Both courses had two loops, with many splits up until part way through the second loop. The large number of splits shuffled and re-shuffled the fields, and it was not until the long common stretches in the second half of both races that packs had a chance to develop for any length of time.
Walter and Troy de Haas led through the first map change, but when the dust settled and the common last seven kilometres began for the men, there was a lead group of six. Grant Bluett had recovered from a few wobbles at the start, and Alex Randall, Dave Shepherd and Briton Gordon Riemersma were also there. Shepherd and Riemersma had fallen marginally off the pace by the end of the two-kilometre long leg (which also made it the first time in six Eureka Challenges that Blair Trewin - who was tenth - did not come sixth), leaving the other four to battle it out almost to the end. It was only in the last controls that Randall, in the best race of his elite career after an outstanding running summer, fell off the lead; by the time the sprint for the end was on, it was down to the favourites, Bluett and Walter. Bluett led to the last control, but was slow punching it, and Walter got the jump that he needed to take the title. de Haas was third.
Taws took the lead early in the womens' race and never let it go. The pursuing pack, battling for second, occasionally got within striking distance, but never got any closer than that. She stretched her lead to a minute and a half at the end. The real battle was for second. Kirsten Fairfax got the early break and went through the first changeover in a clear second, but was caught by Tracy Bluett and Emily Viner part of the way through the second loop. The group fought it out most of the way. Unlike the men, the women had a split at the end, and that was enough to settle the placings. Viner, with the longer split, had to settle for fourth, while Bluett got home over Fairfax for third. Natasha Key, who had won four times from four starts in previous Eureka Challenges, never threatened after a major error very early, but came through the field strongly to end up in fifth place.
It was also the second round of the Qantas National League. Taws and Walter, with two wins apiece, have taken a substantial early lead in the individual contests, but the team standings are far more interesting. The already formidable Canberra Cockatoos team have been strengthened further by the addition of Troy de Haas, but the Victorian Nuggets gave them a run for their money on the weekend and are only two points in arrears. With some of the Cockatoos' leading team members likely to be overseas for much of the year, we could well have a contest on our hands in 1999.
Return to National Orienteering League page.Men (14 km)
Loop 1 Total 1 Rob Walter ACT 21.59 (2) 78.49 2 Grant Bluett ACT 22.28 (4) 78.55 3 Troy de Haas ACT 21.53 (1) 78.57 4 Alex Randall VIC 22.50 (7) 79.38 5 Gordon Riemersma GBR 22.35 (6) 81.10 6 David Shepherd NSW 22.25 (3) 81.22 7 Tom Quayle ACT 24.23 (18) 83.21 8 Tom Walter ACT - (17) 83.44 9 Andy Hogg WA 22.30 (5) 83.45 10 Blair Trewin VIC 23.26 (9) 83.53 11 Scott Simson Q/ALL 24.20 (16) 87.29 12 Rob Preston NSW - (13) 87.48 13 Michael Derlacki ACT - (15) 88.22 14 Ian Prosser ACT 23.50 (12) 88.38 15 Jason McCrae ACT 23.55 (8) 88.52 16 Jon McComb NSW 25.07 (20) 90.58 17 Bruce Arthur SA 25.10 (23) 91.09 18 Craig Dufty WA 26.10 (28) 91.14 19 Bruce Graham VIC - (11) 91.21 20= Andrew Hill NSW 25.10 (21) 94.11 20= David Brickhill-Jones T/ALL 25.50 (25) 94.11 22 Rob Vincent NSW 26.03 (27) 94.18 23 Glenn Meyer NSW - (14) 95.40 24 Jamie Potter SA 25.00 (19) 96.20 25 John Maher VIC - (10) 96.48 26 Anthony Scott ACT 28.06 (35) 98.22 27 Lars-Ivar Aarseth NOR - (30) 101.13 28 Andrew Jones VIC 26.42 (32) 101.14 29 Brendon King NSW 27.03 (31) 103.42 30 John Toomey WA 29.25 (36) 104.38 31 Nick Hain ACT - (33) 105.32 32 Paul Marsh NSW 26.10 (29) 106.57 33 Damon Dickinson NSW 26.10 (26) 112.44 34 Steven Jones VIC 25.10 (22) 121.46 35 Neil Simson Q/ALL - (37) 129.57 36 Kerrin Rattray SA - (38) 134.48 Martin Groth NOR - (24) DNF Gareth Candy WA 28.07 (34) DNFTeams
1 Canberra Cockatoos 236.41 (R.Walter, Bluett, de Haas) 2 Victorian Nuggets 254.52 (Randall, Trewin, Graham) 3 NSW Stingers 260.08 (Shepherd, Preston, McComb) 4 Western Nomads 279.37 (Hogg, Dufty, Toomey) 5 Allies 311.37 (S.Simson, Brickhill-Jones, N.Simson) 6 Southern Arrows 322.17 (Arthur, Potter, Rattray)Women
1 Nicki Taws ACT 29.49 (1) 71.35 2 Tracy Bluett NSW 31.32 (5) 73.03 3 Kirsten Fairfax T/ALL 30.20 (2) 73.14 4 Emily Viner VIC 31.02 (3) 73.38 5 Natasha Key VIC 32.40 (12) 75.05 6 Kathryn Ewels VIC 31.44 (7) 75.14 7 Cathy Liggins NSW 31.50 (8) 76.07 8 Jo Allison ACT 32.00 (10) 76.39 9 Clare Hawthorne VIC 35.57 (23) 78.22 10 Louise Fairfax T/ALL 34.30 (18) 78.27 11 Julie Calder NSW 34.55 (22) 78.42 12 Rebecca Minty ACT 31.03 (4) 78.52 13 Orla Murray NSW 33.50 (14) 79.01 14 Karen Staudte VIC 32.19 (11) 81.25 15 Georgina Macken NSW 31.43 (6) 82.52 16 Belinda Allison ACT 34.03 (15) 87.43 17 Rachel West WA - (9) 88.00 18 Jenny Casanova SA 33.43 (13) 88.09 19 Clemmie Thompson VIC 34.20 (17) 88.16 20 Cathy Hogg ACT 34.30 (20) 89.31 21 Cath Chalmers WA 34.11 (16) 89.47 22 Amber Tomas SA 34.20 (19) 90.44 23 Allison Jones NSW 41.25 (26) 93.30 24 Natalie Smith WA - (21) 94.10 25 Susannah King VIC 37.00 (24) 104.00 Cassie Trewin ACT DNF Kirsty Bruce NSW 37.40 (25) DNFTeams
1 Canberra Cockatoos 148.14 (Taws, J.Allison) 2 Victorian Nuggets 148.43 (Viner, Key) 3 NSW Stingers 149.10 (Bluett, Liggins) 4 Allies 151.41 (K.Fairfax, L.Fairfax) 5 Western Nomads 177.47 (West, Chalmers) 6 Southern Arrows 179.00 (Casanova, Tomas)
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