Preview of Dutch nationals cross country at Rijen - First day, February 28, 2009
Women 1997 - 1200 metres - starts 11.40 CET
The 1997 group was merged with the group of 1996 in most of the Dutch cross country events
of this winter. Almost all of the races were dominated by the older year, and the mutual
margins between athletes of 1997 were always narrow. This makes it hard to predict what
will happen in Rijen this Saturday. There are just too many capable candidates, like Helen
Coenen, Zillah Cornelissen, Corinde van Es, Fieke Kivits, Sanne Rijnders, Sabine Rutten,
Dagmar Smid, and many more, so please don't shoot us, when a name is not on this list. The
more candidates we have, the more this very short race becomes a lottery. Luck and upper
body strength will play a leading part, and that is exactly the opposite of the official
policy of the Dutch Federation for very young athletes, as described in our footnote. They
official policy comes down to saying one thing, and meaning another, as usual...
Women 1996 - 1200 metres - starts 11.50 CET
Unofficial title defender Nisrine Masrhalmi dominated the cross country scene in Tilburg
and Breda, and also the 1000 metres Runaway in Apeldoorn. Still she will have to face a
very tough fight for victory with Marjolein Verheem, who defeated her by a long way in the
outdoor nationals in Amsterdam last September. Verheem also plays field hockey at a high
level, so she rarely runs, when team competition calls. She made her first XC appearance
at the North Brabant championships in Stiphout, where she preceded Renske van de Wijdeven,
the convincing winner of Soest, by no less than 19 seconds. Van de Wijdeven may be a
candidate for gold in 2010, but for now, we rate her one of the contenders for bronze, the
others being Esther Brilman, Lotte Keizers, and Judith Rasch. Keizers and Rasch are not
very tall, and this will work against them in a race of only three quarters of a mile over
a narrow course.
Men 1997 - 2100 metres - starts 11.55 CET
This is only the second time in Dutch XC events of this winter, that athletes of 1996 and
1997 are split up. The men of 1996 have been very dominant in the combined races, and this
makes it rather difficult to find candidates willing to take the burden that comes with a
nomination for victory. Perhaps Thijs Spierenburg qualifies for this risky job, since he
was the best 97'er most of the time. Franklin van Anrooij defeated him in Tilburg on
November 22, and Stan Zeegers did so in Stiphout, on February 1. To the best of our
knowledge, Thijs (< Matthew) was the boss in the other important races.
Men 1996 - 2100 metres - starts 12.10 CET
Lars van der Poel defeated Miel Andriessen in the major races in Tilburg, Soest, and
Breda, but the margin was always close. Van der Poel did not start in the championships of
North Brabant in Stiphout, so Andriessen had it all to himself on the first of February,
after three months of cross country. Van der Poel and Andriessen will engage in close
combat again in Rijen, so Yassine Loukili, Jelmer de Maré, and Daniel Oderkerk should not
count on more than bronze.
Women 1995 - 2100 metres - starts 12.22 CET
The women of 1995 have their own race in Rijen, for the first time since Tilburg on
November 22. Minke van der Meer was clearly the strongest of the 1995 group in Tilburg and
Soest. She skipped Breda, but she is still the candidate for gold, of course.
Sophie van der Most and Laura Rijvers got back in shape early in February, but this may be
a sign that they have peaked right on time. The long list of candidates for a medal
includes Meike van Gastel, Karlijn Mertens, Mirthe Nelissen, Denise Sinnema, and perhaps a
third Frisian, Fleur Baljet.
Women 1994 - 2100 metres - starts 12.35 CET
Julia van Velthoven is the uncontested favorite for the gold in this age group, the more
so because her closest rival Jip Vastenburg moved up to the race over 3900 metres for
women of 1992-1993 on Sunday. No one born after 1993 has defeated her this winter, and it
is unlikely to happen this Saturday either, at less than 10 miles from her hometown. She
did not do great over 1500 meters at the indoor nationals in Apeldoorn earlier this month
(she is capable of running 4.30 soon with a below-average amount of training, and even her
older rivals Maureen Koster and Jamie van Lieshout would agree on this), but she was still
27 seconds quicker than one of her nearest challengers of the 1994 group, Saskia Weinans.
The battle for silver and bronze will certainly involve Tirza van der Wolf, Pascale Maas,
and Judi Becx, and perhaps Laura Wientjens. Van der Wolf is quickly finding her shape of
2007. She celebrated a convincing victory in Breda, so she may be the closest rival of Van
Velthoven for Saturday.
Men 1995 - 3300 metres - starts 12.50 CET
The men of 1995 do also have have their own race for the first time since Tilburg,
November 22. Niek (< Nicholas) Blikslager won in Tilburg, and even defeated the
Belgians, who are usually stronger in these age groups. Blikslager lives all the way up in
the North of the countray, and did not come down for the major XC races in Soest and
Breda. Rob ter Burg was the best 95'er in Soest and Breda, unless the unkown 9th finisher
of Breda was a 95'er too. Milco Hahury and Luis van Orsouw have also done well throughout
the winter, so they must be added to the list of candidates for the medals.
Men 1994 - 3300 metres - starts 13.05 CET
Olaf van den Bergh won the Sylvester XC in Soest on December 31, and the North Brabant XC
championships in Stiphout, on February 1. He really had to fight in both races, to hold of
Jorijn de Maré, and Rik van der Steen, respectively. De Maré won in Breda on January 17,
but Van den Bergh and Van der Steen did not start there. We expect these three to battle
for gold in Rijen, but Wadi Moussaoui and Tommy Staal may join the party. Staal, for
example, defeated De Maré on a flat and fast grass course in Brussels, in the side event
of the European championships.
Note - There is quite a lot of talent in the above mentioned age groups, and it has to be guarded from being wasted. This is one reason not to include even younger age groups in this preview, though it would be fun to do so. We do certainly not always agree with officials of Dutch Track & Field Federation at Papendal (some even started to nickname these headquarters Babylon, for their frequent disorder and inconsistency), but we shall respect their policy of not putting any premature pressure on the shoulders of athletes that are referred to as pupils, even though this policy merely exists in writing. For the period of November 1, 2008 through October 31, 2009, pupils are athletes born after 1997. As far as the masters go (athletes having reached the age of 35 years), there are too many uncertainties to make a preview of their championship races worthwhile.
Copyright © 2009 by Michel Franssen
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