The Australian Orienteering Championship Carnival kicked off at the weekend with the Australian Middle Distance and Tasmanian Long Distance Championships in areas close to St Helens in the north east of Tasmania. Many orienteers took advantage of the model map to get acquainted with the race terrain and discovered the intricate tin mining erosion gullies and challenging earth bank features ahead of the first race.
On Saturday good runnability and visibility allowed many of the racers to build up a good head of steam, and winning times across the courses were quick. Others struggled with some of the more technical details getting confused with the network of bank and gullies and taking significantly more time. Sunday was more of the same but with longer course legs and increased climb to test stamina and challenge the brain. Competitors enjoyed the larger field of entrants and the chance to test themselves against the best of the other Australian States. New Zealanders are over in decent numbers and again showing their strength across the age groups.
NSW orienteers have been having their fair share of success. In the Long Distance Championship M40 was a good class for NSW; although the men couldn't hold off Jon McComb of Tasmania who took 1st place, NSW took the next three places with Jock Davis (BF) 2nd, Scott Simson (NCN) 3rd, Paul Marsh (BF) 4th. Bennelong Northside's Terry Bluett took 1st in M65 with Ross Barr (GO) 3rd. Ewan Shingler (BF) took the M10 class with SHOO's John Hodsdon scoring a win in M70. The female contingent have been having a great Championship so far: Sophie Jones (UR) 1st W10, W35 1st Anna Fitzgerald (WH), 2nd Brook Martin (GO), W45 2nd Barbara Hill (GO), 3rd Paula Savolainen (GO), W60 1st Lynn Dabbs, W65 1st Jenny Hawkins (NTN) and W75 1st Maureen Ogilvie (UR)
The Carnival moves on to the Schools Championships on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by the Australian Sprint Championships on Friday, the Australian Long Distance on Saturday and finishing with the Australian Relay Championships on Sunday. All race information, and results can be found on the Australian Championship website here.
