Welcome aboard Jock Davis and Sally Devenish
- Last Updated: Tuesday, 17 December 2013 12:56
Jock Davis has been appointed ONSW junior squad coach for 2014 and Sally Devenish the manager. Margaret Jones will take on the new role of assistant manager with responsibility for squad finances, allowing Jock and Sally to concentrate on their core tasks.
Jock (known affectionately by club mates as King of the Rock) started orienteering at the age of 15 while at Knox Grammar. In 1988 he achieved (at that time) Australia's best ever placing in a World Cup event finishing 11th in Tasmania and went on to become Australian M21E champion in 1991, and close runner up in the Easter 3 Days in the same year. Jock represented Australia in three successive World Orienteering Championships from 1989 to 1993 and more recently has been a member of the MetrOLeague-winning Big Foot Division side for the past 5 years. Jock's involvement with orienteering in NSW has also included organising, course setting and coaching - setting the courses for the 1993 Australian Championships, and achieving his Level 1 Coaching Accreditation approx. 10 years ago.
Compared to Jock, Sally came to orienteering relatively recently and is a member of the Western Plains club, formed after the Junior World Orienteering Championships in Dubbo in 2007. Sally's first event was in the following year at the 2008 Easter 3 Days in Dubbo on the JWOC maps. Now competing in the W45 age class, Sally has two daughters Kate and Rebecca, both of whom are in the squad. According to Sally, her claim to fame is that she does come back after starting an event!
Jock and Sally replace the long-serving Nick Dent and Karen Blatchford, Nick now being Orienteering Australia's High Performance Operations Manager. There's no rest for Karen either - she has just been appointed OA's JWOC manager for 2014 and 2015.
A report on the activities of the Carbines (ONSW Schools Team) for 2013 can be found here.
Read more: Welcome aboard Jock Davis and Sally Devenish
ONSW Summer Series like a box of chocolates
- Last Updated: Monday, 16 December 2013 16:57
With our summer series in full swing around the state, we thought it timely to outline how they all work - in case you are out and about during the holiday season and fancy a run 'away'.
Some series take a break over the Xmas-New Year-school holiday period so check the event calendar.
While most offer the basic framework of a 45-minute score course, there is enough diversity across clubs and series to keep the brain ticking over wherever you may find yourself participating.
SYDNEY... for all three series (South - Sat/Sun, West - Mon and North - Wed) the format is the same: 30 controls (10 each worth 10, 20 and 30 points) and you have 45 minutes to get as many of them as you can, with a 10-point penalty for each part of a minute late. Setters are encouraged to set a maximum length of 10.5km to 'get the lot' on a flat course and 9km on a very hilly one. The idea is that our elites should be encouraged to think they might just be able to get all 30 controls in the time, or be slightly late. Sportident is used, and starts are from 4.30pm-6.45pm. Perhaps the standout feature of the Sydney events is that you have unlimited planning time - so it's common to see people with rulers and pieces of string calculating their routes meticulously. A couple of years ago one club sprung a 'no-look' event... and there was almost a mutiny! The SSS maps are full colour (see sample) and are either 1:7,500 or 1:10,000. Contour intervals can be 2m, 4m or 5m depending on the map. Setters also try to maximise the amount of parks, reserves and bush tracks visited. The West & South series are in their third seasons while the North has been going for 23 years. It runs throughout daylight saving.
Read more: ONSW Summer Series like a box of chocolates
13 NSW orienteers in OA high performance squads
- Last Updated: Friday, 06 December 2013 14:09
Garingal junior Aidan Dawson and SHOO senior Dave Meyer are the new NSW faces in Orienteering Australia's High Performance Squads for 2014.
The OA high performance pathway has been thoroughly reworked under new mentor Nick Dent, who has introduced extra squads to define a clearer path from talented junior to world championship athlete.
High schooler Aidan's extensive fitness program throughout 2013 is paying big dividends, and he joins older sister and dual JWOC rep Michele in gaining selection in the OA junior development squad.
Dave Meyer (R) ran at JWOC a decade ago and it's great to see him back in the green and gold as a member of the High Performance Squad, just one level below the Elite HPS. Brother Ian is in the National Development Squad.
The family theme continues with junior squad member Nicola Blatchford joined by older brother Josh, who has returned to Australia after a year training in Sweden and is in the High Performance Squad.
Our ONSW representatives in the OA squads are:
Elite HPS: Julian Dent (CC), Felicity Brown (CC).
High Performance Squad: Josh Blatchford (NC), Dave Meyer (SH), Matthew Parton (NC), Rob Preston (NC).
National Development Squad: Kasimir Gregory (NT), Alex Massey (NC), Ian Meyer (SH).
Junior Development Squad: Nicola Blatchford (NC), Aidan Dawson (GO), Michele Dawson (GO), Daniel Hill (GO).
OA is seeking specialist coaches as a result of expanding this program. Applications close on December 22 with Nick Dent. Details are in the story linked above.
'Brooner' Stinger of the month
- Last Updated: Tuesday, 03 December 2013 12:05
Andrew Brown is our Stinger of the month for November.
Known affectionately as 'Brooner', Big Foot's lanky Scottish import has racked up some impressive results of late.
He was third at the Victorian sprint titles over the weekend, backing up his win in the two-race Big Foot sprints at Sydney Uni by a commanding 38 second-margin.
Andrew also ran in each round to help the Feet land a fifth straight MetrO League championship, and has been very generous with his time this year, helping out with coaching at numerous junior events.
We wish Andrew the best of luck with his training and racing. He wins an Endura pack – nutrition for elite athletes to help them train harder, race faster and recover quicker.
