.05 14 Andrew Dent VIC 70.16 15 Jamie Potter SA 73.27 16 Patrick Saile TAS 74.10 17 Chad Burbidge SA 76.09 18 Michael Elderfield WA 76.36 19 Grant Keatley SA 80.34 20 Damon Dickinson NSW 83.36 21 Andrew Sherwood ACT 84.50 22 Matthew Seward WA 86.40 23 Bill Murchison TAS 91.59 24 Mark Moran QLD 92.28 25 Francesco QLD 117.42 Berlanda-ScorzaTeams
1 ACT 174.01 (Hain 50.32, Baker 58.15, Bourne 65.14) 2 Victoria 174.47 (De Haas 51.34, Goddard 57.21, Slater 65.52) 3 New South Wales 193.56 (Macken 55.22, Meyer 68.29, Davis 70.05) 4 South Australia 210.30 (White 60.54, Potter 73.27, Burbidge 76.09) 5 Queensland 212.12 (Johnston 56.13, D.Moran 63.31, M.Moran 92.28) 6 Tasmania 218.46 (Brickhill-Jones 52.37, Saile 74.10, Murchison 91.59)Senior girls (5.5km)
1 Ruth Schulz QLD 46.32 2 Kathryn Ewels VIC 53.19 3 Rebecca Minty ACT 55.21 4 Anna Sheldon QLD 56.03 5 Michelle Hill NSW 56.27 6 Orla Murray NSW 57.36 7 Cassie Wade WA 58.00 8 Danielle Winslow TAS 59.33 9 Jenny Prime VIC 60.33 10 Shannon Jones NSW 62.36 11 Tomasina Calabro QLD 62.39 12 Nicola Woolford TAS 63.13 13 Anna Jenkins SA 64.15 14 Tanya Trevena NSW 64.50 15 Kerryn Searle VIC 65.28 16 Anna Tassell TAS 67.11 17 Yelena Fairfax TAS 67.34 18 Tara Dougall QLD 68.22 19 Lian Prendergast VIC 68.41 20 Vickie Saye ACT 69.40 21 Claire Davill SA 70.12 22 Elena Rose ACT 70.52 23 Amber Tomas SA 77.11 24 Becky Burbidge SA 85.32 25 Serin Dabb ACT 93.43Teams
1 Queensland 165.14 (Schulz 46.32, Sheldon 56.03, Calabro 62.39) 2 New South Wales 174.39 (Hill 56.27, Murray 57.36, Jones 62.36) 3 Victoria 179.20 (Ewels 53.19, Prime 60.33, Searle 65.28) 4 Tasmania 189.57 (Winslow 59.33, Woolford 63.3, Tassell 67.11) 5 ACT 195.53 (Minty 55.21, Saye 69.40, Rose 70.52) 6 South Australia 211.38 (Jenkins 64.15, Davill 70.12, Tomas 77.11)Junior Boys (5.4km)
1 Peter Hawkins ACT 38.23 2 Stephen Howe WA 41.29 3 Peter Baker ACT 45.24 4 Mitch Le Fevre TAS 46.25 5 Adrian Jackson VIC 47.13 6 Samuel Winters SA 48.32 7 Tim Watt NSW 49.39 8 Peter Preston NSW 50.17 9 Lachlan Hallett SA 50.27 10 James Moore ACT 51.37 11= Nathan Lawley QLD 53.15 11= Tyson Hillyard SA 53.15 13 James Gunn TAS 55.21 14 Kerrin Rattray SA 57.42 15 Ben Robinson TAS 62.28 16 James Potter TAS 63.38 17 Craig Carter QLD 65.15 18 David Rhind ACT 65.47 19 Nick Buc VIC 67.44 20 Nicholas Spriggs QLD 67.47 21 Matthew Schepisi VIC 68.47 22 Stewart Greig WA 71.59 23 Julian Dent NSW 73.01 24 Sam Wilson QLD 76.49 25 Ian Rigby NSW 78.02 Ross Slater VIC DNFTeams
1 ACT 135.24 (Hawkins 38.23, Baker 45.24, Moore 51.37) 2 South Australia 152.14 (Winters 48.32, Hallett 50.27, Hillyard 53.15) 3 Tasmania 164.14 (Le Fevre 46.25, Gunn 55.21, Robinson 62.28) 4 New South Wales 172.57 (Watt 49.39, Preston 50.17, Dent 73.01) 5 Victoria 183.44 (Jackson 47.13, Buc 67.44, Schepisi 68.47) 6 Queensland 186.17 (Lawley 53.15, Carter 65.15, Spriggs 67.47)Junior Girls (4.4km)
1 Georgina Statham TAS 38.42 2 Zoe Radford SA 39.11 3 Rachel Dickinson NSW 39.37 4 Alitia Dougall QLD 40.53 5 Kerrin Gale QLD 43.14 6 Catherine Murphy NSW 45.19 7 Helen Sheldon QLD 46.51 8 Nadia Komyshan WA 47.20 9 Katherine Saye ACT 48.16 10 Emily Hart VIC 49.34 11 Clemmie Thompson VIC 49.52 12 Kellie Le Fevre TAS 51.19 13 Jasmine Elson TAS 53.39 14 Briohny Davey NSW 55.11 15 Cynthia Moberg QLD 55.17 16 Kimberley Post WA 56.42 17 Alexandra Sinickas VIC 57.21 18 Lucy McGarva NSW 62.43 19 Katherine Radford SA 65.01 20 Lexie Ashforth SA 65.30 21 Naomi Francis SA 67.31 22 Stephanie Wood QLD 72.35 23 Deborah Hay ACT 73.04 24 Sarah Nathan WA 76.21 25 Andrea Hughes VIC 77.30Teams
1 Tasmania 133.15 (Statham 38.42, Gale 43.14, Le Fevre 51.19) 2 New South Wales 140.07 (Dickinson 39.37, Murphy 45.19, Davey 55.11) 3 Queensland 143.01 (Dougall 40.53, Sheldon 46.51, Moberg 55.17) 4 Victoria 156.47 (Hart 49.34, Thompson 49.52, Sinickas 57.21) 5 South Australia 169.42 (Z.Radford 39.11, K.Radford 65.01, Ashforth 65.30) 6 Western Australia 180.23 (Komyshan 47.20, Post 56.42, Nathan 76.21)Individual points
1 New South Wales 21 2 Victoria 18 Tasmania 18 4 ACT 17 Queensland 17 6 South Australia 15 7 Western Australia 4Relay
Senior boys
1 Victoria 104.34 (Justin Slater 37.41, Simon Goddard 37.18, Troy de Haas 29.35) 2 New South Wales 109.21 (Andrew Macken 31.41, Ian Meyer 38.30, Damon Dickinson 39.10) 3 South Australia 112.13 (Jamie Potter 36.24, Chad Burbidge 39.12, Michael White 36.37) 4 Queensland 123.07 (Joel Johnston 35.02, David Moran 40.02, Mark Moran 48.03) 5 Western Australia 143.00 (Matthew Seward 40.16, Michael Elderfield 46.24, Stewart Greig 56.20) 6 Tasmania 154.37 (David Brickhill-Jones 33.29, Bill Murchison 68.50, Patrick Saile 52.18) ACT DNF (Chris Baker 33.09, David Bourne DNF, Nick Hain 33.23)Senior girls
1 New South Wales 102.24 (Shannon Jones 36.52, Michelle Hill 35.00, Orla Murray 30.32) 2 Victoria 104.38 (Kerryn Searle 35.06, Jenny Prime 40.05, Kathryn Ewels 29.27) 3 Queensland 108.49 (Tomasina Calabro 35.59, Anna Sheldon 38.28, Ruth Schulz 34.22) 4 South Australia 114.59 (Amber Tomas 29.54, Claire Davill 42.18, Anna Jenkins 42.47) 5 Tasmania 128.36 (Nicola Woolford 46.47, Anna Tassell 43.06, Danielle Winslow 38.43) ACT DNF (Elena Rose DNF, Vickie Saye 36.39, Rebecca Minty 28.16)Junior boys
1 Victoria 81.04 (Adrian Jackson 22.27, Nick Buc 33.15, Ross Slater 25.22) 2 ACT 82.50 (Peter Baker 22.26, James Moore 31.19, Peter Hawkins 29.13) 3 New South Wales 84.35 (Julian Dent 25.11, Tim Watt 29.59, Peter Preston 29.25) 4 Queensland 90.33 (Sam Wilson 22.28, Nathan Lawley 33.20, Craig Carter 34.45) 5 Tasmania 90.41 (Ben Robinson 27.26, James Gunn 36.50, Mitch Le Fevre 26.25) 6 South Australia 93.50 (Sam Winters 31.08, Lachlan Hallett 30.33, Tyson Hillyard 32.09)Junior girls
1 Tasmania 76.57 (Kerrin Gale 23.22, Kellie Le Fevre 29.39, Georgina Statham 23.56) 2 New South Wales 78.06 (Catherine Murphy 27.46, Briohny Davey 26.16, Rachel Dickinson 24.04) 3 Queensland 78.19 (Alitia Dougall 22.45, Stephanie Wood 26.46, Helen Sheldon 28.48) 4 South Australia 80.00 (Zoe Radford 22.50, Naomi Francis 27.23, Lexie Ashforth 29.47) 5 Victoria 85.41 (Alexandra Sinickas 31.03, Emily Hart 29.13, Clemmie Thompson 25.25) 6 Western Australia 97.08 (Kimberley Post 28.02, Sarah Nathan 32.44, Nadia Komyshan 36.22)Relay points
1 New South Wales 24 2 Victoria 23 3 Queensland 18 4 South Australia 15 Tasmania 15 6 ACT 6 7 Western Australia 5Overall points
1 New South Wales 45 2 Victoria 41 3 Queensland 35 4 Tasmania 33 5 South Australia 30 6 ACT 23 7 Western Australia 9
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