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2008 Australian Open and Junior Championships Conclude - Dong and Violett Strong
Published: Wed Aug 27, 2008 2:00 AM MDT Australian Open / Junior Championship and FIS Australian New Zealand Cup  ANC Women's leader Esther Bottomley has clinched the title The two men’s events were split, with Zach Violett (USA) winning the 10km Freestyle on and Viktor Novotny (CZE) winning the 10km Classic. Ben Sim (AUS) was leading both races after the first 5km lap, however was unable to hold off the international competition. Sim ended up third in the 10km Freestyle, 4.7 seconds behind second placed Novotny, and then was pipped by Novotny the next day by just 2.0 seconds in the 10km Classic. Fourth place on both days went to Geoffroy Pais (FRA), who still retains the overall lead in the ANC ahead of Sim.  American Zach Violett (Fischer/Craft) In the Australian Junior Championship it was an all-Australian affair, with Callum Watson and Georgia Merritt claiming the overall junior male and female titles.  Women's Podium - 5km Classic While the distances in the Australian Championship were a lot shorter they also gave some indication of form leading into the Kangaroo Hoppet at Falls Creek on August 30. The top Hoppet contenders are expected to come from the podium winners from this weekend. While the Australian athletes will be keen to make the most of their home snow advantage, Dong (1st in the 2008 American Birkebeiner) and Novotny (1st in 2008 Dolomitenlauf) have proven their long distance credentials earlier this year and will be hard to topple. 2008 FIS ANC Women Standing After 6 of 7 Events 1 Bottomley Esther AUS 375 2 Watson Aimee AUS 240 =3 Theriault Milaine CAN 200 =3 Dong Evelyn USA 200 5 Ishigaki Sumiko JPN 185 6 Gruber Bettina SUI 150 2008 FIS ANC Men Standing After 6 of 7 Events 1 Pais Geoffroy FRA 360 2 Sim Ben AUS 315 3 Mock Andrew AUS 221 4 Kozu Masaaki JPN 200 5 Honda Shohei JPN 195 6 Kanamaru Tomio JPN 185 Results and news from all competitions will be available at: http://www.hoppet.com.au/xc FIS Australian New Zealand Cup – Update August 20 Competition in the 2008 FIS Australia – New Zealand Cup for cross country skiing has been hot over the last two weeks, with athletes from Canada, Japan, Switzerland and France taking on the locals from Australia and New Zealand. After four events Esther Bottomley (AUS) and Geoffroy Pais (FRA) lead the series, with three events remaining at Falls Creek in Australia. Second to Bottomley in the women’s standings is Milaine Theriault (CAN), who won both distance events at the Snow Farm in New Zealand. Theriault won the 10km Classic ahead of Katherine Calder (NZE) and the 5km Freestyle ahead of Sumiko Ishigaki (JPN). Bottomley finished back in fifth and sixth in the distance events, however leads the series with a first and second place from the two sprint events. Bettina Gruber (SUI) won the Snow Farm Sprint Freestyle ahead of Bottomley and her Swiss team-mate Sandra Gredig (SUI). The four men’s events have had four winners. Pais won the opening Sprint Freestyle at Perisher Valley in Australia, Tomio Kanamaru (JPN) won the Snow Farm 15km Classic, Shohei Honda (JPN) won the Snow Farm Sprint Freestyle, and Robin McKeever (CAN) won the Snow Farm 10km Freestyle. The men’s competitions were extremely tight in New Zealand, as just 13 second separated the top five athletes in the Mass Start 15km, and McKeever won the 10km but just 0.1 of a second ahead of a fast finishing Masaaki Kozu (JPN). Next weekend the ANC continues at Falls Creek with the Australian Championship events on August 23 and 24. Though the Japanese and Canadian athletes are not coming to contest these events the international contingent will still be strong, with skiers from Czech, Slovenia, and the USA joining Pais from France. The final ANC event is the Kangaroo Hoppet 42km Freestyle on August 30, where two of the top contenders will be 2008 American Birkebeiner winner Evelyn Dong (USA), and 2008 Dolomitenlauf winner Victor Novotny (CZE).
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