The final events of the 2005 Australian Championship and Australian Junior Championship took place at Perisher Valley on the weekend of August 20 and 21.
The final events of the 2005 Australian Championship and Australian Junior Championship took place at Perisher Valley on the weekend of August 20 and 21.
In the women's 5km freestyle, Clare-Louise Brumley from Templestowe kept her unbeaten run of the season intact, winning by over a minute from Esther Bottomley.
Camille Melvey was only six seconds behind Bottomley in third place, with Belinda Phillips in fourth and Jane Scheer in fifth. There was a close race between the top junior girls, with Jaffa Withers taking sixth place overall just 10 seconds ahead of d'Arcy Baxter, who was also the first in the U16 class.
In the men's 10km freestyle, NSW Institute of Sport skier Ben Sim added another Open and Junior Australian title to his collection, winning by 57 seconds from Mark Raymond of Team Lake Mountain. James Rickard finished strongly to take third place 20 seconds behind Raymond, with Chris Darlington fourth for the second time this season by just four seconds. Slovenian Gaber Lah, wax technician for the Austrian nordic combined team, took fifth. Mark van der Ploeg was the second junior in sixth place, 1.5 seconds ahead of Leon Spiller.
Simon Flower was the first junior skier still eligible for the 2005/2006 junior team in 10th place overall, but he had a tough fight on his hands to hold off a very fast finishing Alex Almoukov (son of NSWIS coach Nick Almoukov) by 11 seconds after holding a 30 second lead on the first lap. In the younger junior classes Callum Watson won the U16 5km, Giles Richardson won the U14 2.5km in a close race with Matt Rostron (4 seconds back) and Brendan Jones (17 seconds back), and Alasdair Tutt won the U12 2.5km.
The Sunday’s classic races were held on one of those tricky waxing days with variable conditions changing throughout the events and nothing really working that well everywhere. Clare-Louise Brumley cleaned up the women's field again in the 5km classic, with Camille Melvey thriving in the difficult conditions to get up over Esther Bottomley for second place. Belinds Phillips was fourth once again. This time it was Sally Cunningham's turn to be the first junior, making a 25 second turnaround on Aimee Watson in the last 1.5km to take fifth place. Julietee Booth was the first U16 skier in seventh overall, 11 seconds ahead of d'Arcy Baxter who was in turn 4 seconds ahead of Jaffa Withers. In the shorter distances there were no surprises, Elizabeth Pilat and Siobhan Jones winning again in the U14 and U12.
At about the 3.5km mark in the men's 10km classic Ben Sim held a 10 second lead over NSWIS team-mate Chris Darlington, with Mark Raymond six seconds back in third. A lap later Darlington had dropped out of contention but Raymond had closed the gap to Sim to just four seconds. Receiving this time split Sim buried himself over the closing 1.5km and extended his lead to 19 seconds. Mark van der Ploeg produced one of his best races of the season to finish fourth, with Nick Almoukov similarly finding good form to take fifth. This time the first eligible junior was Ewan Watson in eighth overall, 25 seconds ahead of Neil van der Ploeg. Callum Watson , Giles Richardson, and Alasdair Tutt again won the U16, U14, and U12 races. (Courtesy The XC Files)
In the women's 5km freestyle, Clare-Louise Brumley from Templestowe kept her unbeaten run of the season intact, winning by over a minute from Esther Bottomley.
Camille Melvey was only six seconds behind Bottomley in third place, with Belinda Phillips in fourth and Jane Scheer in fifth. There was a close race between the top junior girls, with Jaffa Withers taking sixth place overall just 10 seconds ahead of d'Arcy Baxter, who was also the first in the U16 class.
In the men's 10km freestyle, NSW Institute of Sport skier Ben Sim added another Open and Junior Australian title to his collection, winning by 57 seconds from Mark Raymond of Team Lake Mountain. James Rickard finished strongly to take third place 20 seconds behind Raymond, with Chris Darlington fourth for the second time this season by just four seconds. Slovenian Gaber Lah, wax technician for the Austrian nordic combined team, took fifth. Mark van der Ploeg was the second junior in sixth place, 1.5 seconds ahead of Leon Spiller.
Simon Flower was the first junior skier still eligible for the 2005/2006 junior team in 10th place overall, but he had a tough fight on his hands to hold off a very fast finishing Alex Almoukov (son of NSWIS coach Nick Almoukov) by 11 seconds after holding a 30 second lead on the first lap. In the younger junior classes Callum Watson won the U16 5km, Giles Richardson won the U14 2.5km in a close race with Matt Rostron (4 seconds back) and Brendan Jones (17 seconds back), and Alasdair Tutt won the U12 2.5km.
The Sunday’s classic races were held on one of those tricky waxing days with variable conditions changing throughout the events and nothing really working that well everywhere. Clare-Louise Brumley cleaned up the women's field again in the 5km classic, with Camille Melvey thriving in the difficult conditions to get up over Esther Bottomley for second place. Belinds Phillips was fourth once again. This time it was Sally Cunningham's turn to be the first junior, making a 25 second turnaround on Aimee Watson in the last 1.5km to take fifth place. Julietee Booth was the first U16 skier in seventh overall, 11 seconds ahead of d'Arcy Baxter who was in turn 4 seconds ahead of Jaffa Withers. In the shorter distances there were no surprises, Elizabeth Pilat and Siobhan Jones winning again in the U14 and U12.
At about the 3.5km mark in the men's 10km classic Ben Sim held a 10 second lead over NSWIS team-mate Chris Darlington, with Mark Raymond six seconds back in third. A lap later Darlington had dropped out of contention but Raymond had closed the gap to Sim to just four seconds. Receiving this time split Sim buried himself over the closing 1.5km and extended his lead to 19 seconds. Mark van der Ploeg produced one of his best races of the season to finish fourth, with Nick Almoukov similarly finding good form to take fifth. This time the first eligible junior was Ewan Watson in eighth overall, 25 seconds ahead of Neil van der Ploeg. Callum Watson , Giles Richardson, and Alasdair Tutt again won the U16, U14, and U12 races. (Courtesy The XC Files)
