Individual
Three dominant individual performances
and a memorably close race marked the first
event of the Australian Secondary Schools
Championships, staged on the steep, open
hillsides of Evedon Ridge near Bunbury. The
physical terrain made for some very tired
bodies at the end, but the closeness of the
racing was a tribute to the depth once again
apparent at the junior level in Australia.
The best of the races at the front end was the
senior girls'. This pitted three JWOC
representatives, in Amber Tomas, Rebecca Minty
and Anna Sheldon (although Sheldon had a sprained
ankle from the weekend and did well to finish as
high as fifth), against one who could have been
had she nominated in Kathryn Ewels. Georgie
Statham, junior winner for the last two years,
took the early lead before being edged out by
Libby Schofield, but Tomas lifted the competition
to another level - it was obvious, as she bolted
five minutes clear, that her somewhat bizarre
record of having never placed in the top ten at
an Australian Schools Championships was to come
to an end. It did not, however, come to an end
with a victory; Ewels was destined to take that,
finishing strongly to come in seventeen seconds
ahead. After a challenge from the promising
Alitia Dougall fell a couple of minutes short,
there was a final moment of drama when Minty
appeared at the last control, almost, but not
quite, in time to squeeze out the first two.
Nick Hain has been the best of the senior boys
all year, and most of the pre-race doubts were
centred on whether anyone could emerge from the
pack behind him, with Jamie Potter, in excellent
running form, perhaps the most likely. Andrew
Macken set the early pace, but Hain took control
of the race in the middle stages, and when he came
in with a time of 35 minutes for the 5.5 kilometre
course it always looked like it would be a winning
run. David Bourne also ran a fine race and came in
in second place. He was to hold it, as the log-jam
developed behind him in a very tight four-way
battle for third; Damon Dickinson got it in the
end, just edging out Macken and seeing off serious
challenges from Potter and David Brickhill-Jones.
The junior girls' looked a three-way battle before
the start, with two seasoned campaigners and
rivals in Rachel Dickinson and Zoe Radford and a
newer face in Tasmanian Grace Elson. The three
were drawn to start successively. Dickinson went
in as a marginal favourite after excellent
performances in the NSW and WA Championships, but
she found the going tough and it was Radford who
prevailed with what turned out to be the biggest
margin of the day, four minutes. Elson, who
finished just in front of Radford, was second
behind her at the time, but in the end the
runner-up position was taken by Radford's South
Australian teammate Naomi Francis in something
of a surprise.
The junior boys' race was always likely to be
close, given how close and deep the M16 battle
had been on the weekend, and expectations were
not disappointed. Adrian Jackson, the first
finisher, held the lead for a while, but he was
overhauled by first-year M14 David Meyer, and
then by Kerrin Rattray. Rattray has been in
excellent form and his run looked enough to win.
It was, although the upper places came under
serious challenge, as they had in the senior event.
Mitch Le Fevre, Darren Southwell and Nathan Lawley
all managed to break the 30-minute barrier, but
none could quite break into the top two;
Southwell was the best of the rest.
Consistent performances across the board saw South
Australia in the lead after the opening day of
competition, one point ahead of New South Wales,
winner for the last four years, and the ACT.
Relay
A bleak scene greeted the competitors as they
approached the second day, rain sweeping the
high, open ridges as they returned to Evedon
Ridge for the relay. With a single point
separating three teams, the relays were going
to be even more critical than usual in
sorting out the winning state.
South Australia, the overnight leaders, got
off to a highly promising start. The junior
boys had some ups and downs on their first leg,
but the cream had come to the top by the end
of that leg, as the previous day's first two
runners, Kerrin Rattray and David Meyer, had a
sprint finish for the opening-leg lead, won
narrowly by the South Australian. They also took
the early lead in the senior boys' event when
Jamie Potter, who was to run the day's fastest
time, pulled away from Peter Hawkins and Matthew
Seward in the later part of the first leg, and
were in a position with some potential in the
junior girls', where five were clustered within
just over a minute behind runaway leader Grace
Elson, in a composite team because of a lack
of Tasmania team-mates.
The senior girls were the last to return from
the first leg. Rebecca Minty gave the ACT a
two-minute lead, but it was in the bunch behind
her that the moves that were to be critical for
the team score were made; New South Wales were
there, after a fine run from Heather Lee, and
South Australia were not.
New South Wales had their nose in front from
that moment on, and when they took control of
the two junior races on the second leg they
put themselves into a position from which they
would be very difficult to beat. It is their
depth which has always been instrumental in
allowing them to win for the last four years,
and it is their depth that allowed them to put
out three strong runners in each of the two
age groups. Neither Lucy McGarva nor Steven
Todkill did spectacular times by the standards
of what was done on the first and third legs,
but they were far better than any other state
could muster on that leg, and it was enough to
leave each team about four minutes clear of
the nearest state team.
The next question was whether anyone could
run down the leaders. Given her dominance of
the day before, most would have given Zoe
Radford at least a chance of catching four
minutes on Rachel Dickinson on the last leg to
put South Australia in the hunt, but Dickinson,
who had been below expectations in the individual,
was in no mood to repeat that run and ended up
pulling further away to give New South Wales a
comfortable victory. This race also saw the only
placing of the day for Western Australia as the
home state came in third.
The junior boys' was a closer-run thing but New
South Wales were never seriously threatened,
although Adrian Jackson cut the lead in half
for Victoria, and Darren Southwell of the ACT
also made inroads in running the day's fastest
time.
The senior boys' was the next event to be
decided. Having sent their strongest runner out
first, South Australia were always likely to
find their lead difficult to defend; more
critical first legs in the context of the race
as a whole were those for the ACT and New South
Wales. With the two leaders from the day before
on the last two legs, the ACT were always going
to be highly competitive as long as Peter
Hawkins kept them somewhere near the pace on
the first leg. He did more than that, coming in
second, and with Andrew Macken slightly off the
pace it gave them an edge that they built on for
the rest of the race. David Bourne and Nick Hain
both had steady runs and pulled further and
further away as the course went on, scoring by
eight minutes in the end. New South Wales took
second, but David Brickhill-Jones stormed
through the field to pull Tasmania into the
placings.
That left it down to the senior girls, with the
ACT having to beat New South Wales by four
places to draw level with them. It was a good
race after two legs. As in the two junior
events, most teams struggled to find a fast
second-leg runner, with the notable exception
of Libby Schofield, who put South Australia
back into the contest after their poor first
leg. Joanne Scott and Serin Dabb were the best
of them, and they put Queensland and the ACT
five minutes clear of the next bunch, which
included New South Wales, Victoria and South A
ustralia.
The final leg pitted two JWOC representatives,
Anna Sheldon and Amber Tomas, against the
individual winner in Kathryn Ewels. Sheldon
had five minutes in hand. With her ankle injury,
and running on her own once the ACT fell off the
lead, it was not the easiest of leads to defend,
with Ewels and Tomas charging for Victoria and
South Australia. Ewels ran the day's fastest
time, getting clear of Tomas after a late
mistake, but she was not quite able to close the
gap, falling just over a minute short. The
composition of the top three meant that New
South Wales only had to finish to win, and when
they came across the line in fifth place it was
enough to secure the overall victory.
The Australian Schools Honour Team was named
after the two days and contained:
Nathan Lawley QLD
David Meyer NSW
Kerrin Rattray SA
Darren Southwell ACT
Rachel Dickinson NSW
Grace Elson TAS
Naomi Francis SA
Zoe Radford SA
David Bourne ACT
David Brickhill-Jones TAS
Nick Hain ACT
Jamie Potter SA
Kathryn Ewels VIC
Rebecca Minty ACT
Anna Sheldon QLD
Amber Tomas SA
Blair Trewin
Yarra Valley OC/Bushflyers OC
Australia
Individual
Junior girls (3.6 km)
1 Zoe Radford SA 33.03
2 Naomi Francis SA 37.25
3 Grace Elson TAS 38.52
4 Briohny Davey NSW 39.19
5 Fiona Middleton ACT 40.46
6 Rachel Dickinson NSW 41.54
7 Helen Sheldon QLD 43.09
8 Lucy McGarva NSW 46.34
9 Erin Post WA 46.43
10 Kathryn Barker VIC 49.32
11 Deborah Hay ACT 50.38
12 Shura Jones WA 52.08
13 Moira Goddard VIC 53.24
14 Anthea Barrow TAS 54.49
15 Belinda Harris SA 56.55
16 Mace Neve VIC 57.38
17 Catherine Murphy NSW 61.49
18 Jacqueline Wood QLD 63.20
19 Imogen Fry ACT 65.05
20 Sarah Nathan WA 68.13
21 Kay Willmore SA 83.13
22 Kristen Mair QLD 84.11
23 Leisa Whitlock QLD 85.02
24 Alexandra Sinickas VIC 97.19
Teams
1 South Australia 127.23 (Radford, Francis, Harris)
2 New South Wales 127.43 (Davey, Dickinson, McGarva)
3 ACT 156.29 (Middleton, Hay, Fry)
4 Victoria 160.32 (Barker, Goddard, Neve)
5 Western Australia 167.04 (Post, Jones, Nathan)
6 Queensland 190.40 (Sheldon, Wood, Mair)
Junior boys (4.0km)
1 Kerrin Rattray SA 27.21
2 David Meyer NSW 28.45
3 Darren Southwell ACT 28.57
4 Nathan Lawley QLD 29.19
5 Mitchell Le Fevre TAS 29.30
6 Adrian Jackson VIC 30.38
7 James Moore ACT 31.39
8 Peter Preston NSW 31.47
9 Peter Baker ACT 31.59
10 Christopher Davill SA 32.09
11 Steven Todkill NSW 33.09
12 Ian Anderson QLD 33.27
13 Stewart Greig WA 34.29
14 Matthew Schepisi VIC 34.31
15 Conrad Elson TAS 34.45
16 Julian Dent NSW 35.14
17 Oskar Booth ACT 35.23
18 James Allston TAS 36.07
19 Stuart Fell VIC 36.22
20 Lachlan Hallett SA 36.26
21 Aidan O'Brien VIC 36.29
22 Bart Seward WA 38.35
23 Michael Ashforth SA 38.38
24 Ivan Komyshan WA 41.01
25 Dane Cavanagh QLD 41.07
26 Nathan Keene QLD 42.14
27 Chris Ardley WA 72.17
Teams
1 ACT 92.35 (Southwell, Moore, Baker)
2 New South Wales 93.41 (Meyer, Preston, Todkill)
3 South Australia 95.56 (Rattray, Davill, Hallett)
4 Tasmania 100.22 (Le Fevre, Elson, Allston)
5 Victoria 101.31 (Jackson, Schepisi, Fell)
6 Queensland 103.53 (Lawley, Anderson, Cavanagh)
7 Western Australia 114.05 (Greig, Seward, Komyshan)
Senior girls (5.2km)
1 Kathryn Ewels VIC 45.47
2 Amber Tomas SA 46.05
3 Rebecca Minty ACT 46.10
4 Alitia Dougall QLD 48.33
5 Anna Sheldon QLD 49.03
6 Libby Schofield SA 51.08
7 Georgina Statham TAS 51.25
8 Nicola Woolford TAS 53.36
9 Joanne Scott QLD 53.50
10 Catherine Loye SA 54.45
11 Phoebe Dent NSW 57.42
12 Nadia Komyshan WA 58.09
13 Clemmie Thompson VIC 58.55
14 Kerrin Gale TAS 60.12
15 Vickie Saye ACT 60.46
16 Cassie Wade WA 60.51
17 Stephanie Wood QLD 62.50
18 Emily Hart VIC 67.28
19 Heather Lee NSW 69.41
20 Yelena Fairfax TAS 70.33
21 Serin Dabb ACT 70.53
22 Tanya Trevena NSW 73.25
23 Jenny Prime VIC 73.48
24 Katherine Radford SA 82.01
25 Claire McCamish WA 82.47
26 Naomi Denham NSW 83.58
Teams
1 Queensland 151.26 (Dougall, Sheldon, Scott)
2 South Australia 151.58 (Tomas, Schofield, Loye)
3 Tasmania 165.13 (Statham, Woolford, Gale)
4 Victoria 172.10 (Ewels, Thompson, Hart)
5 ACT 177.49 (Minty, Saye, Dabb)
6 New South Wales 200.48 (Dent, Lee, Trevena)
7 Western Australia 201.47 (Komyshan, Wade, McCamish)
Senior boys (5.5km)
1 Nick Hain ACT 35.43
2 David Bourne ACT 38.16
3 Damon Dickinson NSW 39.26
4 Andrew Macken NSW 39.32
5 David Brickhill-Jones TAS 39.41
6 Jamie Potter SA 40.09
7 Remy Jabas TAS 42.07
8 David Moran QLD 44.02
9 Matthew Seward WA 46.50
10 Ian Meyer NSW 47.18
11 Geoff Davis NSW 47.46
12 Simon Goddard VIC 47.57
13 Michael Elderfield WA 49.16
14 Andrew Dent VIC 50.36
15 Grant Keatley SA 50.38
16 John Nieuwenhoven SA 51.38
17 Ben Robinson TAS 52.01
18 Chris Sayers VIC 52.56
19 Peter Hawkins ACT 54.30
20 Michael Clark SA 54.36
21 Stephen Howe WA 56.11
22 Sam Wilson QLD 56.41
23 James Gunn TAS 58.46
24 Tristan Pollock QLD 58.55
25 Nicholas Spriggs QLD 60.34
26 Andrew Sherwood ACT 61.18
Teams
1 New South Wales 126.16 (Dickinson, Macken, Meyer)
2 ACT 128.29 (Hain, Bourne, Hawkins)
3 Tasmania 133.49 (Brickhill-Jones, Jabas, Robinson)
4 South Australia 142.25 (Potter, Keatley, Nieuwenhoven)
5 Victoria 151.29 (Goddard, Dent, Sayers)
6 Western Australia 152.17 (Seward, Elderfield, Howe)
7 Queensland 159.38 (Moran, Wilson, Pollock)
Individual pointscore
1 South Australia 22
2 New South Wales 21
ACT 21
4 Victoria 14
Tasmania 14
6 Queensland 12
7 Western Australia 7
Relay
Junior Girls
1 New South Wales 83.18 (Briohny Davey 28.57, Lucy McGarva 29.11, Rachel Dickinson 25.10)
composite 86.28 (Grace Elson 23.06, Anthea Barrow 35.08, Catherine Murphy 28.14)
2 South Australia 90.02 (Naomi Francis 28.18, Belinda Harris 33.52, Zoe Radford 27.52)
3 Western Australia 100.25 (Erin Post 27.37, Sarah Nathan 36.02, Shura Jones 36.46)
4 ACT 101.34 (Fiona Middleton 27.48, Imogen Fry 37.24, Deborah Hay 36.22)
5 Victoria 111.46 (Moira Goddard 28.45, Kathryn Barker 54.10, Mace Neve 28.51)
6 Queensland 115.42 (Helen Sheldon 30.04, Jacqueline Wood 44.53, Kristen Mair 40.45)
composite DNF (Leisa Whitlock 41.04, Kay Willmore 81.28)
Junior Boys
1 New South Wales 80.07 (David Meyer 24.34, Steven Todkill 28.31, Peter Preston 27.02)
2 Victoria 82.24 (Matthew Schepisi 26.57, Stuart Fell 29.36, Adrian Jackson 25.51)
3 ACT 85.10 (James Moore 27.34, Peter Baker 33.10, Darren Southwell 24.26)
4 Queensland 88.04 (Ian Anderson 25.01, Dane Cavanagh 37.09, Nathan Lawley 25.54)
5 South Australia 93.21 (Kerrin Rattray 24.30, Chris Davill 32.51, Lachlan Hallett 36.00)
composite 100.41 (Julian Dent 25.37, Julian Jarvis 26.36, Peter Denham 48.28)
composite 100.42 (Aidan O'Brien 27.07, Conan Prendergast 36.24, Hayden Lebbink 37.11)
6 Tasmania 103.28 (James Allston 25.24, Conrad Elson 51.40, Mitch Le Fevre 26.24)
7 Western Australia 104.05 (Ivan Komyshan 34.59, Bart Seward 40.28, Stewart Greig 28.38)
composite DNF (Nathan Keen 35.12, Michael Ashforth 38.06, Chris Ardley DNF)
Senior Girls
1 Queensland 111.53 (Alitia Dougall 36.12, Joanne Scott 42.50, Anna Sheldon 32.51)
2 Victoria 113.04 (Clemmie Thompson 37.09, Emily Hart 47.10, Kathryn Ewels 28.45)
3 South Australia 116.30 (Catherine Loye 51.03, Libby Schofield 33.31, Amber Tomas 31.56)
4 Tasmania 121.30 (Kerrin Gale 36.33, Nicola Woolford 52.13, Georgie Statham 32.44)
composite 121.34 (Penny Kane 35.55, Anna Tassell 49.20, Danielle Winslow 36.19)
5 New South Wales 126.07 (Heather Lee 37.39, Tanya Trevena 46.19, Phoebe Dent 42.09)
6 ACT 127.08 (Rebecca Minty 34.03, Serin Dabb 45.32, Vickie Saye 47.33)
7 Western Australia 132.57 (Nadia Komyshan 44.23, Claire McCamish 51.18, Cassie Wade 37.16)
composite DNF (Stephanie Wood 36.22, Katherine Radford 47.02, Naomi Denham DNF)
Senior Boys
1 ACT 88.03 (Peter Hawkins 28.32, David Bourne 30.15, Nick Hain 29.16)
2 New South Wales 96.20 (Andrew Macken 30.34, Geoff Davis 32.55, Damon Dickinson 32.51)
3 Tasmania 103.18 (Remy Jabas 35.36, Ben Robinson 39.14, David Brickhill-Jones 28.28)
4 Queensland 105.55 (David Moran 31.31, Tristan Pollock 39.57, Sam Wilson 34.27)
5 South Australia 110.44 (Jamie Potter 27.53, John Nieuwenhoven 48.19, Grant Keatley 34.32)
composite 112.08 (Ian Meyer 32.24, Brendan King 33.01, Nicholas Spriggs 46.43)
6 Western Australia 115.12 (Matthew Seward 29.33, Stephen Howe 41.14, Michael Elderfield 44.25)
7 Victoria 115.19 (Simon Goddard 35.15, Chris Sayers 43.10, Andrew Dent 36.54)
composite 134.05 (Andrew McCarthy 35.08, Greg Flynn 59.20, David Stewart 39.37)
composite 135.52 (James Gunn 42.02, Michael Clark 37.59, Patrick Saile 55.51)
composite 147.31 (Andrew Sherwood 42.53, Robert Middleton 53.53, David Rhind 50.45)
Relay pointscore
1 New South Wales 23
2 ACT 18
3 Queensland 17
South Australia 17
5 Victoria 16
6 Tasmania 11
7 Western Australia 9
Total pointscore
1 New South Wales 44
2 ACT 39
South Australia 39
4 Victoria 30
5 Queensland 29
6 Tasmania 25
7 Western Australia 16
