A short 2.5 km course contained within the Gardens and the Civic Theatre precinct had participants zigzagging forth and back trying to select the most efficient route. Garden beds and buildings created natural barriers so participants had to choose their route carefully and with so many cross-overs it was inevitable that some would get confused and find themselves at the wrong control site.
Estonian born Arvo Ambel chose well and slipped around the course in a shade under 11 minutes almost 2 minutes quicker than second placed Alex Davey. Trent Seaman also had an excellent run finishing just 16 seconds further back in third place.
New to orienteering but old in the art of preparation, Lachlan Billett entered his first orienteering competition to use it as a warm up for the Riverina Schools Championships scheduled for May 8. With mother Amanda in tow he coped with the tricky course quite satisfactorily finishing a creditable sixth. Po King Chung was another trying orienteering for the first time. An error near the sixth control cost her some time but she managed to find the other controls easily enough and finished ninth.
Thanks to John Oliver for this report
