New Zealand and Australia are both fielding very strong teams for the second trans-Tasman clash of 2010 in Woodhill, Auckland, the last domestic event before an extensive European season leading up to the World Championships in Trondheim, Norway.
Reigning Oceania Middle and Long distance champion Simon Uppill (Australia) and World Champs team-mate Dave Shepherd, will be up against New Zealand Sprint champion Ross Morrison and his World Champs team-mates Tane Cambridge, Tom Reynolds and James Bradshaw.
Competition is expected to be fiercer than usual as both teams look for a psychological edge before departing for Europe.
Reigning NZ Silva Superseries champion and current series leader Darren Ashmore is also in the Test Match team and looking forward to running again in the Woodhill forest where he won his 6th National title last year.
"It'll be good to take on those Aussies again, and to beat them of course" he said. "It's always a supreme test of navigation skill in the Woodhill sand-dunes".
While Ashmore won't be heading to Europe, Ross Morrison, who snatched Ashmore's Middle distance title from him by just 19 seconds this year, will be competing in the World Champs as well as World Cups, World University Champs, O-Ringen and coaching the NZ Junior team at their World Championships.
"It's going to be great" he promised. "I have high hopes for a medal at the World University Champs, and for our team as a whole to do well there. And then the World Champs in Trondheim will be tough, but we have a strong team".
Team-mate Chris Forne who emulated Morrison's 2008 efforts to qualify for all three finals in 2009, and then went one step further to finish in the top 20 of two of them, will be joined by the rest of the team in his year-long training base at Trondheim, site of this years Worlds.
Top New Zealand woman Lizzie Ingham is heading straight from the Superseries races and Test Match to Europe with a similar schedule to the other Kiwis and Aussies, but is also likely to compete in the Park World Tour races later in the year.
"I'm really looking forward to getting a lot of solid experience in over this season" enthused Ingham, who missed the World Champs in 2009 to concentrate on the World Games where she raced extremely well alongside NZ legend Tania Robinson.
"The plan is to use the World Cups to be ready technically and mentally when it comes to World Unis in early July where I should have a much better chance of some good results. The World Champs are the main focus though."
"I don't have any big expectations to win; I'll be focused on getting better in the European terrain" she said. "I went into the Junior Worlds with similar plans and that went well" she added.
Ingham finished in the top-20 twice at Junior Worlds to join a small select group of New Zealanders who have done so at World level, a group that includes World Champs team-mates Ross Morrison (10th at World Games), Chris Forne (2 x top 20 at World Champs) and Tom Reynolds (top 20 at Junior Worlds).
She faces tough competition this weekend and in Europe from Aussie Kathryn Ewels whose two top-10 finishes at World Champs include a fifth at the Sprint in 2009.
The Test Match between Australia and New Zealand is part of the three days of Silva Superseries racing over 5-7 June at Woodhill Forest near Auckland.
NZ Pinestars Team
Auckland, 5-7 June 2010
The following team has been selected to contest the test match against the Australian Bushrangers:
Women
- Rita Homes, Hawkes Bay OC
- Lizzie Ingham, Wellington OC
- Penny Kane, Wellington OC
- Lara Princ,e Peninsula & Plains Orienteers
- Angela Simpson, Orienteering Bay of Plenty
- Rebecca Smith, Orienteering Bay of Plenty
- Reserve: Amber Morrison, Hawkes Bay OC
Men
- Darren Ashmore, Orienteering Bay of Plenty
- James Bradshaw, Counties Manukau OC
- Tane Cambridge, Dunedin OC
- Karl Dravitzki, Orienteering Taranaki
- Ross Morrison, Hawkes Bay OC
- Thomas Reynolds, North West OC
- Reserve: Scott McDonald, Hawkes Bay OC
World Orienteering Championships Team
Trondheim, Norway, August 7-15, 2010
The following team has been selected to contest the 2010 World Orienteering Championships for New Zealand:
Women
- Rita Homes, Hawkes Bay OC (Sprint, Middle, Long, Relay)
- Lizzie Ingham, Wellington OC (Sprint, Middle, Long, Relay)
- Lara Prince, Peninsula & Plains Orienteers (Sprint, Middle, Long, Relay)
Men
- James Bradshaw, Counties Manukau OC (Long)
- Tane Cambridge, Dunedin OC (Sprint, Middle)
- Chris Forne, Peninsula & Plains Orienteers (Sprint, Middle, Long, Relay)
- Ross Morrison, Hawkes Bay OC (Sprint, Middle, Relay)
- Thomas Reynolds, North West OC (Long)
