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2003 Oceania MTB Championships - C
Australia, February 22, 2003
2002 Results Results Past winners
Grigson and Gordon dominate
By Joe Ward
While the local farmers in the north east of Victoria were rejoicing at the substantial rain, the hundreds of mountain bikers from around the country and across the Tasman, were a bit apprehensive having not ridded in mud for a fair while.
The rain eased off, and with a warm night before the Four Cross, the newly built track dried off to give gobs of grip. The only jersey to look for was the flash of red belonging to John Johnson (Felt). The ex-BMX'er showed everyone his impressive snap out of the gate and super smooth handling skills to cane all comers.
By mid afternoon, the heat and humidity had become uncomfortable, and this would be a strong factor in the racing. The familiar colours of Subaru/Gary Fisher rider Mary Grigson made a return to the start line after a long spell off the bike. With many rumouring her retirement she was out to quieten the pundits.
With a 500-mtr drag race to the first singletrack, position was all-important, with Dellys Franke, Suzy Pryde (NZ) and Mary all at the front. Exiting the singletrack it was Mary leading and daylight second, Franke and Pryde were already 30 seconds down. Grigson's fresh legs showing they have lost nothing in the top end.
With first place sewn up and stretching out every lap, all eyes were on second and third. Pryde still holding second place three laps in, with Franke and Lisa Mathison on her tail. Franke fell off the group leaving the junior world champion Mathison to reel in Pryde, Mathison saying she couldn't stick with Pryde on the numerous sharp climbs but her superior descending and technical skills bringing her back to her wheel.
On the bell lap, Mathison found the legs to pass Pryde and set upon establishing a substantial gap.
Out at the front, Grigson put on a dominating performance, the winner by 3:38. She rolled over line looking annoyingly relaxed and composed. She said that apart from winning she really enjoyed the ride and it affirmed to her why she loves mountain bikes, her months off the bike appearing to pay off and setting her up for her next major goal of selection for the Athens Olympics.
Mathison put 37 seconds into Pryde at the line, coming second to a rider over 10 years her senior. She is off to Switzerland this week to take up a scholarship at the World Cycling Academy, The first ever Australian inductee to this prestigious institution.
The Men made for an impressive looking start as they crested the rise into the singletrack. A wall of yellow made up of Sobe/Cannondale riders, Rowney, Lefman and Gordon hit the tight stuff first. The only rider to upset the colour scheme was National Champion Sid Taberlay (Avanti). He was first to exit the singletrack and was carrying so much speed he had to corner motocross-style.
Taberlay later said he grabbed the lead to slow the pace down because he was suffering with the humidity. One rider not to make it out of the first lap was National series point leader Peter Hatton, crashing hard off one of the jumps and being knocked unconscious.
The lead changed hands many times over the next few laps between Craig Gordon, Taberlay and Lefman, who was later dropped and replaced by Josh Fleming (Felt).
With the fourth lap, Gordon put the hammer down and left Taberlay and Fleming to sort out the minor places, eventually putting 4:08 on them to cruise home and take the title. Gordon said that he just rode the race at his own pace. Taberlay, though suffering, kept Fleming at bay 26 seconds behind. He's now off to Italy to join the Mapai Mountain Bike team for this year's world cup and European circuit. He'll be joined at Mapai by Trent Lowe who was unable to race due to a recent collision with a car, coming off second best and breaking his collarbone, requiring a plate.
The newly built downhill course, designed by Ben Reynolds for the Oceania's, was one for the peddlers. From the start, the first turn was after a short uphill section then into 8 switchbacks in a row to upset any sort of flow until the course flattened out into some man-made sections. There was nothing too burly but plenty of trees to take out those lacking focus.
The Women's race was a walk over by Tai-Lee Muxlow, despite a sketchy landing at the log jump pleasing the big crowd all waiting for carnage.
In the Men's, Sam Hill was the man to watch as he set the fastest time of 3.02.25 in qualifying, again proving that his rainbow jersey was no fluke, nor was his win in the monster huck-fest that is the Redbull ride. However, with the likes of Rennie and Kovaric not in attendance it would prove a slightly easier task than normal.
With the powdery track now becoming loose and rutted, times were unlikely to get any better. In the final Shane Wode, got comfortable in the hot seat by posting 3.04.92, which was still two and a half seconds outside Hill's earlier time.
The crowd now anticipating Hill's final run and they weren't disappointed as he improved on his qualifying run by over five seconds, showing that he is better on the flat bits, better on the burly bits, just better all round.
Hill obviously lets his riding do the talking and his only comment was that he just pedalled a bit harder on the flats to make up the five seconds.
Photos
Images by Joe Ward
- Lisa Mathison and Mary Grigson chat after the race
- Mary Grigson rides through the trees
- Mathison hot on the heels of Grigson
- The first climb in the Men's XC race
- Tai-Lee Muxlow styling it up in the downhill
- Sam Hill heads for first place
- Sid Taberlay leads eventual winner Craig Gordon
- OUCH! That's gunna hurt tomorrow
- A downhill rider shoots through the trees
- Not exactly the best shoes for DH racing
- Sid Taberlay having a look around
- Landing one of the man-made jumps on the DH course
- It's all about the style
- Craig Gordon takes out the Men's XC
- Sam Hill grabs some air
- Riders getting air on the 4X course
- Mary Grigson crosses the line to win
Results
Cross Country
Expert Men 1 Ben Randall 1.49.08 2 David Ferroni 6.10 3 Adrian Whitworth 6.37 4 Luc Plowman 7.01 5 Andrew Bell 11.35 6 Stephen Van dyke 11.36 7 Ben Rouse 15.35 8 Martin Strozik 19.41 9 David Stienhouse 21.36 10 Andrew Dixon 29.53 11 Justin Bateman 38.59 12 Tim Andrews 44.30 13 Geoff Vietz 1 lap 14 Alex Randall 1 lap 15 Nem Ivancenic 1 lap DNF Tim Odwyer Sport Men 1 Jeremy Clark 1.12.33 2 Nathan Lorkin 23 3 Jason Jackson 5.03 4 Simon Pateman 5.20 5 Matthew Doble 6.19 6 Adam Hawken 6.59 7 Simon Leighfield 7.02 8 Ben Patrick 7.19 9 Julian Fox 11.11 10 Dean O'neill 11.22 11 Aaron Davies 12.08 12 Dean Hunt 12.53 13 Geoff Kelly 12.58 14 Carl Maroney 13.33 15 Simon Bone 14.06 16 Tim Procter 18.32 17 Jochen Schreyvogel 19.02 18 Mark Cooper 23.33 19 Edgar Mercado 25.52 20 Robert Novella 28.53 DNF Scott Keneally DNF Sean Richardson Sport Women 1 Melissa Auset 52.09 2 Vinca Low 4.07 3 Tory Thomas 5.19 4 Donna Hamlin 6.22 5 Justine Leahy 16.11 6 Kelly Linaker 20.19 7 Libby Evans 25.35 DNF Aurelia Strozik Veteran Men 1 Evan Jeffery 1.26.04 2 Ryan Starr 3.14 3 Sean kierce 3.18 4 Craig Mclean 5.00 5 Paul Reed 6.56 6 Scott Caraher 7.29 7 Paul Bryant 10.43 8 Tim McColl 14.03 9 Wes Samson 15.20 10 Damien Jones 15.39 11 Chris Neenan 15.50 12 Anthony Natoli 16.26 13 Brett Kellett 17.22 14 Dale Weston 26.30 15 Damian Auton 57.42 DNF Sam Stapleton Veteran Women 1 Jane Ollerenshaw 58.49 2 Jeni Watson 23.49 Masters Men 1 Warren Key 1.06.41 2 Rob Amos 8.23 3 Garron Bucklan 9.29 4 Hans Dielacher 10.57 5 Craig Peacock 15.47 6 Finlay Luff 16.37 7 Christopher Bland 21.26 8 Stephen Johnson 25.19 9 Craig Watkin 30.36 DNF Paul Verheijden Super Masters Men 1 Nicholas Bird 1.11.31 2 Kahn Franke 6.55 3 Brian Scarbough 7.48 4 Robert Faull 14.44 5 Errol Shearsby 16.48 6 Dennis Richards 22.41 7 Murray Willet 26.29 DNF Noel Allen Under 19 Men 1 Alistair Farley 1.20.23 2 Mark Frendo 23 3 Shaun Lewisu19 2.04 4 Matthew Molan 3.09 5 James Maebus 3.32 6 Bret Townsend 3.44 7 Daniel McConnell 5.09 8 Andrew Wade 5.12 9 Justin Case 8.09 10 Mathew Dewes 8.58 11 Josh Keep 10.45 12 Nigel Cross 12.37 13 Steven Butler 19.05 DNF Jacob Lea DNF Sam Bewley DSQ Miles Watson U19 Men Non UCI 1 John Groves 1.48.49 DNF Chris Allen Under 19 Women 1 Carissa Wilkes 1.18.58 2 Katrina Wilkinson 7.40 Under 17 Men 1 Joel healey 1.04.18 2 Cal Britten 29 3 Garry Millburn 6.46 Under 15 Men 1 Nick Bossy 41.50 2 Benjamin Hunter 24.01 Fun Men 1 Tim Ferres 27.55 2 Martin Turner 3.48 3 Ben Mott 7.07 4 Mark Hudson 11.09 Fun Women 1 Katherine Navarro 41.40 Pro Elite Men 1 Craig Gordon 1.53.43 2 Sid Taberlay 4.08 3 Josh Fleming 4.36 4 Chris Jongewaard 5.52 5 Perin Delacour 6.01 6 Luke Stockwell 6.33 7 Murray Spink 7.04 8 Shaun Lewis 7.07 9 Ian Longville 7.10 10 Aiden Lefman 7.52 11 Jason Clement 8.33 12 Stuart Houltham 9.49 13 Nick Both 10.39 14 Nick Kiraly 13.12 15 Chris Winn 13.37 16 James Williamson 15.22 17 Brian Sing 17.08 18 marcus Roy 17.44 19 James Dickey 19.17 20 Brent Miller 20.09 21 Mark Leishman 20.19 22 Paul Bishop 22.55 23 Hilton Power 23.39 24 Tim Hucker 1 lap 25 Scott Lyttle 26 Tim Vincent 27 Jai Crawford 28 Jarrod Dwyer 1 lap 29 Michael Postme 2 lap 30 Aaron Kells 31 Paul Rowney DNF Rob Eva DNF David Newton DNF Byron Horwood Pro Elite Women 1 Mary Grigson 1.28.26 2 Lisa Mathison 3.38 3 Suzy Pryde 4.15 4 Niki Gudex 6.53 5 Robyn Wong 7.18 6 Dellys Franke 7.47 7 Sadi Parker Wyne 8.04 8 Eleanor Patterson 11.54 9 Jenni King 15.36 10 Cathy McAuliffe 22.46 11 Maria Papadopous 25.06 12 Rebecca Cullen 1 lap DNF Jaci Low
Downhill
Elite Men
Run 1 Run 2
1 Sam Hill 3.02.25 2.57.23
2 Shane Wode 3.10.39 3.04.93
3 Jared Graves 3.05.83 3.05.08
4 Tim Nelson 3.08.78 3.06.96
5 Jared Rando 3.08.35 3.08.18
6 Justin Havukainen 3.11.39 3.08.86
7 Glen Haden 3.10.06 3.09.27
8 Justin Leov 3.08.45 3.09.43
9 Joel Panozzo 3.04.62 3.10.21
10 Bryn Atkinson 3.12.09 3.10.65
11 Mathew Tape 3.12.68 3.11.50
12 Tim Mann 3.15.75 3.12.02
13 Ricky Boyer 3.15.29 3.12.46
14 Dave West 3.14.21 3.12.81
15 Luke Strom 3.09.10 3.13.14
16 Tom Holland 3.11.19 3.13.35
17 Brad Kelly 3.15.77 3.14.34
18 William Yarwood 3.17.52 3.16.16
19 Miles Mead 3.14.02 3.16.72
20 Jamie Green 3.17.79 3.16.79
21 Robbie McNaugton 3.18.33 3.17.60
22 Nathan Rankin 3.04.01 3.18.46
23 Jensen Woodcock 3.18.27 3.19.54
24 Ben Cory 3.11.47 3.19.66
25 James Dodds 3.12.87 3.20.20
26 Andrew Maxwell 3.18.62 3.21.90
27 Adam Dossetor 3.16.28 3.23.35
28 Craig VanHaren 3.15.59 3.23.75
29 Jason Codding 3.15.35 3.36.16
30 Tim Mackersy 3.16.87 3.42.26
31 Ryan Lennox 3.19.01
32 Nathan Standford 3.19.38
33 Mick Ross 3.20.15
34 Mark Steffens 3.20.35
35 Dennis Beare 3.20.43
36 Andrew Mills 3.20.44
37 Scott Sharples 3.22.34
38 Craig Yates 3.22.88
39 Alex Malone 3.23.47
40 Alan Crisp 3.23.48
41 Nari Jenkins 3.24.10
42 Dave Ferroni 3.24.52
43 Hugh Feggans 3.24.87
44 Andy Epthorp 3.24.92
45 Jonathon Taylor 3.26.33
46 Ryan Goddard 3.26.88
47 Mark Turek 3.27.06
48 Shane Weaving 3.27.33
49 Matt West 3.27.35
50 Peter Hutchinson 3.27.78
51 Ben Watkins 3.29.57
52 John Farrow 3.30.55
53 Wylia Burchail 3.30.77
54 Leigh Hocken 3.31.27
55 John Thomas 3.31.34
56 Peter Horch 3.32.80
57 Jarrah Cocks 3.33.63
58 Joe Achilles 3.33.88
59 David Moran 3.38.47
60 John Johnson 3.42.92
61 Patrick Chamber 16.43.13
DNF Michael Robinson
Elite Women
1 Tai-Lee Muxlow 3.42.40 3.31.21
2 Niki Gudex 3.54.04 3.54.45
3 Lucy Topman 4.26.90 4.18.81
4 Debbie Macgregor 5.08.11 5.08.50
U19 Men
1 Lindsay Klein 3.10.56 3.07.95
2 Craig Pattle 3.11.68 3.13.40
3 Martyn Fry 3.19.14 3.19.33
4 Riley Donaldson 3.14.81 3.19.37
5 Mathew Lawson 3.24.52 3.21.56
6 Kaine Cannan 3.21.62 3.21.60
7 Benjamin Kinnunen 3.20.08 3.23.57
8 Ben Sanders 3.22.07 3.26.17
9 David McLauglin 3.16.49 3.26.62
10 Lincoln Verazs 3.20.65 3.36.61
11 Josh Boyd 3.24.64
12 Jarl Jenson 3.24.98
13 Michael Kearton 3.25.15
14 Jarah Breese 3.25.24
15 Hugh Peters 3.25.46
16 Phillip Scicluna 3.28.73
17 Ken Valhorse 3.34.73
18 Che Pianta 3.41.67
19 Jack Willet 3.46.80
20 Sam Gregory 3.48.53
21 Steven Mathews 3.48.64
U19 Women
1 Scarlett Hagen 3.46.85 3.34.33
Expert Men
1 Matt Swann 3.20.36
2 Nick Stubbs 3.22.60
3 Simon Gubbins 3.24.02
4 Phillip Charlton 3.26.18
5 Jason Morison 3.26.76
6 Ben Mundy 3.28.12
7 Craig Larson 3.29.87
8 Karl Peel 3.30.95
9 Aaron Lyons 3.34.24
10 Arran Thorburn 3.34.67
11 Paul Glowacki 3.35.17
12 Phillip Anderson 3.36.07
13 Nick Anderson 3.37.17
14 Luck Blockey 3.37.59
15 Ben Morgan 3.39.76
16 Andrew Threlfall 3.43.26
17 Leighton Smith 3.45.92
18 Jackson Hepper 3.47.05
19 Nick Cruickshank 3.48.06
20 Andrew Watson 3.49.98
DNF Nick Barrett
Super Masters Men
1 Tony Burchill 3.55.72
2 Christopher Howe 4.33.24
DNF Allen Grundy
Masters Men
1 Michael Scicluna 4.34.19
Veteran Men
1 Ben Reynolds 3.23.20
2 Rob Eva 3.24.27
3 Lorne Dennis 3.25.19
4 Michael Norman 3.32.80
5 Mathew Evans 3.33.22
5 Glenn Hicks
7 Oliver Klein 3.33.55
8 Steve Munyard 3.40.64
9 Evan James 3.42.90
10 Michael Sierp 3.44.55
11 Tyron McLean 3.45.49
12 Grant Bidois 3.46.34
13 Michael Warrior 3.47.09
14 Damian Auton 3.48.07
15 Daryly Snowden 3.48.19
16 Scott Watkins 3.50.87
17 Ian Petrie 3.52.88
18 Craig Penglase 3.53.64
19 John Peterson 3.55.79
20 Adam Peng 4.21.67
21 Justin Armstrong 4.22.73
22 Brad Warrior 4.28.20
23 Paul Eckert 5.30.87
DNF Simon Trewella
U17 Men
1 Liam Panozzo 3.18.47
2 Darren Pokoj 3.27.15
3 Brett Pengelley 3.28.24
4 Sam Hochen 3.28.92
5 Tylah Breese 3.29.87
6 Ayden Eves 3.34.21
7 Chris Panozzo 3.35.75
8 Timothy Eaton 3.37.11
9 Amiel Carralier 3.42.00
10 Ben Stray 3.42.16
11 Scott Grundy 3.45.83
12 Chris Hetherington 3.46.54
13 Ricky Lee 3.52.65
14 Jack Timms 3.53.29
15 James Freshwater 3.54.12
16 Willima Cookesley 3.56.73
17 Alex Strickland 4.05.40
18 Chris Honey 4.13.68
19 Matt Rowley 4.20.37
20 Josh Sommers 4.38.57
21 Hugh Gooding 5.17.47
U15 Men
1 David Hetherington 3.53.15
2 Tim Harrington 3.57.71
3 Ashley Grundy 4.05.09
4 David Rowley 4.18.04
5 Murray Stephens 5.30.31
Sport Men
1 Sam Steinlauf 3.36.49
2 Shane Gayton 3.45.36
3 Jorge Robinson 3.46.42
4 Dan Hill 3.46.89
5 Peter Fothergill 3.49.25
6 Craig Moore 3.50.95
7 Mamie Mahony 3.52.67
8 Josh Risby 3.53.14
9 Clarke Smith 3.53.16
10 Ashley Koomen 3.53.66
11 Mathew Dixon 3.55.09
12 Matt Bolger 3.59.33
13 Simon Troughton 4.00.57
14 Simon Jacombs 4.02.65
15 Paul Neil 4.04.18
16 Nick Fraser 4.05.59
17 David Lombardi 4.05.71
18 Ian Russell 4.07.96
19 Aaron Rogers 4.09.69
20 Ashley Logan 4.11.37
21 James Reid 4.18.17
22 Adrian Caddy 4.20.31
23 Jason Rusano 4.31.78
24 Chris Liesfiled 4.36.24
25 Mathew Tickle 4.37.78
26 Dean Keeble 4.38.97
27 Peter Michaelslu 4.40.50
28 Will Horton 4.40.80
29 Andrew Smith 4.47.74
30 Lucaas Bate 4.52.68
31 Damian Georgiou 4.52.82
32 Tim Price 5.09.93
33 Adrian Giblett 5.19.10
34 Andrew Westlake 5.52.52
35 Berin Boughton 5.59.39
36 Shayne Lewis 6.05.30
37 Ken Pederson 10.23.89
DNF Ricky Lambourn
Sport Women
1 Carla McLeish 4.46.59
2 Vinca Low 4.59.40
3 Jodi Troughton 5.08.96
4 Kate Holzer 5.25.11
5 Emily Rousseau 5.40.13
6 Amanda Paterson 6.05.40
7 Cindie Sassons 6.05.78
Hardtail
1 Nicholas Wright 3.39.82
2 Johnny Dowe 3.59.40
3 Daniel Stray 4.09.36
4 Andy Lever 4.25.41
5 David O'keefe 4.28.60
6 Duan Davies 4.50.33
7 James Young 5.25.85
Four Cross
A Grade 1 John Johnson 2 Jamie Green 3 Carl Wilson 4 Craig VanHaren B Grade 1 Simon Anderson 2 Andrew Watson 3 Andrew Dickey 4 James Hollings C Grade 1 Liam Panozzo 2 Darren Pokoj 3 Philip Anderson 4 Hugh Gooding Women 1 Amanda Patterson 2 Cindy sassons 3 Lucy Topman
Past Winners
Men Women 2002 Josh Fleming (Aus) Claire Baxter (Aus)
