MEDIA RELEASE
July 30, 2005
Local Skiers Win Sprint Championships

The 2005 Victorian Sprint Championship was held today at Falls Creek in North-East Victoria. Locally based Australian Team members Paul Murray and Esther Bottomley from Mt Beauty won the open A-finals, with NSW juniors d'Arcy Baxter and Callum Watson winning the U16 junior A-finals. All events counted towards selection for the Australian Team. The competitions were organised by the Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Club.

Special guest for the event was Kaye Darveniza MLC, member for Melbourne West, who officially opened the new Jack Heberle Race Hut. The extension of the hut was jointly funded by Victorian Sport and Recreation, the Falls Creek Resort, and the Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Club.

Sprint events involve a qualifying time trial to seed the top skiers in each class into head-to-head heats with four skiers apiece. The first two finishers in each heat progress to the next round. Today's races were in classic technique over 1km course. Early morning fog cleared up to provide good conditions for racing, and the classic tracks were in great shape thanks to the Falls Creek snow-groomers.

Both Bottomley and Murray posted the fastest time trial results, and were never really threatened on their way through the finals. In the women's A-final junior skier Jaffa Withers from Bright was the first out of the start, but Bottomley quickly regained the lead and left Withers to fight it out with Chloe McConville from Myrtleford for both second place and the Victorian Junior title. Over the top of the hill McConville made a small break and Withers was unable to bridge the gap on the run down the finish and the final straight.

In the men's time trial Murray showed the form that scored him Australia's first World Cup points in February this year, finishing 6 seconds clear from the rest of the field. The contest for the minor places was already on from the start of the finals, with four National Team members knocked out in the quarter final. The semi-finals were even tighter, with the 3 of the top 5 seeds ousted. In the final Murray went quickly to the front, leaving training partner Leon Spiller clear in second ahead of Duane Butcher and Ben Derrick. While Murray went on to win comfortably, Derrick overtook Butcher and slowly closed the gap on Spiller. It went right down to the wire, with Derrick drawing level right before the line and out-lunging Spiller to take second place.

Darcy Baxter from Berridale in NSW was the clear winner in the Under 16 Women's finals, ahead of Juliette Booth from Kew and Georgia Merritt from Ivanhoe. In the Under 16 Men's finals the lead swapped back and forth between Callum Watson from Cooma and Chris Cook from Mt Eliza, with Watson holding on the finish straight to take the win.

Tomorrow is the day for the endurance athletes, with the Australian 15km and 30km Championships at Falls Creek.

Contact: Finn Marsland 0408 147 940

SPORTS RESULTS
Cross Country Skiing
Victorian Sprint Championships
July 30, 2005
Falls Creek, Victoria

Women A-Final
1 Esther Bottomley VIC Mt Beauty
2 Chloe McConville VIC Myrtleford
3 Jaffa Withers VIC Bright
4 Alice Bellingham VIC Mt Beauty

Men A-Final
1 Paul Murray VIC Mt Beauty
2 Ben Derrick VIC Falls Creek
3 Leon Spiller VIC Mt Beauty
4 Duane Butcher VIC Mt Beauty

U20 Junior Women Top 3
1 Chloe McConville VIC Myrtleford
2 Jaffa Withers VIC Bright
3 Alice Bellingham VIC Mt Beauty

U20 Junior Men Top 3
1 Mark van der Ploeg VIC Mt Beauty
2 Simon Flower VIC Mt Beauty
3 Evan van der Ploeg VIC Mt Beauty

U16 Junior Women A-Final
1 d'Arcy Baxter NSW Berridale
2 Juliette Booth VIC Kew
3 Georgia Merritt VIC Ivanhoe
4 Stephanie Ferguson VIC Hawthorn

U16 Junior Men A-Final
1 Callum Watson NSW Cooma
2 Chris Cook VIC Mt Eliza
3 Alex Almoukov NSW Berridale
4 Paul van der Ploeg VIC Mt Beauty

Full results will be available on the Australian Cross Country Skiing
Website: www.hoppet.com.au/xc
Contact Information: Finn Marsland 0408 147940