MEDIA RELEASE
July 31, 2005
Raymond Surprise Winner of Australian 30km Championship

The long distance races of the 2005 Australian Cross Country Ski Championships were held today July 31at Falls Creek in North East Victoria.
The surprise packet in the men's 30km Classic was 26-year-old Mark Raymond from Alexandra, who skied away from a stacked men's field to decisively win his first Australian Championship title. In the women's 15km Classic 27-year-old Clare Louise Brumley from Templestowe skied a solo race to win comfortably. Both athletes have their sights set on the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino; Raymond one of two athletes in contention for selection in the sport of Biathlon, and Brumley aiming to qualify in the cross country 10km Classic event.

The skies cleared up early morning to provide excellent conditions for spectators, however the snow softened as the day went on and became very slow particularly for the 30km event. The race was organised by the local Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Club and sponsored by Rocky Valley Bike and Ski Centre.

Brumley broke away from the rest of the 15km field on the opening lap, and was never troubled on her way to her fifth Australian Championship title in three years. Second place went to sprint specialist Esther Bottomley from Mt Beauty in one of her rare appearances in a distance event, with former Australian Champion Robyn Rodd from Jindera in third place.

Raymond picked up the pace right from the start, taking only Ben Derrick from the Wangaratta Ski Club with him and stretching the field out behind.
The two skiers worked together, but when Raymond made a decisive move half way around the third 5km lap Derrick had no answer. Raymond went on to win in the time of 1:37:23, 1:47 ahead of Derrick and 2:36 ahead of yesterday's sprint winner Paul Murray from Mt Beauty.

Raymond, who races for Team Lake Mountain and is a member of both the Australian Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon Teams, said after the race that his original race plan was to sit in the pack and try and score a good percentage result behind the winner. Then 500m into the race he changed his mind and decided he wanted to win. "Half way through the race when I had the gap over Ben, I wasn't sure if I'd be able to hold him off for another 15km,"said Raymond. "But then I told myself you don't get this sort of chance very often, and I buried myself to get as much of a lead as I could."

Both Raymond and Brumley have been based in Mt Beauty since the end of July, taking advantage of the new National Team Training Centre at Falls Creek.

In the Falls Creek Junior Classic competitions the winners were Callum Watson from Cooma and Jaffa Withers from Bright. The next races of the 2005 Australian Championships take place at Perisher Valley in NSW, with the Sprint and 10/15km Freestyle titles on the line.

Contact: Finn Marsland 0408 147 940

SPORTS RESULTS
Cross Country Skiing
Australian 15/30km Championships
July 31, 2005
Falls Creek, Victoria

Australian Championships Women 15km Classic
1 51:02.9 Clare- Louise Brumley VIC
2 59:04.9 Esther Bottomley VIC
3 62:10.4 Robyn Rodd VIC
4 64:22.9 d'Arcy Baxter NSW
5 68:08.6 Robin McLennan VIC

Australian Championships Men 30km Classic
1 1:37:23.4 Mark Raymond VIC
2 1:39:10.6 Ben Derrick VIC
3 1:39:59.7 Paul Murray VIC
4 1:44:51.9 Ben Sim NSW
5 1:46:45.7 Leon Spiller VIC
6 1:46:49.1 Chris Darlington NSW
7 1:46:56.8 Tim Retchford VIC
8 1:48:20.0 James Rickard VIC
9 1:50:36.6 Lindsay Bridgeford NSW
10 1:51:49.7 Greg McLennan VIC

Falls Creek Junior Classic Women 5km
1 20:48.4 Jaffa Withers VIC
2 21:38.7 Juliette Booth VIC
3 23:02.7 Sarah Slattery VIC

Falls Creek Junior Classic Men 10km
1 36:14.9 Callum Watson NSW
2 39:18.7 Alex Almoukov NSW
3 44:36.3 Phillip Bellingham VIC


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