Kangaroo Hoppet Home/About the Hoppet/Race Information/Registration Accommodation/Australian XC Website/1996 Results/1997 Results/1998 Results /1999 Results/2000 Results Press Release Kangaroo Hoppet 11 August 25, 2001 Falls Creek, Australia Full Results Kangaroo Hoppet 42km Overall results Men - Women Australian Birkebeiner 21km Overall results Men - Women Joey Hoppet 7km Overall results Men - Women For other results from the Australian season, visit the XC Files The 11th Kangaroo Hoppet was held on Saturday August 25 at Falls Creek. Returning to form for the biggest race of the season, 27 year old Ben Derrick from Wangaratta Ski Club skied away from the field to become the first male to win the 42km event twice. The winner of the women's 42km event was 28 year old Belinda Phillips from Lake Mountain Nordic Team. (Click here for photo of Ben or Belinda) The Kangaroo Hoppet is the Australian leg of the Worldloppet series of long distance cross country ski races, which takes in 16 races in 16 countries. Approximately 1000 skiers took part today, including over 150 international skiers from 25 countries. Snowfalls early in the week and clear weather for the last two days made it possible to use the original Kangaroo Hoppet 42km loop. There was some moderate wind in the morning, but otherwise the race was held in perfect conditions. Derrick and Cameron Morton from Benambra broke away from the pack early on, leaving Fredrik Aukland from Norway and Gaber Lah from Slovenia to lead the chasing bunch. Morton had been in great form this season, winning two Australian Championship races, however Derrick had recently recovered from a bout of the flu and was hungry to win his second Hoppet. At the 15km mark Derrick took advantage of Morton taking a feed from a drink station and managed to gain a 15-20sec break. Morton tried hard but was unable to bridge the gap, and Derrick slowly but surely extended his lead to win by 1min 11sec in a time of 1hr 52min and 43 sec. Aukland ended up in third place, ahead of fast finishing 3-time Australian Winter Olympic cross country skier Anthony Evans. In the women's 42km event the race favourite Camille Melvey skiing for the NSW Institute of Sport made an early break, however a pack soon reformed in the windy conditions including Belinda Phillips from Lake Mountain Nordic Team. At about the 18km mark Phillips made a surprise move, breaking away from Melvey and taking a handy lead into the second half of the figure eight loop. Melvey was unable to respond, and Phillips went on to win by over 3 minutes in a time of 2hr, 13 min 8 sec. Third place went to Carla Zijlstra from the Netherlands, who is a 3-time Winter Olympian in speed skating. Both Derrick and Phillips work at the Howmans Gap Alpine Centre and train at Falls Creek during the season. Derrick will be seeking 2002 Winter Olympic selection in World Cup races at the end of the year. ***** For further information contact Allan Marsland: 03 5754 1045 2001 Kangaroo Hoppet 42km Top 10 Men Top 10 Women 1 Ben Derrick, Victoria 2 Cameron Morton, Victoria 3 Fredrik Aukland, Norway 4 Anthony Evans, ACT 5 Mark Raymond, Victoria 6 Gaber Lah, Slovenia 7 Kare Ulevag, Norway 8 Andrew Wynd, Victoria 9 Ian Franzke, Victoria 10 Nick Almoukov, Russia 1 Belinda Phillips, Victoria 2 Camille Melvey, NSW 3 Carla Zijlstra, Netherlands 4 Robyn Rodd, Victoria 5 Ekaterina Vatmanoskaya, Russia 6 Sandra Paul, Victoria 7 Cherie Power, NSW 8 Alfia Gregoriova, Russia 9 Ronice Goebel, Victoria 10 Megan Greenleaf, USA   2001 Australian Birkebeiner 21km Top 3 Men Top 3 Women 1 Ben Sim, NSW 2 Naoto Yamamoto, Japan 3 Robert Curtis, NSW 1 Rhiannon Palmer, Victoria 2 Katie Calder, ACT 3 Jacinta O'Neill, Victoria   2001 Joey Hoppet Top 3 Men Top 3 Women 1 Andrew Circosta, ACT 2 Mark Van der Ploeg, Victoria 3 Lachlan Rodd, Victoria 1 Esther Bottomley,Victoria 2 Sally Cunningham, ACT 3 Elizabeth Ryan, Victoria RESULTS PREPARED BY INTOUCH TECHNOLOGY - 25/08/2001