<24.08.06> - Australian Cross Country Championships - Womens Open Race Preview


04 Sep 2006

Athletics Tasmania

Governing Body for Track and Field in Tasmania

 

 

 

MEDIA RELEASE

 

MacFarlane searching for first national title

 

Tasmanian Donna Macfarlane has made rapid progress since her return to elite athletics after a break to start a family – with world championships and Commonwealth Games bronze medals already safely secure in the trophy cabinet.  This weekend she gets the chance to win her first national title.

As Donna Tyberek, MacFarlane captured national junior cross country and 800m and 1500m titles in 1996 and 1997.  In 2006 she was part of the Australian team’s Bronze medal at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, Japan.

Three members of the medal winning squad will battle it out with 40 of Australia’s other best distance runners in the 8km event at the Telstra Australian Cross Country titles to be held at Pontville, just north of Hobart, this Saturday.

At the first glance of the entry list, it appears as though it will be a race in two between Victoria’s Anna Thompson and Tasmania’s MacFarlane.  Both athletes have opted not to follow the European circuit and focus entirely on the Australian cross country title.

Tasmanian’s premier athlete, MacFarlane will be looking to capture her first Australian open title against a quality field.  “I’m happy with how training is progressing and looking forward to running well on home soil,” said MacFarlane.

“I like the course, having run over it last weekend and I think it’s a real cross country course.  I’m confident that I will be able to run my best on it.”

Tasmania’s team will be boosted by recently crowned Australian marathon champion Jenny Gillard.  Jenny, the sister of Commonwealth Games marathon gold medallist Kerryn McCann, won this year’s title in 2.41:05 and will be looking to capture her 2nd Australian title in as many races.

2002 and 2004 Australian cross country champion Anna Thompson will be looking to upstage the locals and her recent form suggests its possible.  “I’ve had a few good preparation races lately, having won the Victorian State Cross Country Championships and City 2 Surf in Sydney,” said Thompson. 

“It’s always nice to win a National title; I love cross country and would love to win this weekend.”  Following Saturday’s race, Thompson will fly out to Europe for the world mountain running trophy in Turkey next month and the IAAF world road running championships in Hungary in October.

The Victoria team will certainly be the favourite for the team event, with Thompson joined by Kate Smyth, who is famous for her courageous finish in the Melbourne Commonwealth Games marathon this year.

Emma Rilen (N), who was a squad member of the bronze medal winning team in Fukuoka, will be heading up the team from New South Wales.  Rilen has recovered well from a recent stress fracture and will be right up there for an individual medal.

Rounding out the known chances for this year’s event is Queenslander Claire Geraghty.  Geraghty has burst onto the domestic distance running scene of late and ran a very respectable 2nd at this months City 2 Surf.  Although the forecast is for mainly fine, the top temperature is expected to only reach 12 degrees on Saturday in Hobart, so rapid acclimatisation will be important for the Queenslander.

A relatively unknown coming into this year’s event will be Australia’s most recent world champion, Hanny Allston.  The 21-year-old Tasmanian won the world orienteering sprint distance title in Denmark earlier this month.  With goals of representing Australia at cross country, Allston will certainly be competitive come race day.

More than 1000 athletes will converge on Tasmania this weekend for the School Sport Australia and Telstra Australian Cross Country Championships to be held at Pontville Equestrian Park and Sporting Complex in Brighton, on the outskirts of Hobart on Saturday.  The Telstra Australian Road Walking Championships and Junior Road Walking Championships will be held on Sunday at the Derwent Entertainment Centre in Hobart. 

Racing commences at 9.30am on Saturday, the open women’s race starts at 2.25pm with the open men’s event timed to start at 3.05pm

Start lists and Event timetables available from the Athletics Australia website at:

http://www.athletics.org.au/events/meets/timetable.cfm?ObjectID=1044

For further information or to arrange athlete interviews, please contact:
Richard Welsh – Athletics Tasmania - (03) 6234 9551 – 0409 820 248