Julian Dent had a great qualifying run on Monday placing 10th in a field which read like a Who's Who of the orienteering sprinting elite. Simon Uppill also had a good run to qualify but there was a veritable battalion of Australian girls including Grace Crane, Rachel Effeney, Felicity Brown, Mace Neve, Jasmine Neve, Aislinn Prendergast, Kathryn Preston and Anna Sheldon whose great performances saw them all getting places in the final.
The Sprint Final at Wellington College was highly technical and demanded full concentration. Minor mistakes were severely punished with even some veteran campaigners being caught out by the tricky detail. Helena Janssen found herself on what looked like a perfect route along the red line only to end up staring at an uncrossable fence she had somehow missed in her route planning. Tove Alexandersson made the same mistake but was able to adjust and pick up the pace to take the title. Home grown talent Lizzie Ingham had a great race to take a very popular 3rd place. The men's final was hugely competitive as was to be expected, with mere seconds separating places. Mattias Kyberz, recently profiled in the IOF e-magazine, Inside Orienteering, was the winner, with Jerker Lysell of Sweden preventing the Swiss three Mattias' taking out all the top placings. Julian Dent was the best of the Australians with a 13th place, Simon Uppill placing 17th. Amongst the girls Grace Crane topped the Australian listings with 18th place and Rachel Effeney in 21st spot. Special note must be made of Felicity Brown who, in her first time representing Australia at World Cup level, delivered a very creditable performance in 28th place.
Sprint Final results:
Women:1st Tove Alexandersson Sweden,2nd Annika Billstam Sweden,3rd Lizzie Ingham New Zealand
Men: 1st Mattias Kyburz Switzerland, 2nd Jerker Lysell Sweden, 3rd Mattias Merz Switzerland
