Tight, tense Metro League finals
- Last Updated: Monday, 05 September 2016 12:17
Our 2016 MetrO League season wound up with some tight, thrilling finals on a new Garingal map at Galston on Sydney's northern fringe.
A total of just 6 points decided the top four grades, with the all-female WHO Hahs' 30-22 win over Bennelong Northside in Division 5 the only 'comprehensive' victory.
Carol Jacobson's new map was a mixture of campus sprint (a novel 1:4000 inset at the start), followed by some up-and-down in Sydney sandstone and all sorts of vegetation.
SHOO-IKO (Divn 2) and Bennelong Northside (Divn 3) were crowned champions despite being one runner short. SHOO-IKO edged the Garingal Dragons 28-26, while Bennelong drew with SHOO-IKO 27-27 but prevailed due to their higher ladder position after the round robin series.
Garingal Goannas won Division 1, which was being decided on a first-past-the-post basis, thanks to a 29-26 upset of Big Foot. Both teams were hampered by the unavailability of key runners. It was only when start official Peter Annetts (pictured in orange vest) finished his run that the result could be calculated.
Garingal Legless got home 25-24 against Bennelong in a nervous Division 4 encounter to record a perfect 7-0 season. Each team had a runner mp and the vanquished were again ruing being one runner short.
In the race for the individual medals, the winners are Andrew Hill (WHO, Divn 1), Doug Jay (SHOO, Divn 2), Ross Barker (IKO, Divn 3), Ian Jessup (GO, Divn 4) and Riley Grainger (GO, Divn 5). The two lowest divisions were decided after the favourites - two juniors with plenty of promise - suffered the cruel fate of a mispunch.
The MetrO League web page has been updated with all the results.
Thanks to all the clubs, club captains, runners, setters, organisers for another great year. We look forward to the 2017 competition, when several new ML maps are tipped to be used.
NSW schools champs a triple treat of new maps
- Last Updated: Tuesday, 30 August 2016 11:19
Students from as far afield as Henty, Wagga, Dubbo, Nowra and Queanbeyan showed their talents at the NSW schools championships at the weekend.
Held in conjunction with State Leagues 9 and 10, almost 300 orienteers were treated to three new Dave Lotty maps near Bankstown airport.
Saturday consisted of two sprints - at Garrison Point where the easy open parkland gave the schoolkids a confident start to proceedings, and UWS Bankstown where the intricacies of sprint mapping were far more apparent where nooks and crannies around the campus waited to catch the unaware.
Congratulations on breakthrough wins to Finn Mackay (M14A), Lachlan Billett (M15A), Clare Jessup (W16A) and Jamie Kennedy (M50A).
Sunday was a middle distance bush event at Mirrambeena Regional Park which has been remapped after more than a decade of no access. A cycling road and lots of bush tracks criss-crossed the area, aiding navigation to a degree but also presenting other challenges. First-time SL planner Jim Mackay set some terrific legs among the varied vegetation that offered great route choice.
Our 2016 school champions are: Mawarra PS (primary), KNOX Grammar (Secondary) and CIS (region).
Please fill out the very brief Course Setter of the Year surveys for each event in which you participated.
A massive thank you to: Ron Pallas and his team on SportIdent, the Uringa club for a hectic 36 hours, ONSW Development Officer Lyn Malmgron and her team of helpers to ensure the kids were calm and confident when setting out on their courses, and the coaches who talk parents on a map walk (see pic).
Our gratitude also goes to Bankstown Council for venue access, and Mustangs Baseball Club for opening their canteen on Sunday.
Photo albums from Saturday are on our Facebook page. Results, splits and Routegadget links are all on our State League page.
A reminder that our final State League weekend for 2016 is in the Southern Highlands in a fortnight. Saturday is a Middle distance event at Mittagong and Sunday is a Long distance event in Belanglo State Forest. Entries close on Friday.
Junior talent among the spoils in Newcastle
- Last Updated: Thursday, 25 August 2016 11:02
Newcastle's Orienteer of the Year series has concluded with a tough final round at Congewai.
Hills were the order of the day on pretty much every course (see pic) and refreshments were well earned post-run.
After eight rounds, Alex Massey took out the Hard Long category from Rob Bennett (496-494), and it was just as close in the Hard Medium class with club president Andrew Power prevailing over Glenn Burgess (492-489).
Year 6 whizz kid Alvin Craig showed the benefit of six years in Sweden by winning Hard Short (499) by a comfortable margin.
On the Moderate courses, Graeme Taplin had a perfect score of 500 to win the Long category while Mikayla Enderby, another promising junior, easily took out the Short class.
At the entry level, sister Erika Enderby won the Easy class and Tommy Mella the Very Easy section.
Congratulations to all winners, setters, organisers and everyone who supported the NOY - Newcastle are delighted to report that 327 people attended at least one event.
A reminder the annual Hunter Valley Championships are on Sunday September 18. We also look forward to Newcastle hosting the Xmas 5-days carnival in the Hunter from Dec 27-31.
Superb day for free event at Barangaroo
- Last Updated: Monday, 22 August 2016 15:01
More than 200 rookies tried our free course at Barangaroo on Sunday to celebrate the first birthday of Sydney’s newest harbour foreshore park.
Many of the curious newcomers went around in small groups as the score course gave them a tour of the dozen sculptures brought in especially for the two-week celebration. Every entry also received a free pot plant upon returning to the finish.
ONSW once again thanks the Barangaroo Delivery Authority for the chance to showcase our sport on such a prestigious occasion. We look forward to hosting sprint events on this map and perhaps even incorporating it in a wider Rocks summer series map.
A huge thank you to all the helpers on the day, especially SportIdent guru Ron Pallas. Results are here.
