It is of course the W21E elite or "Senior A" womens trophy for the classic distance. There is a lot of history on there. The first person to receive the trophy being Robyn Davies in 1973. Robyn is of course still very active today in the PAPO club. The first person to really make it their own though was Trish Aspin who won it four years in a row from 1979 - 1982 and picked up a valedictory title in 1986. Katie Fettes and Carey Martin then battled it out between 1987 - 1992, winning 4 and 2 titles respectively. No doubt they would have continued to gather in the championships if it had not been for that most irrepressible of the womans elite Tania Robinson who came in swinging with 8 straight titles from 1993 into the latest century.
The only elites of the modern era to have gathered titles are Penny Kane, with three titles, while Marquita Gelderman and Rachel Smith have one each. None of these are racing the elite grade this year, so its going to either be someone new or Tania again that grabs the magic goblet. And with Tania rumoured to be charging for a place at the World Games in Taiwan who would bet against her? That said oceania champion Lizzie Ingham and the talented Amber Morrison amongst a myriad of others will be staking their claims!
The leaderboard
Tania Robinson: 11
Trish Aspin: 5
Katie Fettes: 4
Penny Kane: 3
(an old timer may be able to help me out with this one: Are A Salisbury (1983-84) and A Stewart (1985) the same person?)
1 comment:
They are not the same person. I think A Salisbury had the first name Anne but I never met her. A Stewart was an Alison who I met and think was English/Scotish and living in NZ for a few years - think Rob G. knew her quite well. Maybe Bryan's NZOF stats site has some more info.
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