MTBO hat-tricks to Skelton, Ridley-Smith

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Last Updated: Monday, 08 April 2019 09:46

ONSW director Michael Ridley-Smith had a weekend to remember, winning all three M40 races at the NSW MTBO titles in Newcastle.

New Zealander Georgia Skelton did likewise in the open women (W21) class, as Sunday's Long Distance champs presented a spider web of tracks both sides of the Pacific Highway in Killingworth.

Rookie Tim Doman, who came into the weekend with just a few BOSS events under his belt, again streeted the field - this time by 15 minutes in taking out M21 over a gruelling 

The start and finish took competitors through the area for Saturday's Sprint race, while west of the freeway it was very scenic... but very muddy. One creek crossing was thigh-deep and 5m wide! Great fun but slow going - more like Tough Mudder!

More than 100mm of rain in the past fortnight made conditions tough for all riders, adding about 20 minutes to the anticipated winning time for each course. 

The forest was lovely and cool, while outside in the sun the mercury was in the high 20s. The cleared dirt tracks beneath the powerlines were surprisingly badly rutted and not always the best route choice option despite the ease of navigation.

Congratulations to these NSW orienteers who won Long titles: Erika Enderby (W14, NC), Mikayla Enderby (W16, NC), Rhiannon Prentice (W20, NC), Carolyn Haupt (W40, GO), Carolyn Matthews (W50, NC), Toy Martin (W70, NC), Anakin Trotter (M14, NC), Tim Doman (M21), Michael Ridley-Smith (M40, GO), Andrew Haigh (M50, NC), Malcolm Roberts (M60, NC).

A big thank you to all our course setters, controllers, organisers and especially Greg Bacon the overall co-ordinator.

The next MTBO events are two introductory DuO events on Sydney's northern beaches at Easter (see the flyer for details).