Round 3 of the SILVA National Orienteering League and final World Championship selection races are on this weekend in Tasmania. Team Blackheart members Rob Preston and Kathryn Ewels are hoping to continue their recent good form this season.
First up on Saturday morning is a sprint race on University of Tasmania’s Launceston campus. A quick recovery will be followed by a short drive to Benbullen for the Middle distance race. This map was previously used for the 2009 Easter Carnival and features a mixture of open farmland, plantation and native forest with a scattering of granite boulders. Sunday’s Long distance race is on Lively’s Bog near St Helens, and with recent heavy rains the marshes could be more boggy than ever.
In the women’s series, Kathryn holds a small lead from Victorian Nuggets teammate Jasmine Neve and SA’s Vanessa Round. Kathryn’s Victorian team is leading the National League and look confident of retaining their 2010 title. In the recent competitions in WA, Kathryn picked up 2nd in the 2011 Australian 4-days Championships, and also the Australian Sprint Distance Championships.
In the men’s series, Rob is currently sitting in 3rd place behind SA’s Simon Uppill and Canberra Cockatoo’s Grant Bluett. Rob has had a consistent start to the season, winning race 3 and not finishing worse than 6th in any race. The competition will be tough this weekend with the return of NSW’s star Julian Dent. Dent missed the last round of races due to commitments with his Swedish club Malungs, but his form shows he is the hot favourite. NSW Stingers are looking to extend their lead in the team competition, with the aid of Dent and Ian Meyer who is returning from an injury induced break.
Next week the Australian team to compete at the World Championships in France in August.
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| Rob finishing the Aus Sprint Orienteering Champs in Mandurah |
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| Kathryn on the podium at the Aus Sprint Distance Champs |
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