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MEDIA RELEASE
July 28, 2003
The ACT and NSW Cross Country Skiing Open and Junior Championships
were held on Saturday July 26 and Sunday July 27 at Perisher Valley
in NSW. In the women's 5km Freestyle and 5km Classic competitions it
was an ACT Academy of Sport double, with Katherine Calder cleaning
up the open class and Sally Cunningham winning the overall junior
class. In the men's competitions NSW Institute of Sport junior skier
Ben Sim won both the 10km Freestyle and 10km Classic events,
claiming both the open and junior titles.
Calder, the 2002 Australian Champion, made it clear that she will
again be the skier to beat this season. The 22 year old who resides
in Jindabyne during the winter won the 5km events by over a minute
each day, and will go in as favourite next weekend when the 2003
Australian Championships begin at Mt Hotham. This year the
Australian Championships are spread out over 4 weekends, with
Perisher Valley hosting the Sprint and 15/30km events the following
two weekends and Falls Creek hosting the final 5/10km events on
August 23-24.
Cunningham had a fall early in the 5km Freestyle and was 10 seconds
down after 1.5km on her main junior rival Aimee Watson from Cooma.
However the 17-year old from Jerrabombera fought back and ended up
21 seconds ahead of Watson at the finish and in 2nd pace overall
behind Calder. In the 5km Classic Cunningham lead Watson all the way
to win the junior class by 33 seconds. The junior events this
weekend were also the first two national junior selection races, and
both Cunningham and Watson have now qualified for the Australian
Junior Team for 2003/2004.
17 year old Ben Sim from Cooma won the 10km Freestyle on Saturday by
41 seconds ahead of fellow NSWIS scholarship holder Chris Darlington
from Jindabyne, but had a tougher battle in the 10km Classic the
next day with former Australian Champion and triple Winter Olympian
Anthony Evans who now lives in Canberra. Sim held a slender 3-second
lead from Evans on the first 5km lap, before digging deep on the 2nd
lap to extend his lead out to 20 seconds at the finish. Sim, who
broke Evans' performance record at the AIS in June, is touted as the
next big thing in Australian cross country skiing, but may have more
competition in the senior ranks next weekend down in Victoria.
The first races of the 2003 Australian Championships are on next
Sunday August 3 at Mt Hotham in Victoria. For more information
contact Finn Marsland on 0408 147 940.
SPORTS RESULTS
Cross Country Skiing
ACT/NSW Championships
July 26-27, 2003
Perisher Valley, NSW
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ACT Championships, July 26
Open Women 5km Freestyle
1 Katherine Calder ACT 17:59
2 Sally Cunningham ACT 19:14
3 Camille Melvey NSW 19:21
4 Aimee Watson NSW 19:35
5 Carla Zijlstra-Evans ACT 20:00
Open Men 10km Freestyle
1 Ben Sim NSW 30:25
2 Chris Darlington NSW 31:06
3 Nick Almoukov NSW 31:13
4 Mark van der Ploeg VIC 32:14
5 Ewan Watson NSW 32:26
Junior Women 5km Freestyle
1 Sally Cunningham ACT 19:14
2 Aimee Watson NSW 19:35
3 Abbey Grimmer VIC 21:33
Junior Men 10km Freestyle
1 Ben Sim NSW 30:25
2 Mark van der Ploeg VIC 32:14
3 Ewan Watson NSW 32:26 |
NSW Championships, July 27
Open Women 5km Classic
1 Katherine Calder ACT 18:38
2 Camille Melvey NSW 19:43
3 Sally Cunningham ACT 20:15
4 Leanne Laajoki ACT 20:41
5 Aimee Watson NSW 20:48
Open Men 10km Classic
1 Ben Sim NSW 31:59
2 Anthony Evans ACT 32:19
3 Chris Darlington NSW 33:32
4 Nick Almoukov NSW 34:40
5 Mark van der Ploeg VIC 35:34
Junior Women 5km Classic
1 Sally Cunningham ACT 19:14
2 Aimee Watson NSW 19:35
3 Jaffa Withers VIC 23:30
Junior Men 10km Classic
1 Ben Sim NSW 31:59
2 Mark van der Ploeg VIC 35:34
3 Evan van der ploeg NSW 38:41 |
Full results will be
available on the Australian Cross Country Skiing
Website:
www.hoppet.com.au/xc
Contact Information:
Finn Marsland
0408 147940
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