VICTORIAN CHILDRENS XC CHAMPIONSHIPS
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The 2008 Victorian Junior Championships for cross country skiing will be held at Falls Creek between 19-20 July.
These are the first serious cross-country events of season 2008, with the best athletes vying for contention for selection in the Victorian Junior Team and also for the Australian Junior Team selection races in August.
All the hotly-contested events will feature a mass start format, with classic technique on Saturday and freestyle technique on Sunday. Skiers in U12, U14, U16, U18, and U20 classes compete over distances from 2.5km to 10km, starting at 10:00am each day.
The host, the Wangaratta Ski Club, will run all the weekend’s races on behalf of the Victorian Snowsports Association. Snow conditions are superb at Falls Creek Alpine Resort and over 50km of tracks are now groomed including the Heathy Spur Loop, which is used for the 42km marathon-length Kangaroo Hoppet at the end of August.
Contact Ben Derrick for further event details Tel 0400 110 046. Entries will be accepted on the day of competition.
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CROSS COUNTRY HIGH PLAINS TOUR
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This year's cross-country events began with the annual High Plains Tour which was held in ideal snow conditions.
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Sponsored by Wodonga-based outdoor specialist Snowgum, this skating event was the first opportunity for many of our established (and up and coming) cross country skiers to test themselves and ascertain their current level of fitness.
Seventy-two skiers participated in the High Plains Tour last Saturday on a new 5km course set by the race organisers.
A member of the women's national team, and current number one skater, Esther Bottomley was the first of the women home. Esther's closest rival (and also a member of the national team) Chloe McConville made it interesting, but was unable to match Esther's skating prowess.
Another local skier Paul Murray won the event by successfully holding off a spirited challenge from Andrew Mock and Mark van der Ploeg, who crossed the line together.
Esther Bottomley was ecstatic with the groomed trails she encountered in the race which are now being used for intensive training.
"The trail system at Falls Creek is world class and it makes such a difference when you have groomers who know what they are doing," Bottomley said.
"Our training terrain is fantastic and I have noticed they've groomed all the inner trails around the Nordic Bowl."
Falls Creek national coach Finn Marsland said " The groomers set a special course overnight for us to conduct intensive head to head sprint work today.
"They also groomed Heathy Spur last night and we await Parks Victoria giving the go ahead to groom the remainder of the marathon-length Kangaroo Hoppet course at the beginning of August."
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www.fallscreek.com.au/xcdailyupdate
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Photo; Esther Bottomley 2007
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